Strengthening Enforcement
DEEP is strengthening its consistency, transparency, and resources around enforcement and compliance through 20BY26 Goals 4, 5, and 6.
Goal 4 of 20BY26 sets targets to increase consistency and transparency in enforcement programs across DEEP and to incorporate equity and environmental justice into decision-making. Since announcing this initiative, DEEP has deployed new tools to strengthen our enforcement programs. Background on this goal is presented in DEEP’s 20BY26, Setting the Target: CT DEEP 2026 Goals (February 2024).
Latest Progress (as of Spring 2025)
DEEP continues to add information on complaints that result in inspections collectively by Town, as well as new enforcement cases on a quarterly basis, to the Enforcement Viewer to make our enforcement work all the more transparent. Application structure, metadata, and data aggregation methodology have been updated for a simplified user experience and more automated layer creation.
WPED published the annual list of SIU’s in noncompliance for 10/1/23 to 9/30/24 in June 2025.
DEEP has awarded four new Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs), totaling almost $1.7M - to Tolland and Ansonia, which are EJ communities, and to East Windsor and a state-wide radiation project. SEPs are those that use enforcement penalty monies to pay for beneficial environmental projects in communities impacted by pollution.
DEEP also welcomed three new staff in enforcement positions in the Emergency Response and Spill Prevention and Waste Engineering and Enforcement Divisions.
NVCOG and Save the Sound's Kinneytown Dam Removal project will utilize SEP funding from DEEP.
Up Next
DEEP will update its SEP Policy to include environmental justice and climate resiliency considerations.
DEEP's Air Bureau will share GMAP monitoring data on its dedicated webpage, offering the public greater insight into DEEP’s inspection targeting and compliance assurance processes.
GOAL 4 PROGRESS FROM PREVIOUS QUARTERS
Winter 2025
In Q1 2025, DEEP welcomed an enforcement coordinator for the Dam Safety Program to further ensure timely inspections and permit compliance. In January 2025, DEEP submitted the Underground Storage Tank program regulations for civil penalties, after a 45-day public notice period in Fall 2024, to the Legislative Regulation Review Committee. The regulations passed unanimously on Earth Day, April 22, 2025, became effective May 7, 2025, and will increase the predictability and transparency for penalty amounts associated with specific types of violations. We continue to add information on inspections that result in enforcement, as well as new enforcement cases on a quarterly basis, to the Enforcement Viewer to make our enforcement work all the more transparent.
Fall 2024
DEEP published the Federal Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Enforcement Statistics Report, which shows an overall increase in DEEP’s total number of inspections (4,145) compared to the previous federal fiscal year (4,017). DEEP continued to work on strengthening enforcement resources through filling vacant and new enforcement positions in municipal wastewater, ERSPD, WEED, and WPED programs. DEEP also added a data layer to the Enforcement Viewer that aggregates reported complaints resulting in DEEP inspections for LWRD and WPED. DEEP’s Underground Storage Tank program developed a set of regulations for civil penalties, increasing the predictability and transparency on penalty amounts associated with specific types of violations. These regulations were publicly noticed for 45 days in Fall 2024
Summer 2024
WPED published a list of all Significant Industrial Users discharging wastewater who are in significant noncompliance with federal standards during federal FY2023 (10/1/22 to 9/30/23). LWRD defined special conditions in licenses that can address typical violations that are found during construction, giving permittees more clarity and reducing the number of violations. The Water Planning and Management Division (WPMD) hired an enforcement coordinator for the Municipal Wastewater Program.
Winter and Spring 2024
Leveraging ArcGIS Online tools, DEEP created the Enforcement Viewer Application for public transparency in locating formal enforcement actions across the state. DEEP also concluded its Geospatial Measurement of Air Pollution (GMAP) tour in Hartford/East Hartford.
In Goal 5, DEEP is developing additional tools and providing greater compliance assistance in sectors with higher non-compliance. Background on this goal is presented in DEEP’s 20BY26, Setting the Target: CT DEEP 2026 Goals (February 2024).
Latest Progress (as of Spring 2025)
In April 2025, Land and Water Resources held a Beach Association Guide stakeholder meeting at DEEP Marine Headquarters and will continue to do so annually to directly reach stakeholders and increase compliance. Additionally, the Remediation Division held training on 5-year inspections for Environmental Use Restrictions.
In May 2025, WPED published a guidance document to assist permittees with discharges of wastewaters to sanitary sewers or surface waters prepare for an inspection and reduce instances of non-compliance. WPED also posted factsheets identifying the most common violations and how to come into compliance on the new Compliance Hub webpage. WPED held workshops for the recently public-noticed five General Permits (see Goal 2) with various stakeholder group for transparent and educational compliance engagement. Reporting of non-compliance through WPED’s reporting tool reached 943 notifications in FFY2025, about 80 more than in the previous year.
Up Next
DEEP is working to create the Inland Wetland Watercourses Activity Reporting system via ArcGIS Survey123 and aggregate historic databases of past submissions into a single review application for staff.
DEEP will create a Compliance Calendar to remind users of programmatic annual reporting dates, times of year to submit certain recurring applications, regularly scheduled events providing compliance information, annual fee submittals, and the like. For example, annual reporting for commercial waste organics is required by March 1, in accordance with Public Act 23-170.
