State Legislative Initiatives (2007)
An Act Concerning Environmental Justice
An Act Banning Pesticides on School Grounds
An Act Concerning The Phase-out of Certain Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers
An Act to Promote Innovations, Safe Workplaces and Health in Connecticut
AN ACT CONCERNING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Senate Bill 985
Currently, there is no law that prevents all polluting facilities from being located in any one community. Polluting facilities in Connecticut tend to be concentrated in certain communities which are often, but not necessarily, low-income and/or minority communities. This concentration of facilities cannot be considered when new facilities are proposed to be sited in these communities.
Senate Bill 985 would require that the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP):
A. Identify Environmental Justice communities of low-income, minority, or environmentally overburdened (of any income level) census blocks. Environmentally overburdened census blocks are defined as census blocks that have more than 3 Environmental Affecting Facilities located within a 3-mile radius. Environmental Affecting Facilities include the following:
1. Power plants
2. Trash or sewage sludge incinerators
3. Large sewage treatment plants
4. Trash transfer facilities
5. Active landfills
6. Multi-town recycling facilities
7. Asphalt or concrete plants
8. Major sources of air pollution as defined by U.S. EPA
9. Air toxic sources listed on the federal Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)
B. Notify towns of environmentally overburdened, minority and/ or low-income census blocks within their borders.
C. Along with the Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) and the Siting Council, develop regulations to consider the environmental justice status of census blocks when issuing licenses and permits for defined Affecting Facilities that might impact the health or environment of local communities.
To encourage the upgrade of existing facilities, priority for receipt of state funds and technical assistance should be given to Affecting Facilities within Environmental Justice communities (environmentally overburdened, low-income, or minority census blocks). State funds would include Brownfields remediation, clean energy, economic development funding from CDA and Connecticut Innovations, and energy conservation funds. Technical assistance would improve manufacturing processes to reduce emissions, waste, and toxicity of products and processes.
For existing as well as proposed new or expanding Affecting Facilities in these communities, the DEP, DPUC, and Siting Council will require enhancements to Public Notification/ Public Participation outreach, enforcement of existing environmental laws, as well as provision of negotiated environmental benefits to environmental justice community residents.
AN ACT BANNING PESTICIDE USE ON SCHOOL GROUNDS
House Bill 5234
To prohibit the application of lawn care pesticides on the grounds of any public or private school with students in grade eight or lower.
Lawn Pesticide Fact Sheet
- Of 30 commonly used lawn pesticides, 19 have studies linking them with cancer, 13 are linked with birth defects, 21 with reproductive effects, 15 with neurotoxicity or abnormal brain development.
- Children are particularly susceptible because of their rapid growth and decreased ability to detoxify toxins. ,
- Studies link some lawn pesticides to hyperactivity, developmental delays, behavioral disorder, and motor dysfunction. , ,
- A Study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that home and gardern use of pesticides can increase the risk of childhood leukemia by almost seven times.
- Lawn pesticides can be tracked inside of schools where they can persisit for long periods of time contaminating air, dust, surfaces, and carpets and exposing children to these toxic chemicals even if There are safe, effective, affordable alternatives to using toxic lawn pesticides. A number of towns in Connecticut have successfully switched to pesticide-free organic lawn care. ,
- IPM is allowed for 3 years on athletic fields in order to restore the soil (which becomes degraded through pesticide use) and make the transition to pesticide-free organic care.
- There is provision for pesticides use if there is a condition that threatens the health and safety of the children. For example, an underground wasp nest or an infestation of ticks.11
- There are significant gaps in the safety testing of toxic lawn pesticides.
o Lawn pesticides are not tested for long term toxicity unless they are also used on food crops
o Lawn pesticides are not tested in the combinations and formulations in which they are actually used. Yet, these combinations and formulations can be more toxic than the pure active ingredient.
o There is no testing of the toxicity of the breakdown products of these chemicals or their persistance in the environment
- Lawn pesticides can contaminate well water. 11% of residential wells tested in a Connecticut town With so many unknowns and with plausable evidence of harm to children, it makes no sense for our children to be involuntarily exposed to the unnecessary use of these toxic chemicals expecially when there are safe, effective, affordable alternatives.
- http://www.beyondpesticides.org/lawn/factsheets/30health.pdf
- National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences. 1993. Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, National Academy Press, Washington, DC: 184-185.
