[{"_1":2,"_98":-5,"_99":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,86],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6318310,"mediaKeyId","2367419-f906be69a2d3d8623dccb1534c0c6d18","parentId",2367419,"title","DEC budget rises as federal infrastructure funds drive growth; lawmakers press on PCBs in schools and Lake Carmody treatment","audioSeconds",1127,"startMs",1711000,"endMs",2838000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2367419-f906be69a2d3d8623dccb1534c0c6d18&start=1711&end=2838","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2367419-f906be69a2d3d8623dccb1534c0c6d18/thumbnail_1711000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6318310/Vermont/DEC-budget-rises-as-federal-infrastructure-funds-drive-growth-lawmakers-press-on-PCBs-in-schools-and-Lake-Carmody-treatment","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6318310-46e47ba4596debbdb903f56fc5c9d29e/orig.mp4?Expires=1771169715&Signature=nCu1RfSf6QLVxmdmZgEtKvu8Dy4sg~HIlpZ8uijRmQRFNq3i5TO9zQIRjQmZOnfJeuNSu0IFHUfcirD2cXDSBmEw9QLC4-Ssx7jKYscofn5Q5O66SOhlPas2PfzWsLvCfHrVXzUpZcKxBxhdfklWF16HupKRQpBOB~0qK3Tk1O9sMxbuH2Rr0DsxL3OQ5mqpkylB~E1zhzAL4~idQuvmhYQU-8OpeuHYUeUFsAFpyV45RSrJbt4cMLJfYZC800WXiAWrXYn2OMUNRJfsEWmtAbkOlab42dYV9Ifxa1Acds7IlwX02NshrfKkH-bnxs3VsCSrOK5G4vsO6Jm8MMnDQQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-02-20T18:05:59Z","article","Jason Batchelder, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 20 that DEC’s FY26 budget is heavily driven by federal funding and that the department’s overall request is approximately $245,000,000.

Batchelder said the increase is “driven primarily by federal funds received through IIJA and BIL,” and that the department has seen major inflows tied to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, American Rescue Plan Act pass-throughs and other federal sources. He said the water investment division administers a large portfolio of state revolving loan funds and pass-through grants, and that the department is seeing unprecedented demand from municipalities for water and wastewater projects.

Why it matters: commissioners said the federal dollars expand DEC’s capacity to fund water infrastructure, land remediation and subrecipient awards—activities that drive both short-term construction and long-term operations in municipal systems and environmental cleanup.

Federal funds and portfolio status
- Batchelder told the committee DEC’s federally funded portfolio is large and multi-year; he said the department has a portfolio “of about $50,000,000 in federal funding right now,” of which roughly $38,000,000 has been expended and about $12,000,000 remains to be spent. He said roughly 47 subrecipient awards are currently active and about $5,000,000 is committed but outstanding to local projects.
- The department identified principal federal sources as the U.S. Forest Service, Land and Water Conservation Fund, Federal Highway Administration (recreation trails), FEMA, the Northern Border Regional Commission, and ARPA funds tied to outdoor recreation access and recovery from recent floods.

One-time investments and program asks
- DEC identified a set of one-time investments the department would like to fund, including:
• $250,000 to build a joined agricultural/permit database as part of implementing a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) corrective action plan with EPA; and $600,000 for contracted support to stand up permitting capacity and specialist staffing.
• $50,000 to develop municipal wastewater connection technical standards and a design manual.
• A $10,000,000 ask to support remediation related to PCBs in schools; commissioners said $500,000 of that amount would go to the Department of Health for related work. Batchelder and staff said testing and remediation work is ongoing and that the total need will depend on further testing and site-by-site findings.

PCBs in schools: standards and questions
Senator Michael Norris pressed DEC on the state’s PCB remediation standard and how it compares with federal guidance. Batchelder said the state’s approach was developed in conjunction with the Department of Health and that Vermont has set a more stringent cleanup level than some other jurisdictions. He deferred to health officials for technical medical risk assessment and said DEC and Health share responsibility for remediation standards and implementation. The commissioner acknowledged there are national disparities in testing and remediation practices and said the state’s standard was arrived at through interagency agreement.

