News Releases - 2023

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• 5/9/2023 DEEP Announces $570,000 in Additional Sustainable Materials Management Grants to Help Municipalities Reduce Waste and Save on Solid Waste Disposal Costs

  (HARTFORD) — The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announced today three additional towns and one expanded pilot program have been approved to receive over $570,000 in grant funds through the Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Grant program. Bethel, Bethlehem, Middlebury, and Kent will be joining 15 other municipalities, including Newtown, to implement innovative pilot programs to collect residential food scraps and reduce trash.

• 6/7/2023 DEEP Forecasts Unhealthy Levels of PM2.5 Wednesday for the Entire State from Canadian Wildfire Smoke

  (HARTFORD)—Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is expecting smoke from wildfires over Quebec to elevate fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels on Wednesday, June 7th. These levels are expected to exceed Unhealthy levels for the entire state.

• 6/5/2023 DEEP Forecasts Elevated Levels of PM25 from Smoke Tonight and Tuesday

  (HARTFORD)—Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is expecting smoke from wildfires over Quebec to elevate fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels beginning after 9:00 pm on Monday, June 5th.. These levels are expected to exceed Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG) levels for an extended period during the overnight period in Western Connecticut and covering the entire State by daybreak.

• 8/8/2023 Governor Lamont Announces Connecticut Interstate Fire Crew Deploys To Fight Wildfires in Montana

  (HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that sixteen members of the Connecticut Interstate Fire Crew (CIFC) mobilized early this morning from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s (DEEP) Eastern District Headquarters in Marlborough to fight wildfires in Montana.

• 5/5/2023 DEEP Environmental Conservation Police Celebrate Graduation of the 2023 Ranger Academy

  (HARTFORD) – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) celebrated the graduation ceremony for the 2023 Environmental Conservation Police (EnCon) Ranger graduating class this week. Thirteen recruits successfully completed a 120-hour training academy to become EnCon Rangers.

• 2/8/2023 DEEP Launches 2023 Seasonal Staff Recruitment

  (HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is seeking applicants to join our seasonal workforce. A wide variety of jobs are available that combine spending time outdoors, conserving and providing access to the state’s most beautiful areas, and serving as introductions to potential careers at DEEP. The positions benefit from recently raised hourly rates, ranging from $15 to $19/hour.

• 6/2/2023 24th Annual Greenways Awards Celebrate Connecticut’s Trails

• 10/24/2023 Connecticut Celebrates Bat Week from Oct. 24-31

  (HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) celebrates Bat Week starting on October 24, as part of an international conservation awareness effort focused on the week prior to Halloween.

• 7/19/2023 DEEP Issues Recreation Safety Reminder Regarding High Water and Summer Weather Forecast

  (HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (“DEEP”) is reminding residents and visitors to exercise caution when recreating in and on the water considering the recent extreme weather events impacting the state and the region.

• 8/24/2023 DEEP Announces Connecticut Interstate Fire Crew's Return from Montana Deployment

  [HARTFORD, CT] – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is thrilled to announce the safe return of the Connecticut Interstate Fire Crew (CIFC) following their recent deployment to Montana. Having deployed on August 8th, 2023, to the Colt fire a few miles northwest of Seely Lake, the crew of 16 battled fires in near red flag conditions.

• 11/13/2023 Connecticut Interstate Fire Crew Deploys to Fight North Carolina Wildfires

  (HARTFORD) — Three members of the Connecticut Interstate Fire Crew (CIFC) mobilized early Sunday morning from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP)’s Eastern District Headquarters in Marlborough to fight wildfires in North Carolina.

• 6/9/2023 Air Quality to Improve Friday as Smoke from Canadian Wildfires Moves to the South and West of Connecticut

  (HARTFORD)—Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is expecting smoke from wildfires over Quebec that impacted Connecticut this week to continue to recede throughout the day on Friday, with air quality improving statewide.

• 10/4/2023 Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island Sign First-Time Agreement for Multi-State Offshore Wind Procurement

  (HARTFORD, CT) – Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island today announced New England’s first offshore wind multi-state coordination memorandum of understanding (MOU), which creates a pathway for a potential coordinated selection of offshore wind as each state solicits offshore wind energy generation through their respective state procurements. This MOU is the first of its kind in the United States.

• 7/25/2023 DEEP Releases Draft Clean Energy Solicitations

  (HARTFORD) — The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (“DEEP”) today released two draft Requests for Proposals for new large-scale zero carbon electricity resources. The proposals will help advance Governor Lamont’s Energy Action Plan to improve energy affordability and reliability for Connecticut ratepayers, and help achieve the state’s statutory mandates for a 100 percent zero carbon electric sector by 2040 and economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction of at least 80 percent below 2001 levels by 2050.

• 5/15/2023 DEEP Officially Launches the Residential Energy Preparation Services (REPS) Program to Address Barriers to Weatherization

  (HARTFORD, CT) – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has announced the official launch of the Residential Energy Preparation Services (REPS) program, which will help income-eligible homes remove health hazards and access energy efficiency upgrades to save money on energy costs.