Advanced Environmental Interface - Regulatory References

Uncle Sam has the time and resources to devote to regulations. Most businesses don't. A bookshelf of the EPA Code of Federal Regulations (the 23 volumes embracing all its environmental regulations, Title 40) occupies 28 inches of bookshelf space and covers 17600 pages (for the current set of books). It's all fine print, too (10-point Times). Connecticut -- along with most other states -- has adopted federal environmental regulations; some by separate programs, some by incorporating the federal regulations by reference. Towns may also have local environmental ordinances (wetlands, aquifer protection, underground tanks) that refer to the various federal programs. That's a pretty high information burden; these regulations take time to comprehend, and more time to work with effectively. Fortunately, problems usually crop up in only one subject area at a time. The following list of regulation references may be helpful:

The different subject areas of the Code of Federal Regulations.
EPA index and access to environmental laws, regulations, and legislation.
An index of federal environmental regulations under Title 40 (EPA).
The different subject areas of Connecticut environmental law.
An index to Connecticut environmental laws under Title 22a (DEP).
A brief synopsis of how federal environmental regulations develop.
A brief synopsis of how state environmental regulations develop.

CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS (CFR) INDEX

Title 1 General Provisions
Title 2 [Reserved]
Title 3 The President
Title 4 Accounts
Title 5 Administrative Personnel
Title 6 [Reserved]
Title 7 Agriculture
Title 8 Aliens and Nationality
Title 9 Animals and Animal Products
Title 10 Energy
Title 11 Federal Elections
Title 12 Banks and Banking
Title 13 Business Credit and Assistance
Title 14 Aeronautics and Space
Title 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade
Title 16 Commercial Practices
Title 17 Commodities and Securities Exchanges
Title 18 Conservation of Water and Power Resources
Title 19 Customs Duties
Title 20 Employees' Benefits
Title 21 Food and Drugs
Title 22 Foreign Relations
Title 23 Highways
Title 24 Housing and Urban Development
Title 25 Indians
Title 26 Internal Revenue
Title 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms
Title 28 Judicial Administration
Title 29 Labor
Title 30 Mineral Resources
Title 31 Money and Finance: Treasury
Title 32 National Defense
Title 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters
Title 34 Education
Title 35 Panama Canal
Title 36 Parks, Forests and Public Property
Title 37 Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights
Title 38 Pensions, Bonuses and Veterans' Relief
Title 39 Postal Service
Title 40Protection of Environment
Title 41 Public Contracts and Property Management
Title 42 Public Health
Title 43 Public Lands: Interior
Title 44 Emergency Management and Assistance
Title 45 Public Welfare
Title 46 Shipping
Title 47 Telecommunication
Title 48 Federal Aquisition Regulation System
Title 49 Transportation
Title 50 Wildlife and Fisheries

Hot Topic Archive

Environment pervades many sets of federal regulations. Regulations where there is some sort of environmental tie-in are shown in bold. Title 40, the EPA regulations, naturally contain the most material.

INDEX OF CONNECTICUT GENERAL STATUTES

Chapters Related to Title 22a: Environmental Protection

Chapter 439: Environmental Protection Department and State Policy (22a-1 through -27)
Chapter 440: Wetlands and Watercourses (22a-28 through -45)
Chapter 441: Pesticide Control (22a-46 through -66)
Chapter 442: Noise Pollution Control (22a-67 through -76)
Chapter 443: Litter Control (transferred to 446d)
Chapter 444: Coastal Management (22a-90 through -113)
Chapter 445: Hazardous Waste (22a-114 through -134o)
Chapter 445a: Hazardous Waste Management Service (22a-134aa through -134hh)
Chapter 446: Nuclear Energy (22a-135 through -147)
Chapter 446a: Radiation and Radioactive Materials (22a-148 through 165)
Chapter 446b: Mid-Atlantic States Air Pollution Control Compact (22a-166 through -169)
Chapter 446c: Air Pollution Control (22a-170 through -206)
Chapter 446d: Solid Waste Management (22a-207 through -256)
Chapter 446e: Solid Waste Management Services Act (22a-257 through -292)
Chapter 446f: Interstate Sanitation Commission (22a-293 through -307)
Chapter 446g: New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Compact (22a-308 through -313)
Chapter 446h: Soil Conservation (22a-314 through -335)
Chapter 446i: Water Resources (22a-336 through -400)
Chapter 446j: Dams and Reservoirs (22a-401 through -415)
Chapter 446k: Water Pollution control (22a- 416 through -483)

The statutes are available on the web Title 22a of the General Statutes , but the corresponding regulations are not. DEP hopes to have the regulations available on their website in downloadable form in 1999.

