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Connecticut’s Energy Policy in 2020

Lee D. Hoffman, Pullman & Comley, LLC

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How do you pronounce Isaias?

However you say it, does it matter?

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The General Assembly Responds

So what happened?• We now have Bill Number 7006 – An Act Concerning

Emergency Response by Electric Distribution Companies, the Regulation of Other Public Utilities and Nexus Provisions for Certain Disaster-Related or Emergency-Related Work Performed in the State

Whew…

• How about The Take Back Our Grid Act?

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The Take Back Our Grid Act• The Legislature’s response to Tropical Storm Isaias and

the utility companies’ responsiveness in the wake of that storm

• Provides for greater oversight of utilities by PURA

• Provides for restitution to customers who lose power

• The bill passed the House by a margin of 136-4, with 11 absent from the voting

PURA Will Be Busy

• PURA must establish performance-based regulations for utilities by June 1 2022

• Utility performance targets established by PURA may be the basis for executive compensation

• PURA will have the ability to begin rate proceedings for interim rate decreases, low-income rates and economic development rates

• Extends some PURA deadlines

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Compensation for Customers and Penalties for Poor Performance

• Take Back Our Grid raises the limits on civil penalties PURA can hit utilities with, as it relates to emergency response or service restoration

• Provides for a $25 per day credits for each day of an outage after 96 hours and up to $250 for compensation for food and medicine lost in outages lasting longer than 96 hours

• Other customer restitution also allowed

Take Back Our Grid - Potpourri• Utilities must meet minimum staffing levels and must

submit storm preparation reports

• Establishes new rules on registration, tax and licensure for out-of-state disaster response workers

• Expands DEEP’s microgrid grant and loan program

• Requires DEEP to study whether Connecticut should be in ISO-NE

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Wait, Did You Say Leave ISO-NE?

Cleaner, Cheaper, More Reliable?

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Questions? Drop Me a Line.Lee D. Hoffman

Pullman & Comley, LLC

90 State House Square

Hartford, CT 06103

(860) 424-4315

lhoffman@pullcom.com

Water Compliance and

Permitting TrendsCBIA’s Energy and Environmental

Virtual Conference October 2, 2020

Debbie Hoyes, Arcadis

Wojciech (Voytek) Krach (Krahh), Kaman Corp.

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FEDERAL UPDATES

PFAS• EPA’s PFAS Action Plan

– “the most comprehensive cross-agency plan ever to address an emerging chemical of concern”

– Issued in February 2019

– Program update was provided in February 2020

– EPA is working to determine if there is enough available data and research to support the development of Clean Water Act (CWA) water quality criteria for PFAS.

EPA Drinking Water Health Advisory of 70 ppt for PFOA and PFOS.

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PFAS

• Drinking water test methods 533 (short chain PFAS) and 537.1 are the only EPA approved ‘water’ methods

– Combined, these methods can measure 29 chemicals

• EPA is in the process of validating analytical methods for surface water, groundwater, wastewater, soils, sediments and biosolids

Navigable Waters Protection Rule• Revised Definition of "Waters of the United States"

• Effective on June 22, 2020

• On June 19, 2020, the District Court for the District of Colorado stayed the effective date of the Rule only in the State of Colorado.

–The rule is being implemented by EPA and the Army in all other states and jurisdictions.

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Navigable Waters Protection Rule• 4 clear categories of waters are federally regulated:

– The territorial seas and traditional navigable waters,

– Perennial and intermittent tributaries to those waters,

– Certain lakes, ponds, and impoundments, and

– Wetlands adjacent to jurisdictional waters.

• 12 categories of exclusions– features that only contain water in direct response to rainfall

(e.g., ephemeral features), groundwater, many ditches, prior converted cropland, and waste treatment systems.

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Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule

• Effective on September 11, 2020

• To implement the water quality certification process consistent with the text and structure of the CWA

• CTDEEP is responsible for issuing water quality certifications

• A federal agency may not issue a license or permit for an activity that may result in a discharge into a water of the United States without a water quality certification or waiver.

Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule

• Some of the major federal licenses and permits subject to Section 401 include:

• Clean Water Act Section 402 and 404 permits (in non-delegated states),

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) licenses for hydropower facilities and natural gas pipelines, and

• Rivers and Harbors Act Section 9 and 10 permits.

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Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule

• The CWA provides that certifying authorities (CTDEEP) must act on a Section 401 certification request "within a reasonable period of time (which shall not to exceed 1 year) after receipt" of such a request.

• A certifying authority may waive certification voluntarily, or by failing or refusing to act within the established reasonable period of time.