- US EPA, Office of the Administrator, Environmental Health Threats to Children, EPA 175-F-96-001, September 1996. See also: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/food/pest.htm.
- National Research Council. 2000. Scientific frontiers in developmental toxicology and risk assessment.
- Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Physicians for Social Responsibility, The National Environmental Trust, and The Learning Disabilities Association of America. 2000. Polluting our future: Chemical pollution in the U.S. that affects child development and learning. http://www.net.org/health/tri_report.pdf (accessed 6/2/05).
- Cox C. 2004. Journal Of Pesticide Reform. Vol. 24 (4) citing: Garry, V.F. et al. 2002. “Birth defects, season of conception, and sex of children born to pesticide applicators living in the Red River Valley of Minnesota.” Environ. Health Persp. 110 (Suppl. 3):441-449.
- Lowengart, R. et al. 1987. “Childhood Leukemia and Parent’s Occupational and Home Exposures,” Journal of the National Cancer Institute 79:39.
- Nishioka, M., et al. 1996. Environmental Science Technology, 30:3313-3320; Nishioka, M., et al. 2001. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109(11).
- See the Northeast Organing Farming Association Connecticut Chapter’s information on organic land care. http://www.ctnofa.org/OrganicLandCare/OLC.htm
- Managing Healthy Sports Fields: A Guide to Using Organic Materials for Low-Maintenance and Chemical-Free Playing Fields by Paul D. Sachs, January 2004
- See Public Act 05-252, An Act Concerning Pesticides At Schools And Day Care Facilities.
- EPA registration requires only that the pure chemical compound of the pesticide be tested
- A survey of Private Drinking Water Wells For Lawn and Tree Care Pesticides in a Connecticut Town, Environment and Human Health, Inc.1999.
Support Resources
Connecticut Chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association http://www.ctnofa.org/OrganicLandCare/OLC.htm
Northeast Organic Farming Association http://www.nofa.org/index.php
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2708&q=379676&depNav_GID=1763
AN ACT CONCERNING THE PHASE-OUT OF CERTAIN POLYBROMINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS
House Bill 6871
Print this fact sheet by clicking here
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2006) As used in this section and sections 2 and 3 of this act:
(1) "Household textiles" means mattresses, mattress pads, comforters, drapes or upholstered furniture intended for indoor use in a residence;
(2) "Manufacturer" means any person, firm, association, partnership corporation, governmental entity, organization or joint venture that produces a product containing polybrominated diphenyl ethers or an importer or domestic distributor of a noncomestible product containing polybrominated diphenyl ethers;
3) "Penta-bde" means pentabromodiphenylether;
(4) "Octa-bde" means octabromodiphenylether;
(5) "Deca-bde" means decabromodiphenylether;
(6) "Polybrominated diphenyl ethers" means chemical forms that consist of diphenyl ethers bound with bromine atoms including, but not limited to, penta-bde, octa-bde and deca-bde;
(7) "Commercial deca-bde" means deca-bde and any associated polybrominated diphenyl ether impurities not intentionally added, provided no single such impurity exceeds one per cent by mass of the mixture and the combination of all polybrominated diphenyl ether impurities do not exceed four per cent by mass of the mixture;
(8) "Alternative flame retardant" means a chemical other than a polybrominated diphenyl ether that is added to a product to inhibit the spread of flames;
(9) "Used product" means a product that has been previously owned, purchased or sold in commerce. "Used product" does not mean any product manufactured after January 1, 2006; and
(10) "Electric enclosure" means the plastic housing that encloses the components of electronic products, including, but not limited to, televisions and computers.
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2006)
(a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, on and after January 1, 2007, no person shall manufacture or sell, offer for sale or distribute for sale or use a product containing penta-bde or octa-bde. On or after January 1, 2010, no person may manufacture or sell, offer for sale or distribute for sale or use any television, computer, facsimile machine or printer that has an electronic enclosure that contains commercial deca-bde or a household textile that contains commercial deca-bde. The manufacturer shall notify persons that sell the manufacturer's products about the provisions of this section.
(b) The following uses of polybrominated diphenyl ethers are permitted: (1) The sale or distribution by a business, charity or private party of any used product containing polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or (2) the manufacture, sale or distribution of any new product or product component consisting of recycled or used materials containing commercial deca-bde.
