2023 Connecticut General Statutes › Title 22a - Environmental Protection › Chapter 446k - Water Pollution Control › Section 22a-451. (Formerly Sec. 25-54ee). - Liability for pollution, contamination or emergency.

(a) Any person, firm or corporation which directly or indirectly causes pollution and contamination of any land or waters of the state or directly or indirectly causes an emergency through the maintenance, discharge, spillage, uncontrolled loss, seepage or filtration of oil or petroleum or chemical liquids or solid, liquid or gaseous products or hazardous wastes or which owns any hazardous wastes deemed by the commissioner to be a potential threat to human health or the environment and removed by the commissioner shall be liable for all costs and expenses incurred in investigating, containing, removing, monitoring or mitigating such pollution and contamination, emergency or hazardous waste, and legal expenses and court costs incurred in such recovery, provided, if such pollution or contamination or emergency was negligently caused, such person, firm or corporation may, at the discretion of the court, be liable for damages equal to one and one-half times the cost and expenses incurred and provided further if such pollution or contamination or emergency was wilfully caused, such person, firm or corporation may, at the discretion of the court, be liable for damages equal to two times the cost and expenses incurred. The costs and expenses of investigating, containing, removing, monitoring or mitigating such pollution, contamination, emergency or hazardous waste shall include, but not be limited to, the administrative cost of such action calculated at ten per cent of the actual cost plus the interest on the actual cost at a rate of ten per cent per year thirty days from the date such costs and expenses were sought from the party responsible for such pollution, contamination or emergency. The costs of recovering any legal expenses and court costs shall be calculated at five per cent of the actual costs, plus interest at a rate of ten per cent per year thirty days from the date such costs were sought from the party responsible for such pollution, contamination or emergency. Upon request of the commissioner, the Attorney General shall bring a civil action to recover all such costs and expenses.
(b) If the person, firm or corporation which causes any discharge, spillage, uncontrolled loss, seepage or filtration does not act immediately to contain and remove or mitigate the effects of such discharge, spillage, loss, seepage or filtration to the satisfaction of the commissioner, or if such person, firm or corporation is unknown, and such discharge, spillage, loss, seepage or filtration is not being contained, removed or mitigated by the federal government, a state agency, a municipality or a regional or interstate authority, the commissioner may contract with any person issued a permit pursuant to section 22a-454 to contain and remove or mitigate the effects of such discharge, spillage, loss, seepage or filtration. The commissioner may contract with any person issued a permit pursuant to said section 22a-454 to remove any hazardous waste that the commissioner deems to be a potential threat to human health or the environment.
(c) Whenever the commissioner incurs contractual obligations pursuant to subsection (b) of this section and the responsible person, firm or corporation or the federal government does not assume such contractual obligations, the commissioner shall request the Attorney General to bring a civil action pursuant to subsection (a) of this section to recover the costs and expenses of such contractual obligations. If the responsible person, firm or corporation is unknown, the commissioner shall request the federal government to assume such contractual obligations to the extent provided for by the federal Water Pollution Control Act.
(1969, P.A. 765, S. 4; 1971, P.A. 433, S. 2; 872, S. 104; 1972, P.A. 217; P.A. 76-9, S. 1, 2; P.A. 79-605, S. 5, 17; P.A. 82-320, S. 2, 4; P.A. 83-499, S. 1, 2; 83-572, S. 8, 9; P.A. 84-81, S. 1; 84-370, S. 1, 6; P.A. 85-177, S. 1, 2; 85-407, S. 1, 9; P.A. 86-202, S. 1, 2; 86-239, S. 11, 14; 86-364, S. 5; P.A. 87-332, S. 1, 2; P.A. 88-364, S. 98, 123; P.A. 89-365, S. 5, 9; P.A. 90-275, S. 6, 9; P.A. 91-372, S. 3, 4; 91-376, S. 5, 10; 91-393, S. 1, 2; P.A. 92-235, S. 2, 6; P.A. 94-130, S. 2; P.A. 95-208, S. 11, 13; P.A. 97-241, S. 1, 4, 5; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-11, S. 28, 65; P.A. 98-140, S. 5; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-6, S. 14, 85; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3, S. 432.)
