Sulfur content of home heating oil and off-road diesel fuel. Suspension of requirements for emergency. Enforcement

(a)(1) The amount of sulfur content of the following fuels sold, offered for sale, distributed or used in this state shall not exceed the following percentages by weight: (A) For number two heating oil, three-tenths of one per cent, and (B) for number two off-road diesel fuel, three-tenths of one per cent. (2) Notwithstanding subdivision (1) of this subsection, the amount of sulfur content of number two heating oil sold, offered for sale, distributed or used in this state shall not exceed the following percentages by weight: (A) For the period beginning July 1, 2014, and ending June 30, 2018, five hundred parts per million, and (B) on and after July 1, 2018, fifteen parts per million. (b) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may suspend the requirements of subsection (a) of this section if the commissioner finds that the physical availability of fuel which complies with such requirements is inadequate to meet the needs of residential, commercial or industrial users in this state and that such inadequate physical availability constitutes an emergency provided the commissioner shall specify in writing the period of time such suspension shall be in effect. (c) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may enforce the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section utilizing the methodologies and standards specified in section 22a-174-19b of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies.