State officials on Tuesday celebrated the final adoption of new rules governing environmental cleanups at Connecticut’s industrial and commercial sites, with the change expected to yield billions in economic activity and thousands of new jobs. The General Assembly’s Regulations Review Committee, on Tuesday, approved regulations outlining a new released-based approach to environmental cleanup. The new regulations are expected to take effect in spring 2026. DECD economists estimate the new system will unlock $3.78 billion in new GDP growth in the next five years, bringing $115 million in new revenue to the state and more than 2,100 new construction jobs. In a nutshell, the new system relies on pollution releases being cleaned as they happen or are discovered. The biggest complaint against the 40-year-old Transfer Act has been the wide net it casts, dragging in all properties at which more than 100 kilograms (about 220 pounds) of hazardous waste was processed or generated in any one month from Nov. 19, 1980 onward. Under the law, those properties – even ones where there was never any known discharge or spill – had to undergo costly environmental testing and review before a sale could be completed.
https://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/state-lawmakers-approve-transfer-act-replacement-expected-to-yield-billions-in-economic