EPA Multi-Sector General Permit • EPA’s 2015 (MSGP) expired on June 3, 2020, at 11:59PM

and has been administratively continued. The 2015 MSGP remains in force and effect for discharges that were covered prior to permit expiration.

• The comment period for the 2020 reissuance of the Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) closed on June 1, 2020. EPA will consider all submitted comments during the finalization of the new MSGP.

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Other Topics• Steam Electric ELG Reconsideration Rule

– 40 CFR 423

– Revises requirements for two waste streams from steam electric power plants: flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater and bottom ash transport water.

– The new rule will save the U.S. power sector approximately $140M annually while reducing pollution by nearly a million pounds per year over the 2015 rule.

• COVID-19 testing in wastewater

– People shed the virus before having symptoms

STATE UPDATESWojciech Krach, Kaman Corporation

Voytek Krahh

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Stormwater General Permits• Industrial – in effect through September 2021

• Construction – Expired (petition filed for hearing)

• Commercial – in effect through May 2022

MIU General Permit• Previously known as the MISC GP

• Comments were due April 5, 2019

• Working Group between DEEP & WPCAs was established and active dialogue was facilitated

• Notifications now will go to the POTWs

• POTWs are responsible for oversight

• Facilities have 90 days after permit issuance to notify

(If you are an SIU, you cannot seek coverage under this GP)

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SIU GP• SIU GP will replace existing Categorical Discharges GP

• DEEP to continue regulating all SIUs with sewer discharges

– Including Individual Permits and new SIUs

• Non-SIUs will be regulated by the WPCAs – Comments were originally due February 14, 2019

• Meetings, dialogue/communication are now ending

• Old GPs are effective in existing form through October 30

• Both GPs are expected to be issued on October 31

Survey - Compliance Inspections - Fiscal year 2020-

2021• On September 2, CTDEEP sent out a survey

• General purpose was to probe for a sense of operational status and technical capabilities of regulated facilities

• This is an attempt by DEEP to seek out best ways to inspect regulated sources given the pandemic affect

• Site inspections may be re-initiated beginning in October

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Other Items• Diversion Registrations and Permits

– Updated the annual reporting form and instructions

– Available for RY2020; due January 31, 2021

• Water Quality Standards Triennial Review

– Still under review

For more information on various water permits go to:https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Permits-and-Licenses/Water-Discharge-Permits-and-General-Permits

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Waste Task ForceHighlights

October 2, 2020Harold Blinderman, Day Pitney LLPMark Bobman, Bristol Resource Recovery

DEEP – Coalition for Sustainable Materials Management September 2020

• Goal – modern, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable materials management system

• Challenge – high costs, limited New England capacity, aging infrastructure• Reliance on out-of-state disposal

– 400k tons MSW per year– 90% of C&D waste

• “Connecticut’s Waste Infrastructure is disproportionately located in Environmental Justice Communities” (CGS 22a-20a)

• MIRA Hartford facility – solution for 400-600k tons per year undetermined• Alternate technologies have been slow to come online

– one anaerobic digester– new glass processing facility expected to be operational soon (crushed glass

pozzolonic cement mix)

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Massachusetts Materials Management Capacity StudyMSW Consultants, February 2019

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New England Materials Management

• Connecticut DEEP commences Coalition for Sustainable Materials Management to resume efforts to introduce waste reduction strategies (September 2020)

• MIRA Hartford resource recovery facility is approaching end of useful life• Connecticut’s only ash landfill (Putnam) recently received Town Zoning approval

for major expansion; approvals by the Army Corps of Engineers and DEEP pending

• New England regional market – porous borders• Maine Penobscot Energy Recovery facility will reduce capacity from 304,000 to

210,000 tons per year• Closure of $70M Maine Fiberight facility – May 2020• MA DEP study projected >50% drop in landfill capacity 2017-2021• 10 MSW landfills, 3 ash landfills, 4 C&D landfills manage nearly 1M tons of

Massachusetts waste (~58% of the waste exported from the state)• Anticipated closure of New York Seneca Meadows and Allied Waste Niagara Falls

by 2027, which provide capacity of nearly 3M tons per year

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COVID-19

• Industry health & safety guidance issued to protect employees

• Connecticut DEEP: untreated waste generated during administration of medical care or performance of medical research, including infectious waste, pathological waste and chemotherapy waste is Biomedical Waste (BMW)

– includes disposable swabs and personal protective equipment (PPE) used during treatment and testing at medical facilities

– BMW should be managed in accordance with RCSA §22a-209-15

• Biomedical waste does not include PPE generated in a residential setting or used as a precaution in public venues such as offices, grocery stores, etc.