Lake Carmody and alum treatment
During discussion of watershed projects, water investment director Neil described plans for an alum treatment at Lake Carmody (Franklin County). He said the aeration experiment there had not produced the desired results and that the state assembled a funding stack that now supports an alum treatment, which is in permitting and likely to proceed this year. Neil cited another Vermont example—Lake Morey—where an alum treatment installed in the early 1980s provided benefits for more than 40 years before retreatment. He cautioned that alum is not a permanent fix and must be paired with watershed nutrient controls to attain long-term outcomes.

Other operational items and changes
DEC staff outlined several operational changes: a 3% general-fund increase built into the budget for salary pressures; planned use of special-fund balances to absorb some FY26 pressures; a decrease in interdepartmental-transfer and internal-service allocations tied to federal indirect-cost coverage in the near term; and two proposed analyst positions to support CAFO permitting.

Committee follow-up and requests
Committee members asked for supporting documentation on PCB thresholds and for a fact sheet on Lake Carmody’s alum plan and longevity; DEC staff said they would provide those materials. Batchelder and Deputy Commissioner Veil Kim offered to provide more granular lists of federal awards and subrecipient timelines to the committee.

Ending: DEC’s FY26 presentation positioned the agency to use substantial federal funds for water infrastructure, remediation and subrecipient grants while asking the legislature for one-time investments—most notably a $10 million PCB remediation request for schools and smaller technical and database development investments. The department offered to supply additional technical reports and permitting timelines to address lawmakers’ outstanding questions.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Appropriations – 2025-02-20 – 1:00PM","oneSentenceSummary","Jason Batchelder, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 20 that DEC’s FY26 budget request is approximately $245,000,000 and is driven largely by federal infrastructure and recovery funds.","taxTitle","Appropriations, SENATE, Committees, Legislative , Vermont","taxId",36948,"location","Vermont","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":79,"_47":80,"_49":81,"_51":82,"_53":83,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":84,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":85,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6318315,"Vermont Forests, Parks and Recreation seeks $54.8M in FY26 to address staffing, infrastructure and visitation pressures",0,1143000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2367419-f906be69a2d3d8623dccb1534c0c6d18&start=1143&end=1143","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2367419-f906be69a2d3d8623dccb1534c0c6d18/thumbnail_1143000.jpg","/articles/6318315/Vermont/Vermont-Forests-Parks-and-Recreation-seeks-548M-in-FY26-to-address-staffing-infrastructure-and-visitation-pressures","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6318315-f8899c98bd6553c3330d6f6199a066bb/orig.mp4?Expires=1771169715&Signature=lGy1kOoR0fqBCFp9BCsr0mo~z8jhj~WDUJB~N3mtH-LZkJ3wm2WBOwnWqYaaPUD2WY~9laxeKAF~gb56YrF65E2dpmbp1oVFFKC3HL6h1ynfdpDRysiHGSUHeEy9xwb8JY6pvMTrseg6qL7ndrE042kszRYPvnLqicoGn2QUrMGqJxjIoBOy3507yJyHIUVjprPYowOwoWo064KTUlmvgCnM2f3Zl2fkDt0WNjx1hC7BwiVKQG1xBWVVI~n8OlW5ps8E8~dZefumivbo7HgiNJ8OX9uI5sftSlfAsY6C0ue3T6BVqIuQBpr49lRZrXKxzBFM8n6hBaCkIhsvS6YHUA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Commissioner Daniel Fitzko, head of the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 20 that the division is seeking a $54,800,000 FY26 budget to cover rising personnel costs, contracted services and a growth in federal grants.

