ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DEPARTMENT; PERMITS; SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT;

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT;

You asked under what circumstances the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner must hold a hearing on an application to build or expand a solid waste facility.

The law requires the DEP commissioner to hold a hearing on all applications to build new solid waste disposal areas. It requires him to hold a hearing on an application to alter or operate an existing solid waste facility if he receives a request to do so in a petition with at least 25 signatures. In other cases he may hold a hearing if he believes it will best serve the public interest (CGS § 22a-208a(e)). DEP legislative liaison Tom Tyler suggests this approach saves time and resources by eliminating the need for a hearing when an application is unopposed.

The commissioner also can amend a permit to build or operate a facility without a hearing if it would involve minor changes that he does not believe would significantly change the facility’s nature or environmental impact (CGS § 22a-208a(e)).

Once a permit application has been filed, the commissioner has five business days to give written notice to the chief elected official of the town where the facility is, or will be, located (CGS § 22a-208a(b)). According to DEP, an applicant must publish notice of the plans in a newspaper circulated in the area to be affected by the proposed activity immediately after the application is filed. He must submit a certified copy of the notice to DEP. DEP will not process an application until it receives this (http: //dep. state. ct. us/pao/download/wstedown/wswf. wpd).

The commissioner also may require the applicant to post a sign at the facility that is the subject of the permit application notifying the public and abutting landowners of the application. The sign must be at least six by four feet, clearly legible, and posted for at least 120 days, or until the commissioner publishes notice of his tentative determination on the application, whichever is earlier. The commissioner may require other, reasonable forms of notice if he believes a sign is not sufficient (CGS § 22a-6l).

PF: ro