HB 5004, An Act Concerning the Protection of the Environment and the Development of the Renewable Energy Sources and the Associated Job Sectors. This bill addresses a number of climate and energy issues. It requires PURA to open a docket on the future of gas in Connecticut, creates incentives for solar canopies, heat pump adoption, and networked geothermal. IREJN supports this bill with suggestions.
Next Action: HB 5004 received a public hearing on Monday, March 3. It was called for a vote in the Environment Committee and passed on March 14. It now needs to be called for a vote in the House.
HB 6280, An Act Concerning the Establishment of a Climate Change Superfund. This bill will generate funds from fossil fuel entities in order to create a Climate Change Superfund, which will help CT recover from extreme weather disasters and climate change related events. IREJN Supports this bill.
Next Action: HB 6280 received a public hearing on Monday, March 3.
HB 6273, An Act Establishing Funding for Farmers Who Have Crop Loss Due to Significant Acute Weather Events. This bill would establish a Farmers Crop Loss Reimbursement Program within the Department of Agriculture to reimburse farmers for crop loss due to significant weather events. IREJN supports this bill
Next Action: HB 6273 received a public hearing on Monday, March 3. On March 14, the Environment Committee voted to send it to the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee.
HB 6915, An Act Concerning the Use of Second Generation Anti-Coagulant Rodenticides. This bill will restrict the use of SGARs, which cause slow, painful deaths to rodents and anything that consumes their dead bodies, including hawks, eagles, foxes, coyotes, and domesticated pets. IREJN supports this bill.
Read the Rodenticides Briefing Paper
Next Action: HB 6915 had a public hearing in the Environment Committee on Wednesday, February 19. This bill passed the Environment Committee on February 28. It has been scheduled on the House calendar, but needs to be called. Also, language on rodenticides was added to SB 9. The language in HB 6915 is stronger than the language in SB 9.
HB 6916, An Act Concerning the Use of Neonicotinoids. This bill will ban the use of neonicotinoids for non-agricultural use and will also ban neonicotinoid coated corn, wheat, and soybean seeds. Neonics are harmful pesticides that applied to kill grubs, but they are not effective. Neonics kill pollinators and it only takes one neonicotinoid-coated seed to kill a songbird. IREJN supports this bill.
Read the Neonicotinoids Briefing Paper
Next Action: HB 6916 had a public hearing in the Environment Committee on Wednesday, February 19. This bill needs to be called for a vote. Language around neonicotinoids was added to SB 9. SB 9 has language from the 2023 bill, which does not include nurseries or neonic-coated seeds.
Read IREJN’s letter of support.
H.B. No. 6925, An Act Concerning the Establishment of the Connecticut Home Energy Label and a Training Program for Energy Efficiency Auditors. This bill will establish a (1) standard, easy-to-understand labeling system to inform consumers of the energy efficiency and usage of a dwelling unit, and (2) training program for energy efficiency auditors. IREJN supports this bill
Next Action: HB 6925 had a public hearing on Tuesday, Feb 18. It needs to be called for a vote. Read IREJN’s letter of support.
HB 6926, An Act Concerning Funding for the Residential Energy Preparation Services Program. This bill will provide $8M for the REPS program, which helps income-eligible people by removing health hazards such as mold, lead, and asbestos from their homes, so that they can then participate in energy efficiency programs. IREJN supports this bill.
Next Action: HB 6926 had a public hearing in the Energy & Technology Committee on Tuesday, February 18. It needs to be called for a vote. Read IREJN’s Letter of Support.
HB 6928, An Act Concerning Municipal Electric Aggregation Program. This bill would allow Connecticut municipalities to offer opt-out community aggregation to purchase electricity. IREJN supports this bill.
Read the Community Choice Aggregation briefing paper.
Next Action: HB 6928 had a public hearing in the Energy & Technology Committee on Tuesday, February 18. It needs to be called for a vote. Read IREJN’s letter of support.
