Bolton, 14 CTAGO, AGO 2014-3

• Court: Connecticut

Yvonne Bolton AGO 2014-3 No. 2014-003 Connecticut Workers Compensation State of Connecticut Office of the Attorney General 2014          Yvonne Bolton          Bureau of Materials Management and Compliance Assurance          Department of Energy and Environmental Protection          79 Elm Street          Hartford, CT 06106-5127          Dear Ms. Bolton:          Pursuant to Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies ("R.C.S.A.") § 22a-449(d)- 109(e)(2), you, on behalf of the Commissioner of Energy & Environmental Protection, have asked for a written statement from this office that a guarantee or surety bond executed as described in R.C.S.A. § 22a-449(d)-109 is a legally valid and enforceable obligation in the State of Connecticut. Subject to the parameters described below, we have concluded that it is.          By way of background, R.C.S.A. § 22a-449(d)-109(d) requires all owners and operators of petroleum underground storage tank systems ("USTs") that are regulated by R.C.S.A. §§ 22a-449(d)-l and 22a-449(d)-101 through 22a-449(d)-113 ("Connecticut UST Regulations"), to "demonstrate financial responsibility for taking corrective action and for compensating third parties for bodily injury and property damage caused by accidental releases arising from the operation of petroleum underground storage tanks . . . ." Among the allowable mechanisms for demonstrating financial responsibility are a guarantee, as set forth in R.C.S.A. § 22a-449(d)-l09(g), and a surety bond, as set forth in R.C.S.A. § 22a-449(d)-109(f). Pursuant to R.C.S.A. § 22a-449(d)-109(e)(2), "[a]n owner or operator may use a guarantee or surety bond to establish financial responsibility only if the Attorney(s) General of the state(s) in which the underground storage tanks are located has (have) submitted a written statement to the implementing agency that a guarantee or surety bond executed as described in this section is a legally valid and enforceable obligation in that state." The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection ("DEEP") is the implementing agency for the UST regulations in Connecticut.          Under the Connecticut UST Regulations, a guarantee is given to DEEP, "and to any and all third parties, and obligees." R.C.S.A. § 22a-449(d)-109(g). If the owner or operator fails to clean up a release from a UST or fails to pay a judgment or settlement for third party liability resulting from a UST release, the guarantor must, on written...