HB 5522

General Assembly  Substitute Bill No. 5522
  February Session, 2026
 AN ACT CONCERNING THE SEWAGE RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT AND
 REQUIRING A REPORT CONCERNING WELL CONTAMINATION
 PROTOCOLS.
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
 Assembly convened:
1Section 1. Section 22a-424a of the general statutes is repealed and the
2    following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
3(a) For the purposes of this section:
4(1) "Sewage treatment plant or collection system" means any sewage
5    treatment plant, water pollution control facility, related pumping
6    station, collection system or other public sewage works;
7(2) "Sewage spill" means the diversion of wastes from any portion of
8    a sewage treatment plant or collection system in this state;
9      (3) "Combined sewer" means structures which are designed to
10   convey both sanitary and storm sewage, and allow the overflow of such
11   combined sewage, untreated, to the waters of the state during periods
12   of high flows; and
13      (4) "Electronic report" means a reporting form that uses an electronic
14   format as prescribed by the Commissioner of Energy and
15   Environmental Protection.
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16    (b) On and after July 1, 2013, the Commissioner of Energy and
17 Environmental Protection shall post, on the department's Internet web
18 site, a map of the state indicating where sewage spills, anticipated
19 combined sewer overflows and permitted sewage bypasses occur. The
20 Internet web site shall include all information posted pursuant to
21 subdivision (1) of subsection (c) of this section and shall be current.
22    (c) (1) On and after July 1, 2014, not later than two hours after receipt
23 of any report submitted pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection,
24 the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall post,
25 on the department's Internet web site, notice of any such reported
26 sewage spills and permitted sewage bypasses. Any notice or report
27 posted pursuant to this subsection shall contain the following relevant
28 information as best determined by the operator of the sewage treatment
29 plant or collection system that filed the subject report: (A) The estimated
30 volume or rate of discharge and, once known, the final volume
31 discharged; (B) the level of treatment of the discharge; (C) the date and
32 time the incident occurred; (D) the location of the discharge; (E) once
33 known, the estimated or actual time the discharge ceased; (F) the
34 geographic area impacted by the discharge; (G) once known, the steps
35 taken to contain the discharge; (H) reasonable public health, safety or
36 welfare concerns or environmental concerns; and (I) public safety
37 precautions that should be taken.
38    (2) On and after July 1, 2018, not later than two hours after becoming
39 aware of any sewage spill or permitted sewage bypass, the operator of
40 a sewage treatment plant or collection system shall submit an electronic
41 report to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection that
42 includes all of the information required for any notice or report posted
43 in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection.
44 Such report shall be updated by the operator on a daily basis for each
45 additional day that the sewage spill or permitted sewage bypass
46 continues after the submittal of the initial report and until such time as
47 the sewage spill or permitted sewage bypass ceases. Any such report
48 shall be posted on the Internet web site of such operator.
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49    (3) On and after July 1, 2018, not later than two hours after becoming
50 aware of any sewage spill or permitted sewage bypass that reaches a
51 water body or may come in contact with the general public, the operator
52 of a sewage treatment plant or collection system shall notify the chief
53 elected official, or such official's designee, and the local public health
54 official of the municipality where the sewage spill or permitted sewage
55 bypass occurred and the chief elected official, or such official's designee,
56 and the local public health official of any municipality that may be
57 potentially impacted downstream by such spill or sewage bypass. As
58 soon as practicable, but not later than two hours after receipt of any such
59 notice pursuant to this subdivision, each such chief elected official, in
60 conjunction with the local public health official, shall inform the public
61 of any sewage spill or permitted sewage bypass that has the potential to
62 impact public health, safety or the environment. Any such information
63 provided to the public may be provided through the use of social media
64 and shall be provided in each predominant language spoken by the
65 residents of such municipality. The Commissioner of Energy and
66 Environmental Protection shall require such operator to post a sign at
67 the location of such spill or sewage bypass that contains the information
68 provided to public officials pursuant to this subsection. Any such sign
69 shall be posted within the timeframe prescribed by the commissioner.
70    (4) Not later than December 1, [2021] 2026, the Department of Energy
71 and Environmental Protection shall implement a real-time public
72 notification system that is separate from and independent of any social
73 media platform, through which the public may [choose to be notified of]
74 sign up to receive alerts directly to such person's phone via text message
75 or electronic mail, of any sewage spills or permitted sewage bypasses as
76 such sewage spills or permitted sewage bypasses are reported
77 electronically to said department. Such real-time public notifications
78 shall occur not later than two hours after said department's receipt of
79 any such report.
80   (5) Not later than February 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, the
81 Department of Energy and Environmental Protection shall publish and
82 make publicly available on the department's Internet web site an annual
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83 report that includes a summary of the sewage spills that occurred within
84 each municipality during such year, a summary of sewage spills that
85 reached named or identified water bodies, a summary of the total
86 volume of each category of sewage spill and any enforcement actions
87 taken by the department related to such sewage spills.
88    (d) Any report to the Department of Energy and Environmental
89 Protection that is required pursuant to section 22a-430-3 of the
90 regulations of Connecticut state agencies shall be submitted as an
91 electronic report.
92    (e) The failure to file an electronic report pursuant to any provision
93 of this section shall be deemed a violation of the provisions of this
94 section for purposes of section 22a-438.
95    Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) The Commissioner of Energy and
96 Environmental Protection, in accordance with the provisions of section
97 11-4a of the general statutes and not later than January 1, 2027, shall
98 submit a report to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly
99 having cognizance of matters relating to the environment on the
100 Department of Energy and Environmental Protection's protocols for
101 interacting with the Department of Public Health and local departments
102 of health in the event of private well contamination in a community.
103 Such report shall detail any prohibitions on the sharing of information
104 among such public agencies and the reasons for such prohibitions.
105 Additionally, such report shall detail the degree to which the
106 Department of Energy and Environmental Protection canvasses a
107 community in the event of such private well contamination to enable
108 potentially affected homeowners and commercial property owners to
109 learn about such contamination and take any requisite or recommended
110 steps to ensure the health and safety of private wells in the community.
  This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
  sections:
  Section 1     from passage  22a-424a
  Sec. 2        from passage  New section
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ENV   Joint Favorable Subst.
APP   Joint Favorable
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