GOAL 5 PROGRESS FROM PREVIOUS QUARTERS
Winter 2025
DEEP developed a license transmittal letter to provide consistent information to the permittee on relevant compliance assistance tools. DEEP also created new public complaint submission and review systems for Waste reporting (including solid and hazardous waste) and Emergency Response reporting (including PCBs, Underground Storage Tanks, and Marine Terminals) using Survey123 in ArcGIS Online, further standardizing the processing of public complaints agency-wide.
DEEP’s Land and Water Resources and Waste programs posted factsheets identifying the most common violations and how to come into compliance on the new Compliance Hub webpage - LWRD’s Top 10 Compliance Issues and How to Fix Them; Solid Waste's Top 8 Compliance Issues and How to Fix Them; Hazardous Waste's Top 10 Compliance Issues and How to Fix Them; and Pesticide’s Top 10 Compliance Issues and How to Fix Them.
DEEP’s Sustainable Materials Management program has developed informational resources for commercial food scrap generators to more easily determine if their operations trigger the Commercial Organics Law (CGS section 22a-226e). These compliance resources describe which operations are subject to the law, how to comply with the law, and FAQs. Annual reporting is required by March 1 in accordance with Public Act 23-170, and inspections are conducted to ensure compliance and provide assistance. The reporting form can be found on the Commercial Organics webpage.
Fall 2024
DEEP created complaint reporting systems for the Emergency Response & Spill Prevention Division (ERSPD) and Waste Engineering and Enforcement Division.
The Land and Water Resource Division hosted a Beach Association Guide stakeholder meeting at Fort Trumbull, New London in October 2024.
The Water Permitting and Enforcement Division (WPED) refined their MS4 Targeted Compliance Assistance Plan based on stakeholder feedback and used data from annual reports to generate a list of facilities in need of compliance inspections and assistance. WPED posted the public notice for the Industrial Stormwater General Permit in December 2024 to solicit feedback from stakeholders. The General Permit has a new Corrective Action Plan section built into the permit, providing facilities in noncompliance with concise and consistent steps to return to compliance.
The Remediation Division started an Environmental Use Restriction (EUR) compliance inspection program to ensure that institutional and engineered controls covered under the recorded EUR continue to be in place. The Environmental Use Restriction Five-Year Comprehensive Inspection Forms, developed with the help of Environmental Professionals of Connecticut, are now available for use. A brief presentation on EUR Five-Year Comprehensive Inspections was presented at the March 25, 2025 Remediation RoundTable.
Summer 2024
DEEP began using Power Automate to connect our complaint intake systems to automatically and simultaneously send response emails. As part of its ongoing assessment of feedback from the MS4 Technical Workshops hosted in Spring 2024, WPED identified and prioritized fundamental components of the MS4 Program allowing the team to develop a Targeted Compliance Assistance Plan for the regulated community. Waste Engineering and Enforcement Division (WEED) launched an inspection protocol for commercial food scrap generators to determine if their operations trigger the Commercial Organics Law (CGS Section 22a-226e) and began compliance assistance checks in August 2024.
Winter and Spring 2024
DEEP created new compliance tools to help meet the Goal’s objectives. DEEP converted traditional phone and email-based public complaint systems to digital surveys through ArcGIS Online’s Survey123 to streamline public engagement, provide faster response, and reduce the staff time needed to address complaints. DEEP published major guidance on Stormwater and coastal activities in Spring 2024.
Goal 6 of 20BY26 concentrates efforts on strengthening our financial assurance management, which applies to money held in trust to address failed remedies or unfulfilled permitted actions. Fourteen programs across DEEP use financial assurance (FA) instruments. Background on this goal is presented in DEEP’s 20BY26, Setting the Target: CT DEEP 2026 Goals (February 2024).
Latest Progress (as of Spring 2025)
DEEP began drafting template language for financial assurance instruments, such as Letters of Credit, trust, bonds, and guarantees. These templates will be streamlined, applicable to all programs, and consider the regulatory criteria for each program. With the advent of the Financial Assurance Transmittal Form, we are tracking all financial assurance instruments uniformly, instead of according to program-specific policies. Please remember to submit your financial assurances by certified mail directly to:
Accounts Receivable Office
Bureau of Central Services
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
79 Elm Street
Hartford, CT 06106-5127
DEEP continues to construct its centralized, upgraded FA tracking system.
Up Next
DEEP will begin data conversion into the upgraded FA tracking system and create a centralized webpage for all programs that use financial assurances.
GOAL 6 PROGRESS FROM PREVIOUS QUARTERS
Winter 2025
DEEP revised the Financial Assurance Transmittal Form after receiving feedback from the regulated community on its use. DEEP is also developing a database with shared access for DEEP staff to track documents and their storage, along with basic information about the Financial Assurance instrument itself.
Fall 2024
DEEP created an intake form to accompany financial assurance (FA) documents submitted by the regulated community that will improve processing procedures and consistency by indicating where FA documents are to be submitted and details for the accompanying information, such as the site location and DEEP program for which the FA has been established. This required information helps DEEP staff determine how the documents will be stored, tracked, and routed to the correct DEEP program. Storage in DEEP's vault is critical to secure legal documents, and tracking reduces time spent by staff locating documents.
Summer 2024
DEEP continued reviewing financial instruments for standardization across programs and worked to establish an agency-wide tracking database.
Winter and Spring 2024
DEEP formalized an internal standard operating procedure to guide staff on the proper management of financial assurance.
Content last updated September 2025