The Connecticut Property Transfer Act sunsets March 1 and will be replaced by new Release-Based Clean Up Regulations.
This means cleanup of environmental sites will be triggered by the discovery of actual environmental conditions and not real estate transfers, providing opportunity for the environmental cleanup of a currently estimated 2,500 Connecticut properties.
The new regulations are expected to speed up property transactions by encouraging cleanup well before a transfer. They also don’t single out certain businesses and apply to all properties, subject to some exceptions.
The new regulations also are intended to hasten the remediation of contamination because they require reporting and cleanup upon the discovery of a release, instead of letting a potential environmental hazard languish until the property is transferred.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has built a website with information to support the transition from the Property Transfer Act to Release-Based Clean Up Regulations, including a Transition Information Sheet.
Transfer Act History
This change marks a shift from a transaction-based approach to the release-based regime used in most states.
Adopted in 1985, the Connecticut Property Transfer Act (CGS 22a-134 et seq.) required site-wide environmental investigation and potential remediation when specific presumed high-risk properties, defined as “establishments,” are sold or otherwise transferred.
“Establishments” include certain types of businesses, such as dry cleaners and vehicle body repair shops, as well as sites or businesses that generated 100 kg of hazardous waste in any one month since November 1980.
At the time of transfer, one of the parties must file forms with DEEP summarizing known environmental conditions and committing one of the parties to investigate and remediate the entire parcel, or a portion thereof, as applicable, in accordance with established standards.
Legacy Transfer Act sites remain in the Transfer Act Program for the foreseeable future, although the new regulations will offer a pathway to transition to the new program.
Release-Based Clean Up Regulations
Faced with dissatisfaction from business owners, developers, financiers and environmentalists, Connecticut lawmakers passed legislation in 2020 requiring DEEP to come up with a new, release-based system similar to those in existence in most other states. After four years of public forums and other feedback, Release-Based Clean Up Regulations were approved by the legislature’s Regulations Review Committee on April 22, 2025.
The new rules set in place a system through which investigation and remediation obligations are triggered by the discovery of existing releases to the land and waters of the state. The reporting requirement applies to the owner and anyone who controls the parcel, as well as the person or entity creating the release.
Economists from the Department of Economic Community Development estimate the new release-based rules will boost the state’s economy by $3.78 billion and create more than 2,100 construction jobs.
Here are details of how it works:
Discovery
The regulations are triggered upon the discovery or occurrence of a release by a creator or maintainer. A creator or maintainer has “discovered” a release when they have knowledge of the release, which is evidenced by their awareness of:
- Laboratory Analysis of soil, groundwater, sediment, or soil vapor that indicates concentrations of such substances above the laboratory reporting limit.
- Observed presence of non-aqueous phase liquid.
- Multiple lines of evidence indicating the presence of a release (e.g., observed staining, odors, field screening results, etc.).
However, a release is not deemed discovered if the only evidence of the release is environmental data generated before March 1, 2026, a carve-out DEEP calls the “filing cabinet exemption.”
Consequently, a prior report alone does not constitute discovery of a release. However, that report may serve as one line of evidence if combined with new site observations or findings.
For Significant Existing Releases (SER), those that resulted in serious contamination, such as affecting a drinking water well or surface soil contamination at 15 or 30 times the remediation standards, the releases are deemed “discovered” when anyone becomes aware of the release. Such person does not need to be an owner or in control of the property.
Reporting
The new law provides for release reporting requirements with the following time frames:
- Significant Existing Releases, or SERs, must be reported within 72 hours (unless impacting a drinking water supply well, which requires a report within 24 hours);
- Releases that are equal too, or greater than, two times the cleanup criteria are to be reported within 120 days of discovery; and
- Releases that are equal to, or less than, two times the cleanup criteria are to be reported within 365 days of discovery.
Releases falling into the 120-day and 365-day reporting categories do not need to be reported if they are remediated to the applicable cleanup standard before the respective reporting deadline.
Characterization and Tiering
If a release is not fully remediated to the applicable cleanup standard within one year of discovery, it must be assigned to one of four “Tiers” based on the potential risk posed by the release. The assignment of a Tier will, among other things, determine whether oversight and ultimate approval will be performed by DEEP, a licensed environmental professional or by a new class of qualified individuals known as Permitted Environmental Professionals (“PEP”). PEPs are authorized to oversee and approve remediation of less impactful releases that are not designated by a Tier. Here’s how other Tiers will be handled:
- Tier 1A – Releases that pose the highest risk require DEEP oversight.
- Tier 1B – Releases with known risk to receptors require LEP oversight.
- Tier 2 – Releases with no risks to receptors require LEP oversight.
- Tier 3 – Releases requiring only monitoring, but no remediation.
Cleanup Standards
The applicable cleanup standards are those under the Remediation Standard Regulations, as modified by the Release-Based Clean Up Regulations.
Some notable additions:
- The regulations provide for managed multifamily and passive recreation scenarios less stringent than the residential soil cleanup provisions, but more stringent than commercial/industrial requirements.
- The regulations also establish permit-by-rule options to allow the management of certain conditions in place if certain criteria are met — industrial/commercial sites only; with confirmed presence of historically impacted material.
While the new regulations are a positive step, they still do not relieve property owners of compliance obligations or property buyers of risks. If you have questions or concerns about the new regulations, Harris Beach Murtha’s Environmental Practice Group can help. Please reach out to attorney Alfred E. Smith Jr. at (203) 772-7722 and asmith@harrisbeachmurtha.com; attorney Raquel Herrara-Soto at (203) 772-7736 and rherrerasoto@harrisbeachmurtha.com; or the Harris Beach Murtha attorney with whom you most frequently work.
This alert is not a substitute for advice of counsel on specific legal issues.
Harris Beach Murtha’s lawyers and consultants practice from offices throughout Connecticut in Bantam, Hartford, New Haven and Stamford; New York state in Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Syracuse, Long Island and White Plains, as well as in Boston, Massachusetts, and Newark, New Jersey.