History: 1971 acts extended applicability to pollution of land as well as water, added proviso allowing assessment of treble damages if contamination caused by gross negligence and replaced references to water resources commission and its chairman with references to environmental protection commissioner; 1972 act specified that provisions applicable in cases where pollution or contamination will result in damages exceeding $5,000, substituted “negligently caused” for “gross negligence” and replaced assessment of treble damages with assessment of “one and one-half times the costs and expenses incurred by said commissioner”; P.A. 76-9 deleted phrase which limited applicability to cases where damages would exceed $5,000; P.A. 79-605 clarified previous provisions by adding references to emergencies, to uncontrolled losses of pollutants or contaminants, to solid, liquid or gaseous products or hazardous wastes, deleted provision setting forth allocation of costs and expenses recovered and added Subsecs. (b) to (d); P.A. 82-320 amended Subsec. (d) to authorize expenditures for remedial action pursuant to the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, provision of potable drinking water and completion of an inventory of hazardous waste disposal sites, and to specify limits on expenditures; Sec. 25-54ee transferred to Sec. 22a-451 in 1983; P.A. 83-499 specifically subjected hazardous waste owned by a person or corporation and deemed by the commissioner to constitute a potential threat to health or environment, to the provisions of this section; P.A. 83-572 added to the purpose of the revolving fund by requiring that not more than $80,000 be expended in fiscal year 1984 to accomplish the purposes of chapter 445a; P.A. 84-81 amended Subsec. (d) by limiting payments for the provision of potable drinking water to reimbursement for costs for short-term provision and capital improvements; P.A. 84-370 amended Subsec. (d) by clarifying Subdiv. (5) re authorization of funds for the hazardous waste management service, by clarifying expenditures under Subdiv. (3) re fiscal years involved and by imposing limit on expenditures under Subdiv. (5) for fiscal year ending June 30, 1985; P.A. 85-407 amended Subsec. (d)(2) by deleting language specifying costs that may be reimbursed re provision of potable drinking water, requiring commissioner to adopt regulations concerning the provision of potable drinking water and establishing cap on the amount that can be expended for Subdiv. (3), and, in conjunction with P.A. 85-177, by extending the limit on expenditures under Subdiv. (5) to apply to the fiscal year ending June 30, 1986; P.A. 86-202 amended Subsec. (d)(5)) by authorizing expenditures for fiscal year ending June 30, 1987; P.A. 86-239 amended Subsec. (a) by authorizing double damages if pollution was wilful; P.A. 86-364 amended Subsec. (d) by placing provision re amounts expended by the Hazardous Waste Management Service in Subdiv. (5) and added Subdiv. (6) regarding expenditures for the provision of potable drinking water and a pesticide study required pursuant to S.A. 86-44; P.A. 87-332 amended Subsec. (d)(5) by authorizing expenditures for fiscal year ending June 30, 1988, and adding reference to Sec. 22a-134hh; P.A. 88-364 amended Subsec. (d) by deleting reference to specific fiscal years for funds expended by the Hazardous Waste Management Service; P.A. 89-365 added Subsec. (d)(6) to (10) authorizing expenditures for loans and lines of credit under Sec. 32-23z; remedial action at hazardous waste sites under Sec. 22a-133b to 22a-133g, inclusive, and Sec. 22a-133k; development of the aquifer protection program under Secs. 22a-354g to 22a-354cc, inclusive, and research on toxic substance contamination, to increase total allowable annual expenditures under Subsec. (d)(5) from $80,000 to $280,000 per year and to establish expenditure limits for new Subdivs. (6) to (10); P.A. 90-275 added Subsec. (d)(11) and (12) authorizing expenditures not exceeding $300,000 for the costs of the commissioner in performing or approving level A mapping and authorizing expenditures for fiscal year ending June 30, 1991, for use by the eight county soil and water conservation districts; P.A. 91-372 amended Subsec. (a) to provide for liability on the part of responsible parties for costs of investigating and monitoring pollution and for court costs incurred in recovering against such parties and further specified certain parameters of such costs and expenses; P.A. 91-376 amended Subsec. (d)(5) to increase allocation to the Connecticut Hazardous Waste Management Service from $280,000 to $340,000; P.A. 91-393 amended Subsec. (d) to increase the authorized allocation from the fund to the commissioner for costs of approving level A mapping of aquifer protection areas from $300,000 to $350,000; P.A. 92-235 amended Subsec. (d) to include costs associated with implementation of Sec. 22a-449 and chapter 441 in the allowable uses to which the fund may be put and deleted a limit on use of the fund for accomplishment of the purposes of Secs. 22a-133b to 22a-133g, inclusive, and Secs. 22a-134 to 22a-134d, inclusive, and Sec. 22a-133k; P.A. 94-130, changed name of fund from “Emergency Spill Response Fund” to “emergency spill response account” of the Environmental Quality Fund; P.A. 95-208 amended Subsec. (d) to change designation of emergency spill response account from “revolving account” of Environmental Quality Fund to “account” of General Fund, to delete provisions re amounts expended under Subdivs. (7), (8) and (10) to (13), inclusive, of Subsec. (d), to delete provision that money recovered pursuant to Subsecs. (a) and (c) of section be deposited in General Fund, credited to emergency spill response account and used by commissioner to meet contractual obligations incurred pursuant to Subsec. (b) of section, and to add provision that on July 1, 1995, any balance remaining in said account shall be transferred to General Fund, effective July 1, 1995 (Revisor's note: A reference in Subsec. (d)(7)(A) to “section 22-471” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “section 22a-471” to correct a clerical error); P.A. 97-241 amended Subsec. (a) to provide that interest on costs under this section shall commence 30 days from the date costs were sought from the responsible party and amended Subsec. (d) to provide that certain appropriated funds shall not lapse and shall continue to be available for emergency spill response in succeeding fiscal years, effective June 24, 1997; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-11 repealed Subsec. (d)(6) re provision of money for purposes of Secs. 22a-134aa to 22a-134hh, inclusive, and renumbered remaining Subdivs., effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 98-140 amended Subsec. (a) to provide for liability under this section for maintenance of a pollution condition; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-6 amended Subsec. (b) to make a technical change for purposes of gender neutrality, amended Subsec. (d) to delete provisions re account of the General Fund and add provisions making the account part of the Environmental Quality Fund, and added new Subsec. (e) re budget for the account, effective July 1, 2001; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-3 deleted former Subsecs. (d) and (e) re emergency spill response account.
Cited. 215 C. 292; 226 C. 358; 229 C. 456; 231 C. 756; 241 C. 466.
Cited. 30 CA 204.
Cited. 43 CS 83.