Could Connecticut reimburse a heating-oil tank cleanup if an unregistered worker removed the tank?

Plain-English summary

In March 2001, Connecticut’s AG concluded that reimbursement from the residential underground heating-oil tank cleanup subaccount depended on a registered contractor performing the entire covered job: tank removal or replacement and any needed remediation. A registered remediation contractor could not make a job eligible if an unregistered person had already removed or replaced the tank.

The act’s application procedure required the owner to confirm that a registered contractor had been engaged for both the tank work and necessary remediation. The AG read that statement alongside the provisions authorizing payment to registered contractors for eligible work. The opinion addressed a narrow reimbursement condition, not every technical standard for removing a tank.

Homeowners at the time

The AG’s conclusion meant the board could not approve the described reimbursement when an unregistered contractor handled removal or replacement, regardless of who performed later cleanup.

Contractors and review-board staff at the time

The opinion treated registration as applying to both stages of the covered work and to the owner’s confirmation in the reimbursement application.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2001. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Was remediation by a registered contractor enough if someone else removed the tank?
A: No. The AG said a nonregistered removal or replacement prevented reimbursement even when a registered contractor later remediated contamination.

Q: Who had to confirm the contractor’s engagement?
A: The owner’s application statement had to confirm engaging a registered contractor to remove or replace the tank and perform any necessary remediation.

Q: Did the opinion decide how much a cleanup job could cost?
A: No. It answered who had to perform the work for reimbursement eligibility, while the act separately referred to reasonable costs and guidelines.

Background and statutory framework

The environmental department asked whether the registered-contractor requirement covered all work on a residential underground heating-oil tank system or only remediation. The AG read the removal, replacement, remediation and application provisions together and held that the registered contractor had to cover the whole eligible job.

Citations and references

Statute: Public Act 00-201.

Source

• Landing page: https://portal.ct.gov/AG/Opinions
• Opinion page: https://portal.ct.gov/ag/opinions/2001-formal-opinions/honorable-arthur-j-rocque-jr-department-of-environmental-protection-2001005-formal-opinion-attorney

Original opinion text

Honorable Arthur J. Rocque, Jr., Department of Environmental Protection, 2001-005 Formal Opinion, Attorney General of Connecticut

Attorney General's Opinion

Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal

March 15, 2001

Honorable Arthur J. Rocque, Jr.

Department of Environmental Protection

79 Elm Street

Hartford, CT 06106

Dear Commissioner Rocque:

Your Department has asked our opinion whether Section 6 of Public Act 00-201 requires that an owner of a residential underground heating oil storage tank system contract with a registered contractor for all work necessary for the removal or replacement of that tank system, and remediation as may be necessary, in order for the Underground Storage Tank Petroleum Clean-Up Account Review Board ("Review Board") to reimburse eligible costs.

Section 3(a) of Public Act 00-201 authorizes the Review Board to "order payment. . . to registered contractors for reasonable costs associated with the remediation of a residential underground heating oil storage tank system" in accordance with certain guidelines. Section 5 of the Act limits individuals authorized to remove or replace such underground systems that will involve remediation of contaminated soil or groundwater, the costs of which will be paid out of the residential underground heating oil storage tank system clean-up subaccount, to registered contractors.

Section 6(c)(1) of Public Act 00-201 provides that a registered contractor is authorized to request reimbursement for "all reasonable costs for work performed pursuant to a contract with the owner for the remediation of a residential underground heating oil storage tank system." Part of the reimbursement application process requires the owner to "provide to the review board a statement confirming the registered contractor has been engaged by such owner to remove or to replace such residential underground heating oil storage tank system and perform the remediation" that may be necessary.

This statutory language requires, as a prerequisite for reimbursement by the Review Board, that a registered contractor perform all removal, replacement, and remediation work and that the application for reimbursement for costs of this work contain a statement confirming that all the work was done by a registered contractor. According to Public Act 00-201, therefore, the Board would not be authorized to make reimbursement payments if a non-registered contractor does removal and replacement work, even if a registered contractor thereafter conducts the remediation.

We trust this answers your question.

Very truly yours,

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Richard F. Webb

Assistant Attorney General

RB/RFW/bjg