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Connecticut public-health working group formed to review septic regulations, sets biweekly meetings
Summary
A stakeholder working group convened by the Connecticut General Assembly Public Health Committee agreed to a 2 p.m. biweekly meeting schedule, named Jim Paris as a volunteer co-chair, and outlined subgroups to review nitrogen assessments, cost impacts and regulatory process for on-site sewage disposal.
State Rep. Kristin McCarthy Dahe, co-chair of the Connecticut General Assembly Public Health Committee, convened a stakeholder working group to review sewerage disposal and on-site wastewater regulations and said members will meet biweekly at 2 p.m.; the next full meeting was scheduled for Wednesday the 17th (month not specified). Jim Paris, CEO of the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Connecticut, agreed to serve as one of the group's co-chairs.
The group will review Public Act 25-97 and a set of draft regulations issued earlier this year by the Department of Public Health (DPH), with particular attention to nitrogen-assessment requirements and where those requirements might apply geographically. "We do want to follow the science," said Mr. Perez, a member of the working group, adding the group must balance environmental and public-health protections with housing costs. Representative McCarthy Dahe thanked DPH staff for partnering on the work and described the issue as environmental, public-safety and housing-related.
Members discussed a meeting structure that would combine biweekly plenary sessions with more frequent subgroup meetings. Proposed subgroups include: (1) a nitrogen-standards subgroup to review technical aspects of the draft regulations; (2) a cost-and-housing subgroup to explore regulatory changes and process improvements that could lower housing costs while protecting health and the environment; and (3) a process-and-resources subgroup to review the Code Advisory Committee process and whether DPH and local sanitarians have adequate resources.
The Public Health Committee staff — represented in the meeting by Beverly (public health staff) and Peter (public health clerk) — will handle administrative tasks such as setting up Zoom links and calendar invites. Representative McCarthy Dahe said the committee and the majority leader's office would support administrative needs but that any formal reports would originate with the working group.
No formal votes were recorded during the session. Participants agreed informally to a 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. biweekly meeting cadence; meeting logistics and the agenda for the next meeting are to be circulated by committee staff. The group also discussed possible flexibility for subgroup meeting times if members leading a subgroup needed to meet outside the standing hour.
Meeting participants emphasized the cross-cutting nature of on-site sewage rules, noting regulatory choices affect shoreline communities, small towns and housing development across Connecticut. The working group will consider technical and policy changes identified in Public Act 25-97 and the DPH draft regulations and will seek to balance environmental protection, public health, and housing affordability in any recommendations.
The working group adjourned with organizers asking for volunteers to serve as the second co-chair and with a reminder that the Public Health Committee would circulate meeting invitations and agendas.
