The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) has developed a model ordinance for towns in the state to prohibit hydraulic fracturing waste at the local level, while statewide efforts remain stalled.
The organization, which represents more than 160 municipalities across Connecticut, created the model ordinance drafted by the law firm of Murtha Cullina with input from Connecticut Conference of Municipalities staff, member-municipal leaders and construction industry officials.
More than a dozen towns and cities in Connecticut have already developed their own ban. CCM’s model is designed to assist towns faced with growing pressures from organizations like Food & Water Watch and others to enact an overly expansive ordinance seeking to ban wastewater from hydraulic fracturing.
The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities ordinance creates a flexible framework which bans fracking wastewater without hindering infrastructure improvements or road projects.
A moratorium took effect in 2014 and continues until the state comes up with a plan. Earlier this year the House passed a bill that would have permanently banned fracking waste, but the measure did not pass in the Senate.