In the 2025 session, the Connecticut legislature closed the door on the beneficial use of biosolids in that state with a late amendment to Senate Bill No. 1497 titled “An Act Concerning Programming at the Department of Agriculture and Other Farming and Agriculture Related Provisions”. The new provision, which became Public Act No. 25-152 when signed by the Governor on July 1st, appeared on page 21 of 22 of the bill and states:

No person shall use, sell or offer for sale in this state [as] any fertilizer intended for land application or [a] soil amendment that contains any biosolids or wastewater sludge that contain PFAS.

Fertilizers and soil amendments were also added to the list of products requiring a certificate of compliance. The Connecticut Department of Agriculture is enforcing the new law. They notified licensed sellers that they must prove their product does not contain PFAS (an impossibility for biosolids and also some other fertilizers) or take it off the shelves. Fertilizer and soil amendment producers were scrambling to comply with the original deadline of August 31st for the certificates of compliance. The Department of Ag subsequently extended the deadline to October 31st. NEBRAMail reached out to regulators to see if the number of registrations for soil amendments and fertilizers has dropped off but did not hear back prior to publication.  

According to advice published in the Hartford Courant by Dr. Avishesh Neupane with the University of Connecticut Home & Garden Education Center (Fertilizers have changed in CT. Here's what you will find and how to shop smarter) where he presented a “few quick FAQs”, people will need to throw out the fertilizer/compost they already own “only if it contains PFAS or biosolids with PFAS. The new rules apply to the sale and use in the state. Contact your town’s household hazardous waste program for proper disposal guidance.”

The Town of Fairfield had been making a quality compost product but had to shift gears in 2024 (see Fairfield Stops Composting — NEBRA). Fairfield and Stamford represent the 5% of Connecticut’s wastewater sludges being turned into Class A EQ products for distribution (Connecticut — National Biosolids Data Project). That is almost 7,000 dry tons of Connecticut biosolids that have to go out of state every year -- and two communities that need to seriously reconsider their sludge management processes.

In addition to the two Connecticut wastewater treatment facilities that create soil amendments from their biosolids, the amount of soil amendments and fertilizer products manufactured from other state’s biosolids that were sold or used in Connecticut in the past are not insignificant. NEBRAMail will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates once the compliance deadline has passed.