Environment Committee
JOINT FAVORABLE REPORT
Bill No.: SB-1031
AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF SODIUM CHLORIDE TO MITIGATE ICE
Title: AND SNOW ACCUMULATIONS.
Vote Date: 3/29/2021
Vote Action: Joint Favorable Substitute
PH Date: 3/19/2021
File No.:
Disclaimer: The following JOINT FAVORABLE Report is prepared for the benefit of the
members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and
explanation and does not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber
thereof for any purpose.
SPONSORS OF BILL:
Rep. Jaime S. Foster, 57th Dist.
Rep. David Michel, 146th Dist.
Sen. Saud Anwar, 3rd Dist.
REASONS FOR BILL:
Road salt runoff in water systems may often contaminate public water supplies and
residential wells, of which 800,000 Connecticut residents rely on for their primary source of
drinking water. Concerns have been expressed that such contaminations are, in part, due to
the improper application of road salt during winter roadway maintenance operations.
Additionally, travel distance concerns have been expressed regarding minimal availabilities
for the "Connecticut Green Pro Snow" certification program at select parts of the state. To
date, this program has been offered three times between 2018 and 2019 at the following
locations: Burlington, Durham, and South Windsor.
To encourage proper applications of road salt on state and municipal roadways, and to
reduce contamination of residential wells and drinking water sources, this bill seeks to (1)
provide at least one voluntary training of the "Connecticut Green Snow Pro" certification
program for state, municipal, and private road salt applicators in each county in the state of
Connecticut, and (2) require the establishment of a low / no-salt standard in areas draining
into public drinking water reservoirs.
JFS Language LCO 6091:
Changes section 5 from "any customer" to "any customer or potential customer" and the term
"sodium chloride" to "sodium and chloride". Adds additional statement testing shall be
performed by an environmental laboratory in accordance with CGA sections 19a-29a.
RESPONSE FROM ADMINISTRATION/AGENCY:
Katie Dykes, Commissioner, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
SB1031 establishes a training and certification program for commercial applicators of sodium
chloride aimed at relying on Connecticut Best Management Practices Green Snow Pro:
Sustainable Winter Operations guide for municipalities. Proposed also gives liability
protection to certified applicators and those that use the services of certified applicators. In
SB931 has recordkeeping requirements for commercial applicators of sodium chloride, and
some reporting requirements related to training, programmatic goals, and recommendations
for future legislation.
The partnership with UCONN Tech Transfer Center in conjunction with Department of
Transportation helps address complaints from those with drinking water wells, and issues
with applicators of sodium chloride.
Deidre Gifford, Acting Commissioner, Dept of Public Health
Sodium Chloride increases the corrosivity and leach harmful metals and creates damages
plumbing and appliance. Excessive salt leads to contaminants in groundwater. The best
strategy is to reduce contamination of impacted groundwater sources.
SB1031 incentivizes training attendance for applicators by reducing liability and helps reduce
over application. SB1031 establishes an electronic reporting system for reporting sodium
chloride impacted wells with local health departments. Local health departments are
required to have enough resources to implement an electronic reporting system.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF SUPPORT:
Jason Bowsza, First Selectman, Town of East Windsor
Requests sections 4 and 5 to be amended to include testing and notification of ethylene
dibromide and nitrites in addition to sodium chloride (currently listed in SB1031). Affected
neighborhoods need help to filter, repair or connect to public water assemblies.
Betsy Gara, Executive Director, Connecticut Council of Small Towns
The Connecticut Council of Small Towns (COST) supports sections 1 to 3. Section 4 is
vague. Property owners can self-identify, but there are no parameters for health directors to
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follow. Section 5 confuses as written, it asks for the water to be tested prior to the addition of
water softener, which is used to soften water hardness.
Alicea Charamut, Executive Director, Rivers Alliance of Connecticut
Road salt threaten private wells and public drinking water supplies, they are equally as
detrimental to aquatic organisms. The statement of purpose should be amended to reflect
and include all surface waters and ground water. Testimony also included a link to, and
referenced, the 2015 US Geological Survey Report: Nutrient, Organic Carbon, and Chloride
Concentrations and Loads in Selected Long Island Sound Tributaries: Four Decades of
Change Following the Passage of the Federal Clean Water Act.
The Environment Committee received more than five additional testimonials for SB1031.
NATURE AND SOURCES OF OPPOSITION:
None
Reported by: Steve Smith Date: 3/31/2021
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