The bill, co-sponsored by state Sen. Dan Debicella, R-Shelton, and Rep. John Harkins, R-Stratford, was prompted by a groundswell of protest last year from hundreds of local residents in a grassroots group that became known as "SaveStratford."

More than 1,000 people signed a petition opposing consolidation of toxic Raymark waste, and 500 people attended a special EPA informational session last summer to urge the agency to drop any plan to create a single dumpsite in Stratford.

Rell, in a strong symbolic gesture, signed the bill amid a gathering of about 40 people in the Wal-Mart/Home Depot shopping center on Barnum Avenue Cutoff, the location of the nearly $200 million Raymark Superfund site remediated during the 1990s.

The governor, local legislators and residents say the bill signed into law Monday and approved recently in the House and Senate will help Stratford neighborhoods battling the EPA over creating toxic sites of asbestos, PCBs and lead scattered throughout town over the years by the former Raymark Industries.

"Today, several distressed communities in Connecticut have multiple facilities operating in close proximity" to hazardous waste "that may negatively affect their quality of life," Rell said as she signed An Act Concerning Environmental Justice, also known as the "Raymark Bill."

The bill will prohibit the consolidation of toxic materials in residential neighborhoods. It also provides a mechanism for meaningful public participation when a facility generating a significant source of pollution is proposed in a neighborhood. "In essence, because of where these facilities are located, the distressed communities are carrying the environmental load for other towns," Rell said. "We want to make sure that residents have the tools and the power to offset the impacts of these facilities on their neighborhoods."

Specifically, the bill states that "no person or government agency shall permanently place, deposit, dispose or store more than 1,000 cubic yards of soil consisting of asbestos-containing material from another site to a site that abuts or adjoins residential property."

The law also encourages notification of local officials, community groups and environmental conservation groups when a proposal is being made that could affect the environment.

"This law will help people in our communities better understand the environmental impacts of new or expanded facilities," Rell said. "People who live in these communities will now be made aware when there is a significant new source of pollution proposed in their neighborhood."

Rell said the bill would also affect 34 other municipalities in the state, including Bridgeport.

The law applies to the most significant proposed projects, including new or expanded landfills, solid waste facilities, medical waste incinerators and other major sources of air pollution.

State legislators and residents hailed the governor's signing of the bill as a "significant piece of legislation" that they hope will deter the EPA's plans in Stratford. Even so, the federal agency indicated Monday it still has the final say in how remaining Raymark waste is cleaned up, because federal laws supersede state and local legislation.

"We've been aware of this bill for a number of weeks and are working closely with our counterparts in the Connecticut [Department of Environmental Protection] to determine what kind of implications it might have for the Raymark cleanup," said David Deegan, a spokesman for the EPA's New England regional office in Boston.

"We are trying to evaluate what this means to the Raymark clean-up. But the EPA is the agency responsible for making sure these cleanups are completed," Deegan said. "We do, however, want to work closely with our state and local counterparts to come up with a reasonable solution that reflects the needs and wishes of the community as much as possible."

Local legislators and residents hope the bill deters the EPA from moving ahead with any consolidating of toxic waste at dumpsites in Stratford.

"Basically it's going to prohibit the EPA from consolidating the Raymark waste in or next to residential neighborhoods, which is what they originally proposed last August," said Debicella, whose district includes Stratford.

"It's something we've been working on with the residents for months," Harkins, of Stratford, said. "If you ask anyone about toxic waste in a neighborhood, most people think it's a bad thing. It's common sense."

Erin Holroyd, a SaveStratford member whose backyard at 130 Clinton Ave. abuts the former Raybestos ballfield being considered as a consolidation site, said she hoped the governor's action Monday sent a strong message to the EPA.

"I think with all [the EPA's] delays they have been trying to outwait us so when we got tired of fighting they could go ahead and do whatever they wanted," Holroyd said. "Well, now that we've got the governor and General Assembly on our side, I think they know we're not going to just sit here and let them dump all that toxic junk in our backyard," Holroyd said. "Not without a fight."