(c) A manufacturer of a product prohibited pursuant to subsection (a) of this section may apply to the Commissioner of Environmental Protection for an exemption for a specific use of a commercial deca-bde. Said application shall be accompanied by a fee of one hundred dollars. The commissioner may grant an exemption upon a finding that (1) a technically feasible alternative to the use of the commercial deca-bde is not available at a reasonable cost, or (2) the potential harm to public health and the environment posed by a technically feasible and available alternative is greater than the potential harm posed by the commercial deca-bde. The commissioner may not grant an exemption for a term of more than three years. An exemption may be renewed upon submission of an application to the commissioner, accompanied by a fee of one hundred dollars, provided the commissioner finds that the use continues to meet the criteria of this subsection.
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2006) (a) On and after January 1, 2010, no person shall manufacture or sell, offer for sale or distribute for sale or use any television, computer, facsimile machine or printer that has an electronic enclosure that contains an alternative flame retardant or a household textile that contains an alternative flame retardant unless the manufacturer of the product or a trade association representing manufacturers of the product has provided chemical safety data on the alternative flame retardants to the Commissioner of Environmental Protection on a form prescribed by the commissioner.
(b) Information submitted pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be considered a trade secret for purposes of section 1-210 of the 2006 supplement to the general statutes.
(c) The Commissioner of Environmental Protection may adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54 of the general statutes, to prohibit the manufacture, sale, offer for sale or distribution for sale or use of an alternative flame retardant on and after January 1, 2010, if the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, in consultation with the Commissioner of Public Health, determines that there is credible scientific evidence that demonstrates that the alternative flame retardant poses a risk to human health or the environment.
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2006) Any person who violates any provision of section 2 or 3 of this act shall pay a civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars for each offense and, in the case of a continuing violation, each day's continuance thereof shall be a separate and distinct offense. The Attorney General, upon complaint of the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, shall institute an action in the superior court for the judicial district of Hartford to recover such penalty.
AN ACT TO PROMOTE INNOVATIONS, SAFE WORKPLACES AND HEALTH IN CONNECTICUT
House Bill 7020
What this bill does:
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Requires Reporting of Toxic Substances
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Creates an Innovation Institute to Help Companies Transition to Safer Alternatives
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After Consultation & Scientific Review, Requires Companies to Shift to Safer Alternatives, Where Feasible
Requires Reporting of Toxic Substances
Companies using and/or producing large quantities of hazardous substances (i.e., those that must report to the national Toxic Release Inventory) will be required to report their use of highly hazardous toxins, as determined by the U.S. EPA, to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection on an annual basis.
Creates an Innovation Institute to Help Companies Transition to Safer Alternatives
Reducing the use of hazardous substances and dangerous operations protects worker and community health and saves businesses money. This bill would create an Innovation Institute affiliated with the University of Connecticut Health Center.
The Innovation Institute will help Connecticut industries evaluate hazards in production and materials, and shift to safer alternatives. Starting with the 1,500 toxins identified for phase-out in the European Union, and then proceeding to the 30,000 substances the E.U. plans to phase out in the coming years, the institute will assist Connecticut businesses in assessing safer alternatives to toxic chemicals and transitioning to safer workplaces.
Specifically, the institute will:
- Gather data, conduct research, and promote alternatives to health-damaging substances and work environments in Connecticut industries and communities;
- Provide resources, tools, training and support to make Connecticut a safer place to live and work
- Promote economic competitiveness through improved efficiency, compliancy stability and reduced risk;
- In concert with similar institutes in the U.S. and abroad, act as a clearinghouse for information about safer alternatives to highly hazardous substances in the workplace; and
- Support businesses and workers in reducing toxic exposure in occupational settings.
After Consultation & Scientific Review, Requires Companies to Shift to Safer Alternatives, Where Feasible
In collaboration with a growing network of institutes in forward-thinking states across the U.S. and Europe, toxins of concern will be analyzed regarding each general type of use, emissions, and presence in manufactured products. Scientific advisors and stakeholders will help determine whether a company is required to shift to a safer alternative for a particular use.
By supporting the transition to safer substances, products and manufacturing processes, Connecticut can be a leader in technological innovation, globally competitive businesses, and the protection of workers, communities and consumers.
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