– this is considered MSW or trash and managed like other routinely generated waste

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Pandemic game changer

• Disruption in collection services

– Connecticut transfer station closed for several weeks

– Baltimore recycling 3-week shutdown, temporary containers used for residential drop-off

– Philadelphia reported 40% increase in residential volume, 30% employee absentee rate, with neighborhood groups collecting garbage

– Nashville phone calls increased 6x

– Nationwide, dramatic increases in residential waste volume with schools and businesses closed, people working from home, packaging waste from online purchasing

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Temporary blip or pivotal change?• Seismic shift in the waste industry – adaptation to the “new normal”• In 2019 about 55% residential/45% commercial makeup (soft estimate, many

residential units considered commercial, e.g., apartment buildings)• Office occupancy – Barron’s reported:

– Observatory at the Empire State Building, closed since mid-March, generated nearly $100 million of operating income in the 12 months ending February 2020 (now open)

– Commercial tenants representing 32% of rents requested deferral, 69% of April rents collected (73% office; 46% retail)

• NYC exodus• Citigroup analyst Michael Bilerman, stating “NYC office trends overall

exacerbated by loss of income from the closed observatory with reopening timing and tenure far less certain.”

• Entertainment, sports, indoor/outdoor concerts & festivals, parades suspended

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Brivo – “unlocks” refers to number of times doors are unlocked using key fob or ID (WSJ, “America’s Offices Sit Half-Empty Six Months Into the Covid-19 Pandemic”, September 17, 2020).

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Recycling?

• CMA CGM, APM-Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Hapag-Lloyd cargo lines announced suspension of shipments to China (4 of 5 major carriers)

– applies to recovered fiber, plastics, metals and chemicals

• Action defers to China’s goal to eliminate law banning “solid waste” imports (also affects Hong Kong)

• China remains a major market for certain grades of U.S. recovered fiber (recent trade industry data indicate about 31% of U.S. fiber exports)

• North American paper mill closures: Alabama (Grief), Ontario (Cascade), Minnesota/Wisconsin (Vesco)

Connecticut Department of Environmental ProtectionChanges to the Starting Lineup

• Graham Stevens, Bureau Chief, Water Protection and Land Reuse

• Kevin Neary, Supervisor, Eastern District, Remediation Division

• Liz McAuliffe, Remediation Division

• Joanna Burnham, Chair, Remediation Roundtable, Remediation Division

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DEEP –– Catch the Wave

• Wave 2 RSR Revisions/ Environmental Use Regulations (EURs)

– RSRs Wave 1 – Adopted 2013 – Streamlining of process

– RSRs Wave 2

• 2016 conceptual language circulated

• EUR’s – Companion to Wave 2

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• Wave 2/EUR proposed regulations were public noticed on July 8 and September 27, 2019 respectively

• DEEP goals: Greater regulatory certainty; faster, less costly cleanups; more exits

• Hearing Officer’s reports on Wave 2 and EUR’s were posted on July 23, 2020

• Both sets of regulation packages are now before the Legislative Regulation Review Committee for approval on October 27, 2020

WAVE 2/EUR UPDATE

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Spill Reporting

• Goal #20 of DEEP’s “20 By 20” Initiative – “Update Spill Reporting Regulations”

• July 8, 2020 DEEP kick-off – “Release-Based” framework proposed

• Among public comment concerns:

– Oil/Petroleum reporting threshold

– Oil/Petroleum reporting timeframe

• DEEP anticipates circulating

draft regulations later in the Fall

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Transfer Act Developments

• PA 19-75 - AN ACT CONCERNING THE AUDIT PERIOD FOR THE TRANSFER OF HAZARDOUS WASTE ESTABLISHMENTS

– Added exceptions to the Transfer Act program

– Shortened to one year the window for DEEP to commence an audit of final remediation verifications

– Established a working group to recommend further changes to the Transfer Act by February 1, 2020

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DEEP Transfer Act Developments (cont’d)

• Working Group issued their report on February 25, 2020

– Recommended discrete set of changes to the Transfer Act

• March 2020 – SB 281 – AAC Various Revisions to the Property Transfer Law

• September 2020:

– Legislative listening session held on September 17, 2020

– LCO 3962 – AAC Various Revisions to the Property Transfer Law and Spill-Based Remediation of Certain Hazardous Waste

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This Just InGovernor Lamont convenes Special Session to consider legislation including:

