Another per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) related bill was discussed in the State Capitol Thursday, SB 378, which would establish a statewide PFAS background data study. The bill, which was introduced by the Commerce Committee, was unanimously moved to be scheduled on the consent calendar.
The bill would allot $2 million to the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to hire an environmental research organization to study PFAS levels across the state. The study would establish background levels of PFAS chemicals. Background levels are defined by the EPA as “the concentration of a hazardous substance that provides a defensible reference point that can be used to evaluate whether or not a release from the site has occurred.”
Identifying what the background levels of PFAS are across the state would give property sellers and purchasers a frame of reference to know what level of PFAS contamination is normal and what levels are exceptionally high. The lack of consensus on acceptable levels of PFAS contamination has been a net negative for economic development, according to Committee Co-Chair Sen. Joan Hartley (D-Waterbury).
“With the advent of PFAS in our environment, we have found that it is now causing many of our proposals for commercial and industrial projects to come to a screeching halt,” said Hartley. “Many of our surrounding states have already engaged in this kind of a study.”
Hartley said the study would give a PFAS level framework and would give prospective property purchasers clarity on what potential remediation steps would be required on a property moving forward. Hartley also said that the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is in support of the bill.
In 2023, DEEP revised its Environmental Condition Assessment Form (ECAF) to require disclosure of past activities that could potentially have exposed a property to PFAS contamination. ECAF is a form that must be completed prior to the sale of any property previously involved in industries that could have exposed the property to environmental contamination. While the state looks to hone in on PFAS contaminants, the lack of consensus on acceptable PFAS levels obfuscates the sale of properties containing any level of PFAS contamination.
Public testimony on SB 378, provided in a public hearing held on the bill on March 8, shows the impact it has had on industrial development throughout the state.
“The study of PFAS and PFOS and the establishment of baseline guidance criteria is very important to the commercial banking community and directly impacts the lendability of all types of real property in Connecticut,” wrote Edgar Auchinloss, Senior Vice President of People’s United Bank. “Absent proper guidance and understanding, providing credit in the face of known exposure becomes problematic.”
Auchinloss went on to write that a lack of concrete criteria on how much PFAS will require environmental remediation “all but ensures private sector investment and credit will not be available to transact impacted properties.”
Given the vast proliferation of PFAS in the environment, and PFAS long timeline to naturally decompose, there is no telling how many properties could potentially be affected by PFAS contamination. Without the determination of a background level of PFAS contamination, prospective developers and the state alike have little way of determining whether or not a property will need environmental remediation.
According to DEEP’s own website, its remediation regulations “do not contain numeric cleanup standards for emerging contaminants including PFAS.” As it stands, whether or not a PFAS-contaminated property requires remediation is determined by standards used for what DEEP calls “additional polluting substances” (APS). These are substances that have been recognized by the state as pollutants but have not yet been listed as one of the 88 substances in its remediation standard regulations. Again, per DEEP’s guidelines, when property owners are dealing with property contaminated by APS, such as PFAS, they must inquire with DEEP’s Commissioner to get specific numeric guidelines as to what levels are acceptable for the property.
“Numeric criteria must be requested and approved by the Commissioner in order to complete cleanup at the site under the RSRs, unless background concentrations are met,” reads the DEEP’s guidelines on APS.
Given that nobody knows what can be considered background levels of PFAS at this time, this stipulation leaves the sale and redevelopment of industrial properties with any level of PFAS contamination in regulatory purgatory.
If SB 378 is passed, the study will be conducted by analyzing samples from a variety of green spaces owned by the state across rural, suburban and urban settings that are unlikely to have been disproportionately impacted by PFAS, such as undeveloped sites with no history of pesticide applications. The study would collect shallow soil samples from 100 such sites across the state, shallow groundwater samples from fifty such sites, and drinking water samples from another 100 random sites across the state. It would also collect surface water and sediment samples from the Housatonic, Connecticut, Thames and Pawcatuck Rivers. These samples would then be tested and their results compiled in a database accessible to the public, and presented to the Commerce Committee by January 1, 2026.
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