HOW FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS DEVELOP

After debating and resolving differences in various bills, the US Congress passes an act (e.g., Clean Air Act) setting out the objectives to be achieved, some of the details of how to go about it, and frequently a timetable. An environmental act usually instructs EPA to develop regulations to implement the act (although other federal agencies are sometimes involved).

The EPA conceives draft regulations and publishes them in the Federal Register, asking for comments from interested parties, especially those regulated. The Federal Register is published daily. A correct referencing example is 63 FR 11862, where 63 is the volume number (1998) and 11862 is the page number. Page numbering resets to 1 every year, and most years lately have ended up with 50,000 -60,000 pages.

The EPA holds public hearings, resolves comments and publishes final regulations in the Federal Register, with an effective date when everyone has to comply.

The regulations then become effective on a set date, and subsequently are incorporated in the next (annual) publication of the Code of Federal Regulations books. These contain the rules of departments and agencies of the executive branch of the federal government. For EPA regulations, there are presently 23 CFR volumes. These books are published in the late fall, and include regulations that were in place as of the previous July 1. A correct referencing example is 40 CFR 112.7, where 40 is the Title, 112 is the Part and 7 is the section. Watch out for the lag in currency....if a new regulation is published July 2, 1998 in the Federal Register, it won't show up included in the CFR books that are published in late 1998. It would only be included in the CFR books published in late 1999. This means that when looking up regulations cold, you need to start with the CFR book, but then check through the FRs to date. The way to do this is to consult the monthly government publication List of CFR Sections Affected, and the Cumulative List of Parts Affected in the daily FR. These days, however, you can stay quite current, because all the laws and regulations are available on EPA's website.

RCRA, which may be the mother of all environmental acts, has not only 1223 pages of regulations (40 CFR 260 - 280), but about 3200 pages of EPA interpretive policy memoranda. The problem is that many of these interpretations are exceedingly abstruse to nut-and-bolts industrial managers. To the degree possible, we have tried to simplify the ones addressed on this website.

HOW STATE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS DEVELOP

The Connecticut Legislature debates bills, then passes an act (e.g., Connecticut Property Transfer Act) which becomes embodied as a statute and published in a book of General Statutes of Connecticut. Title 22a of the General Statutes is environmental protection; it's contained in Volume 8 (of the present series of books). The DEP is instructed by these acts or statutes to develop regulations to implement them as appropriate. Alternatively, the DEP may also develop regulations on their own initiative, when they already have the statutory authority, to respond to federal environmental regulations, subject to legislative review and approval.

The DEP conceives draft regulations, publishes a notice of availability and public hearing in state newspapers, and makes copies of the draft regulations available to anyone who asks. Comments are taken from interested parties at the public hearing, especially those regulated. The DEP considers, analyzes and reacts to comments, then clears the regulations with the Legislature's Regulations Review Committee. Occasionally the Committee rejects them. The final regulations are published in the Connecticut Law Journal, as Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, under Title 22a, with an effective date when everyone has to comply. State environmental regulations are not yet available on the DEP or other Connecticut website.

The regulations are maintained by individual bureaus and sections within the DEP, and are available in print form on request. The DEP has no consistent archival/publication mechanism equivalent to the EPA's Title 40 CFR books, but a lot of the regulations are scheduled for publication of the DEP website before the end of the millenium. In the meantime,watch out for use of non-current sets of regulations. The lack of a good system to update and integrate regulations has been a problem in the past. Check at the appropriate DEP bureau to see if you've got the latest. Also, the DEP bureaus maintain a number of "policies" or "guidance documents" on technical details of the regulations, or on how they expect industry to comply. While these are not regulations per se, they are generally regarded by DEP staff as having the weight of regulations.