News Releases

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• 7/25/2025 Reserve Your Seat With New DEEP & CTDOT ParkConneCT Excursions Program

  (HARTFORD) – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) are pleased to announce a new focus for the collaborative ParkConneCT program. This program will now offer free bus transportation for special excursion trips to four designated events, including three popular No Child Left Inside® (NCLI) events during this summer season. These hands-on, guided excursions will use motorcoach buses that are ADA accessible and air-conditioned to provide convenient and comfortable transportation to pre-scheduled park activities and events. The new special excursion format replaces the special summer bus service to select parks offered in past years.

• 3/27/2025 DEEP Announces $15 Million in Grant Awards for Materials Management Infrastructure Grant Program

  (HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is pleased to announce awards for the inaugural Materials Management Infrastructure (MMI) Grant Program. Fifteen million dollars in grant funds—to date the State’s largest investment in local and regional waste management infrastructure—have been made available through a competitive application process to Connecticut municipalities, councils of government, and regional waste authorities to support the development of waste management infrastructure in direct response to the solid waste disposal challenges that are impacting these entities.

• 5/2/2025 DEEP Issues Request for Proposals (RFP) for Food & Beverage Concessions in Three Connecticut State Parks

  (HARTFORD) — The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for qualified food service vendors to provide services to the public at existing concession buildings at Gillette Castle State Park in East Haddam, Lake Waramaug State Park in Kent, and Mount Tom State Park in Litchfield. The Lake Waramaug concession includes a camp store serving the park’s 73-site seasonal campground. The RFP is available on the CTsource Bid Board as solicitation number DEEP04212025MM, and proposals are due May 29th.

• 4/17/2025 Governor Lamont Announces $7.5 Million Now Available To Support Municipalities With Sustainable Waste Reduction

  (HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that $7.5 million in state funding is now available to support Connecticut’s municipalities in their efforts to increase recycling and diversion and augment their self-sufficiency in managing municipal solid waste disposal.

• 4/18/2025 DEEP Begins Cold Water Safety Campaign

  (HARTFORD) — With warm air temperatures forecast across the state this weekend, Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) wants to remind boaters – especially paddlers – about the dangers of early spring boating. DEEP urges any boaters heading out on the water to prioritize water safety during this season when the air warms but the water remains dangerously cold.

• 3/28/2025 DEEP Prepares for Spring Season at State Parks Resumes Fee Collection for Out-of-State Vehicles

  (HARTFORD) — Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is preparing for the Spring season at State Parks and Forests. Visitation starts to increase in the Spring as warmer temperatures and sunnier skies arrive.

• 4/14/2025 DEEP’s Client Concierge Service Celebrates Five Years of Excellence in Environmental Permitting Assistance

  (HARTFORD)— The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of its Client Concierge Service. Established under DEEP’s successful 20 By 20 initiative and expanded in DEEP’s current 20 By 26 initiative to enhance transparency and efficiency, the Concierge Team has become DEEP’s front door for permitting assistance. Since then, the Concierge Team has guided hundreds of businesses, municipalities, and individuals through regulatory requirements and connected them with the right resources. Concierge has provided early permitting help to projects involving a tremendous range of issues: multiple permitting requirements or cross-cutting programmatic needs; waste organics; energy generation; solar and offshore wind-related permitting, including on brownfields and agricultural lands; economic development; large-scale filling; brownfields; transit-oriented development; green technology; and more.

• 3/19/2025 DEEP Reminds Residents To Exercise Caution During Spring Brush Fire Season

  (HARTFORD)—The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is reminding residents that the typical spring brush fire season in Connecticut runs from mid-March through mid-May, and there are important precautions residents should take to minimize the likelihood of a fire.

• 3/13/2025 DEEP Bureau of Outdoor Recreation to Host Seasonal Job Fair March 16th

  (HARTFORD)--The Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) is holding an event to promote a number of exciting seasonal positions offered within the agency. On March 16, DEEP will host a recruitment job fair at DEEP’s Western District Headquarters in Black Rock State Park, Watertown. DEEP’s seasonal jobs are great way to work outside this summer, with hourly rates ranging from $16.35 to $20 per hour. Seasonal positions are also an excellent first step for students or young professionals to kickstart a career in the environmental field.

• 7/8/2025 State of Connecticut Regarding U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Efforts to Control Invasive Hydrilla in Connecticut River

  (HARTFORD) – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is providing more information about its role in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (the Army Corps) ongoing, multi-year project to control Hydrilla, an aggressive invasive aquatic plant, in the Connecticut River and other water bodies in the state.

• 4/23/2025 DEEP Asks Residents to Continue to Exercise Caution During Spring Brush Fire Season

  (HARTFORD) — The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is again advising Connecticut residents to take precautions to help minimize the likelihood of a fire. Spring fire season is underway; DEEP received reports of 40 wildfires from April 14 to April 21 alone, totaling approximately 300 acres. Most fires can be prevented because they are caused by human actions.

• 1/17/2025 DEEP Reminds Connecticut Residents that New Incentive Levels for CHEAPR Program Began Jan 1 2025

  (HARTFORD) — The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is reminding the public that incentive levels for the Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Vehicle Purchase Rebate (CHEAPR) program changed on January 1, 2025. As prices for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) continue to decline and consumer interest in the CHEAPR program continues to grow, the new incentive levels will enable DEEP to continue to meet consumer demand for the standard CHEAPR rebate within available resources, while prioritizing higher incentive levels to improve EV affordability for low- and moderate-income residents in Connecticut.

• 6/27/2025 Colchester Man Arrested after ATV Crash in Salmon River State Forest

  (Hartford, CT) – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Environmental Conservation (EnCon) Police arrested Damon Jansky (DOB 06/29/1993) of Colchester, CT today on charges of Operating an ATV Under the Influence, Reckless Endangerment 1st Degree, Operating An Unregistered ATV, and Illegal Use of an ATV in a State Forest after a single ATV crash within the Salmon River State Forest, East Hampton.

• 6/30/2025 Connecticut Environmental Conservation Police Announce “Operation Dry Water” Campaign to Halt Boating Under the Influence

  (HARTFORD) – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Environmental Conservation Police (EnCon) will again participate in the “Operation Dry Water” campaign, a national initiative aimed at curbing boating under the influence (BUI). Set to run from July 4 through July 6, this heightened enforcement and awareness campaign targets the dangerous combination of alcohol or drug use while operating a vessel.

• 4/22/2025 DEEP Announces Release of Key Saltmarsh Dataset

  (HARTFORD) — Coinciding with Earth Day, and after more than two years of intensive work, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and its contractor, Vermont-based geospatial technology company Whiteout Solutions, have released a groundbreaking high-resolution dataset capturing over 12,000 acres of coastal saltmarsh and adjoining upland buffer in the state of Connecticut.