Connecticut General Statutes 22a-424 – Powers and duties of commissioner
The commissioner shall have the following powers and duties:
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 22a-424
- Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection or his designated agent. See Connecticut General Statutes 22a-423
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- discharge: means the emission of any water, substance or material into the waters of the state, whether or not such substance causes pollution. See Connecticut General Statutes 22a-423
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- federal Safe Drinking Water Act: means the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 USC, Section 300f et seq. See Connecticut General Statutes 22a-423
- federal Water Pollution Control Act: means the federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 USC Section 466 et seq. See Connecticut General Statutes 22a-423
- Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. Source: OCC
- municipality: means any metropolitan district, town, consolidated town and city, consolidated town and borough, city, borough, village, fire and sewer district, sewer district and each municipal organization having authority to levy and collect taxes or make charges for its authorized function. See Connecticut General Statutes 22a-423
- person: means any individual, partnership, association, firm, limited liability company, corporation or other entity, except a municipality, and includes the federal government, the state or any instrumentality of the state, and any officer or governing or managing body of any partnership, association, firm or corporation or any member or manager of a limited liability company. See Connecticut General Statutes 22a-423
- pollution: means harmful thermal effect or the contamination or rendering unclean or impure or prejudicial to public health of any waters of the state by reason of any wastes or other material discharged or deposited therein by any public or private sewer or otherwise so as directly or indirectly to come in contact with any waters. See Connecticut General Statutes 22a-423
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
- waters: means all tidal waters, harbors, estuaries, rivers, brooks, watercourses, waterways, wells, springs, lakes, ponds, marshes, drainage systems and all other surface or underground streams, bodies or accumulations of water, natural or artificial, public or private, which are contained within, flow through or border upon this state or any portion thereof. See Connecticut General Statutes 22a-423
(a) To exercise general supervision of the administration and enforcement of this chapter;
(b) To develop comprehensive programs for the prevention, control and abatement of new or existing pollution of the waters of the state;
(c) To advise, consult and cooperate with other agencies of the state, the federal government, other states and interstate agencies and with affected groups, political subdivisions and industries in furtherance of the purposes of this chapter. Such powers and duties shall include receiving information provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, which if subject to a claim of confidentiality pursuant to the federal Freedom of Information Act of 1976 (5 USC 552) and regulations adopted thereunder, shall be kept confidential by the commissioner notwithstanding any of the provisions of § 1-210 to the contrary;
(d) To submit plans for the prevention and control of water pollution and to render reports and accounts to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and to any other federal officer or agency on such forms containing such information as the said Administrator or any other federal officer or agency, may reasonably require, in order to qualify the state and its municipalities for grants from the United States government;
(e) To encourage, participate in or conduct studies, investigations, research and demonstrations, and collect and disseminate information, relating to water pollution and the causes, prevention, control and abatement thereof;
(f) To issue, modify or revoke orders prohibiting or abating pollution of the waters of the state, or requiring the construction, modification, extension or alteration of pollution abatement facilities or monitoring systems, or any parts thereof, or adopting such other remedial measures as are necessary to prevent, control or abate pollution;
(g) To hold such hearings as may be required under the provisions of this chapter and the federal Water Pollution Control Act or other applicable federal law, for which he shall have the power to issue notices by certified mail, administer oaths, take testimony and subpoena witnesses and evidence;
(h) To require the submission of plans, specifications and other necessary data for, and inspect the construction of, pollution abatement facilities and monitoring or disposal systems in connection with the issuance of such permits or approvals as may be required by this chapter and the federal Water Pollution Control Act;
(i) To issue, continue in effect, revoke, transfer, modify or deny permits, under such conditions as he may prescribe, for the discharge of any water, substance or material into the waters of the state, or orders for or approval of the installation, modification or operation of pollution abatement facilities or monitoring systems;
(j) To require proper maintenance and operation of monitoring and disposal systems;
(k) To exercise all incidental powers necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter and the federal Water Pollution Control Act;
(l) To adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 to implement this chapter and to comply with the federal Water Pollution Control Act and the federal Safe Drinking Water Act;
(m) Either on his own initiative or upon complaint, to investigate or order the person who caused or reasonably may be expected to cause the pollution to investigate all points of existing or potential waste discharge which may directly or indirectly result in pollution of the waters of the state provided upon written complaint by the Commissioner of Public Health, the chief executive officer of a municipality, the warden or any of the burgesses of a borough, a committeeman of a fire district or a local or district director of health, the commissioner shall investigate or order the person who caused or reasonably may be expected to cause the pollution to investigate all points of existing or potential waste discharges which may directly or indirectly result in pollution of the waters of the state.