“legislation to (a) make changes to the Transfer Act consistent with the recommendations of the legislative working group convened pursuant to Public Act No. 19-75; (b) authorize a release-based remediation program requiring the reporting as well as the investigation and remediation of releases that also authorizes the adoption of regulations to implement such released-based cleanup program; and (c) provide for the sun setting of the Transfer Act upon the adoption of regulations necessary to implement a release-based remediation program”

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LINKS TO USEFUL RESOURCES

• Wave 2 RSRs

• EURs

• LCO 3962

• Spill Reporting Framework

• DEEP COVID-19 Enforcement Policy

• Special Session Proclamation

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Waste Task Force Update

THANK YOU

Harold Blinderman Mark Bobman

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Air Task Force Update

Dave Krochko, Woodard & CurranSteve Eitelman, Pratt & Whitney

New GPLPE Program• General Permit to Limit Potential to Emit (GPLPE) originally

issued in 1996

• Five-year permit term / re-issued four times

• Current GPLPE expires on November 8, 2020

• Over 170 facilities in Connecticut registered under the current GPLPE

• In lieu of re-issuing GPLPE in 2020, transitioning to a regulatory format to provide “practicably enforceable” alternative to major source Title V permitting

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New GPLPE Program• CTDEEP issued regulations to implement program going

forward:– RCSA § 22a-174-33a to implement “GPLPE-50”– RCSA § 22a-174-33b to implement “GPLPE-80”

• Optional program open to any source seeking to cap its PTE

• No registration – only a notification

– Notification forms must be submitted prior to November 8, 2020 to ensure no gap in coverage

• No fees & No Expiration

New GPLPE Program• Current GPLPE registrants required to submit Annual Compliance

Certification through EMIT system covering operations from 1/1/2020 through 11/8/2020

– Emissions can be reported through 11/8/2020 or entire calendar year

• The first annual reporting period under new regulations will be 1/1/2021 through 12/31/2021

– Facilities still must comply with all emissions limitations, monitoring, and recordkeeping requirements beginning on 11/8/2020

• CTDEEP Contact: Jared Millay / (860) 418-5911 / jared.millay@ct.gov

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Phase 2 NOx RACT Reminders• NOx RACT Phase 2 under RCSA §§22a-174-22e

begins in June 2023

• Applicable to the following:– Major Stationary Source of NOX (>25/50 tpy PTE)

– Minor sources of NOx with high emitting units (actual NOx emissions >137/274 lb/day)

• Compliance Plans due soon for sources unable to meet numerical emission limits under Phase 2:– January 1, 2021 for Case-by-Case Determination

– September 1, 2021 for alternative compliance option listed in rule

Incinerator Changes CTDEEP has proposed revisions to RCSA 22a‐174‐1 & ‐3a designed to exempt certain 

incinerators from categorical requirement to obtain NSR permits

Five new categories of incinerators to be exempt from categorical NSR permit requirement, 

provided PTE < 15 tpy for any regulated air pollutant

1. Burn‐off Oven (must meet new definition, including specification for secondary combustion chamber 

and operating temperature)

2. Bench Scale R&D Operations (as currently defined in 22a‐174‐33(a)(8))

3. Quality Control or Performance Testing (combustion of non‐halogenated materials only)

4. Contraband or Confiscated Goods (burned in portable unit operated by government agency)

Very similar to version reviewed with stakeholders back in October 2018

Proposed regulatory changes issued for public comment on 7/2/2020

Comment period has since closed and CTDEEP working on hearing report followed by submittal 

to the AG office for approval

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Electronic Reporting• Electronic report submittal guidance clarified by

CTDEEP during pandemic– CEDRI always an option, even if not specifically required

– CTDEEP reports can be e-mailed to deep.cacu@ct.gov

– Scanned PDFs with signature do not required separate hard copy

– Title V / GPLPE should continue to use EMIT / ezFile

Air Permit Conditions….• More often air permits containing conditions:

– Difficult to determine compliance

– Do nothing to protect the environment

– Not based on a regulation or requirement

– General references to other documents

– Redundant requirements

• Does your air permit include conditions like these?– ….The Permittee shall operate and maintain the turbine, air pollution control

equipment and monitoring equipment in accordance with manufacturer’s specifications and written recommendations

– …The Permittee shall maintain records sufficient to demonstrate that the engine is operated in accordance with this guidance.

– …Minimize the distance from the spray gun to the object being coated

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Air Permit Conditions….• At next E2 Meeting, Air Task Force to lead a discussion

around unnecessary or redundant permit requirements that increase regulatory compliance risk and require additional recordkeeping & monitoring requirements

• What can be done about them?

• Please feel free to share any examples prior to the meeting

THANK YOU!

Please reach out to Steve & Dave

with any questions

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