SB 9, An Act Concerning the Environment, Climate, and Sustainable Municipal and State Planning, and the Use of Neonicotinoids and Second Generation Anti-Coagulent Rodenticides. ]The Climate Resiliency Bill. This bill would require flood risk notification and the creation of climate resiliency zones for municipalities. It also includes language on neonicotinoids and rodenticides. IREJN supports this bills, but asked for a few changes. Read IREJN’s letter.
Next Action: This bill had a public hearing in the Environment Committee on Monday, March 3. This was called for a vote in the Environment Committee and passed on March 14. It needs to go to the Senate for a vote.
SB 647, An Act Concerning Protections for Consumer Access to Affordable Electricity. This bill will eliminate the CT Green Bank. It will eliminate all of the energy efficiency programs, like the Home Energy Solutions program to help people reduce their energy consumption. It will eliminate funding for heat pumps, EV chargers, and EV infrastructure.
It will move all of the fuel assistance programs, like Operation Fuel and the Home Energy Solutions Income Eligible program, to the general budget, where they will be subject to the budget cap and could be cut from the budget entirely. This could potentially be devastating to people who are struggling. IREJN Opposes this bill.
Next Action: SB 647 had public hearing in the Energy and Technology Committee. This bill will not be called for a vote and is dead. Similar language may be added as an amendment to other bills.
SB 887, An Act Exempting Certain Cookware from PFAS Requirements. In 2024, the CT State Legislature unanimously passed a bill to ban PFAS chemicals in products. PFAS chemicals are a class of over 10,000 chemicals that act as de-greasing or non-stick agents. They are found in items that are flame-retardant, stain-resistant, waterproof, and non-stick. PFAS chemicals are forever chemicals and have been linked to numerous health problems. This bill would weaken the 2024 law by permitting cookware to use PFAS chemicals. IREJN opposes this bill.
Next Action: SB 887 had a public hearing on Wednesday, February 19. It does not appear that this bill will be called for a vote; it is likely dead. Read IREJN’s Letter of Opposition.
SB 1352, An Act Promoting Energy Efficiency This bill addresses several critical pieces of our path to a clean energy future. It includes incentivizing the development of thermal energy networks, solar canopies, and heat pumps for both hot water and heating/cooling. It also requires the PURA to open a docket on the future of gas. This bill seeks to increase reliability of electric and gas grid reliability and decrease electric and gas demand. IREJN Supports this bill.
Read the Thermal Energy Network Briefing Paper
Read the Heat Pump Briefing Paper
Read the Solar Canopies Briefing Paper
Read the Efficient Buildings Briefing Paper
CT Law Conservation Foundation has excellent testimony on the bill that you can read as well.
Next Action: SB 1352 had a public hearing in the Energy and Technology Committee on Thursday, February 27. It needs to be called for a vote. This bill is identical to the energy provisions that are in HB 5004, which passed the Environment Committee on March 14. SB 1352 will not be called for a vote, however, HB 5004 will not need to be heard in front of the Energy and Technology Committee because this bill has already had a hearing.
SJ 36, Resolution Proposing a State Constitutional Amendment Concerning Environmental Rights. This resolution will give CT voters the chance to vote on adding environmental rights to the CT State Constitution. IREJN supports this resolution.
Next Action: SJ 36 had a public hearing on Friday, February 7 – it passed the Government Administrative and Elections Committee on March 19. Read IREJN’s Letter of Support.
Marissa Gillett’s nomination to be re-appointed as the Chair of the Public Utility Regulatory Authority – Marissa Gillett has served as a strong public servant, consistently putting the needs of CT ratepayers first. She implemented protocols that improved storm response and held the utilities accountable for their performance. She increased public participation in environmental justice communities and helped our most vulnerable residents with the low-income discount rate. Governor Lamont has nominated her to be re-appointed, however, she has been the victim of a coordinated smear campaign. IREJN is asking you to submit testimony in support of her re-appointment. IREJN supports the nomination of Marissa Gillett.
Read and sign IREJN’s Letter of Support
Next Action: The Executive and Legislative Nominating Committee held a public hearing on Thursday, Feb 20
