{"id":148,"date":"2011-08-15T16:40:38","date_gmt":"2011-08-15T16:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oto-env.com\/blog\/?p=148"},"modified":"2020-09-16T14:10:31","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T18:10:31","slug":"transforming-connecticuts-site-cleanup-program-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oto-env.com\/blog\/transforming-connecticuts-site-cleanup-program-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Transforming Connecticut’s Site Cleanup Program (2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

As described in an earlier post, the Connecticut DEEP (Department of Energy and Environmental Protection) is working to transform its 16 separate site cleanup programs to make the overall system more efficient and productive.\u00a0 Many of the program problems are due to regulatory inflexibility; and that inflexibility reflects a fear\u00a0that without close state agency involvement, cleanups will not conducted to the standards needed to protect public safety.\u00a0 Despite good intentions, this fear has hindered Connecticut’s ability to develop waste site cleanup momentum.\u00a0 By creating regulatory road blocks and amplifying financial risks, DEEP has depressed developer’s appetite for site cleanups.\u00a0 So instead, dirty sites fester for decades.<\/p>\n

Enter the relatively new DEEP Commissioner Daniel C. Esty.\u00a0 On-leave from Yale<\/a> where he is a joint professor at the Law School and the\u00a0School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, he joins DEEP with a long list of accomplishments.\u00a0\u00a0 A champion of “next generation” regulation, he looks to private companies to take the initiative on environmental issues.\u00a0 He is also an advocate of data-based environmental decision making; a principle we at OTO fervently applaud.\u00a0 \u00a0Esty has taken on the job of evaluating and transforming the state\u2019s cleanup programs and his schedule is aggressive; a report is due to the State Legislature by December 15, 2011.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Esty’s point man for managing the transformation of the cleanup regulations is Graham Stevens.\u00a0 In addition to his job at DEEP, Stevens, a 1998 graduate of Clark University is also pursuing graduate studies at UConn.\u00a0 After demonstrating strong leadership ability at the Department, he moved up quickly and was named Chief of Staff to former DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy.\u00a0 He now serves as the Department’s Brownfields Coordinator.\u00a0 Stevens has developed a network of relationships throughout state government from the legislative to the municipal level.\u00a0 As former hockey player, Esty sees Stevens as a team member who can score an important goal.<\/p>\n

Stevens’s biggest challenge will be getting the report on transforming the site cleanup program into the net by the December 2011 deadline; a similar process in New Jersey took 18 months.\u00a0 And not everyone involved necessarily wants to see him succeed. Arrayed in front of him are a group of influential players in government, legal and technical professions with vested interests in limiting the cleanup program changes.<\/p>\n

We at OTO are fully supportive of the Commissioner\u2019s goals. \u00a0OTO has two senior people contributing to the process.\u00a0 Among our recommendations for change will be the incorporation of site specific risk assessments as a vital tool for demonstrating when a cleanup is sufficient. Whether meaningful change can ultimately be realized remains to be seen, but we are pleased to see this initiative moving forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As described in an earlier post, the Connecticut DEEP (Department of Energy and Environmental Protection) is working to transform its 16 separate site cleanup programs to make the overall system more efficient and productive.\u00a0 Many of the program problems are due to regulatory inflexibility; and that inflexibility reflects a fear\u00a0that without close state agency involvement, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticutcleanupprogram"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t