Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Changes to Remediation Standards are Dropped

The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection decided earlier this summer not to finish the changes to the Remediation Standard Regulations, commonly known as the RSRs.  The RSRs provide exact requirements for remediation of contamination in soil and groundwater.  Previously remediation standards were handled by DEP on a case by case basis, which was a much more cumbersome process. The RSRs provide a level of certainty, espectially for Connecticut Transfer Act properties.

The new RSRs would have added requirements for new contaminants and would have made the remediation requirements for some other contaminants more stringent.  There has been no explanation as to why, after years of work, DEP decided to drop the changes.  One reason may be the budget problems facing all Connecticut state agencies.  DEP may have decided to devote its limited resources to other priorities.  Another reason could be the difficulty in developing a workable transition period.  Since most remediation projects go on for many years, it would be difficult to apply the new standards to an existing project.  This had become a hot topic.