Fitzko said FPR’s work is broad: \"76% of the state is forested. We like to say we're forest strong,\" and described three programmatic areas—forestry, state parks and lands, administration and recreation—that the department funds. He told the committee Vermont’s 55 state parks welcomed more than a million visitors in recent years and that parks and recreation are a growing economic engine for the state.

The department provided a program-by-program breakdown. Parks account for about $19.2 million (roughly 35% of the division’s budget), forestry about $13.5 million (about 25%), and lands, administration and recreation roughly $18.5 million (about 33%). FPR reported an overall increase of $7.1 million over FY25; the general fund portion of that increase was described as \"just north of $1,500,000,\" with the remaining rise spread across federal, special and interdepartmental funds.

Why it matters: committee members were told the budget addresses both recurring pressures—salary and benefits increases, internal service costs and inflation—and investments to manage visitor impacts and protect infrastructure. FPR estimates it holds more than $280 million in park infrastructure across campgrounds, toilet buildings, wastewater and potable water systems and said those assets require growing maintenance and insurance costs.

Key details and initiatives
- Seasonal staffing and workforce development: FPR operates year-round with about 35 staff and expands to roughly 450 seasonal employees in summer. The department said many seasonal hires become longer-term employees, and seasonal housing and on-site staffing needs remain a major operational factor.
- Wildland fire and forest health: Forestry is FPR’s largest year-round division and includes a wildland fire team that was described as three people; commissioners cited nine wildland fires in the prior fall season and indicated work to increase capacity.
- Federal grants and funds: FPR reported a roughly $4 million increase in federal funds tied to awards from the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Border Regional Commission, Land and Water Conservation Fund and Federal Highway Administration (rec trails). The department said a federal portfolio of grants drives increases in land acquisitions and subrecipient grant awards to municipalities and nonprofits.
- Recreation access projects: FPR flagged a new $7 million allocation for outdoor recreation access projects, naming work at Bigham Falls in Stowe, rehabilitation of two historic fire towers on state land and stormwater and parking management work in the Smuggler’s Notch corridor. Two fire towers slated for rehabilitation were described as costing about $500,000 each to restore.
- Contracted services and operating costs: The department said contracted services are a major driver of higher personal-services-like costs this year; one example cited was a $40,000 annual trash-removal contract at Maidstone State Park. Insurance costs rose about $450,000 year to cover buildings and other infrastructure.
- Strategic planning: FPR described new strategic plans across its divisions, including a 10-year roadmap for forest-product sector recovery and a parks modernization study that highlights accessibility, climate resilience, seasonal staffing balance and long-term funding options such as dynamic pricing.

Committee questions and concerns
Senators and committee members pressed department leaders on whether increasing parking and access (specifically at Smuggler’s Notch) might attract more visitors and thereby increase safety and resource pressures. Commissioner Fitzko responded that each site requires site-specific decisions to balance public safety, erosion control and resource protection and that planning partners include local planning commissions and recreation groups.

What the department asked for and next steps
FPR asked the committee to approve the FY26 budget as presented, with the department offering to provide additional detail about federal award timelines and project lists on request. Fitzko and Nancy Glimmer, FPR’s director of finance and administration, said the department would follow up with detailed spending plans and grant timelines if the committee requested them.

Ending: The department closed by noting the combination of rising operating costs, grant-driven projects and growing visitation creates both funding needs and near-term implementation work for FY26. FPR staff offered to deliver more granular federal-grant and land-acquisition schedules to committee members following the hearing.","The Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 20 that its proposed $54.8 million FY26 budget increases staffing and contracted services to respond to rising operating costs, higher visitor demand and new federal grants.",{"_33":87,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":88,"_41":89,"_43":90,"_45":91,"_47":92,"_49":93,"_51":94,"_53":95,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":96,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":97,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6318306,"State Auditor tells committee budget largely unchanged; internal service fund remains majority of financing",592,3572000,4164000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2367419-f906be69a2d3d8623dccb1534c0c6d18&start=3572&end=4164","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2367419-f906be69a2d3d8623dccb1534c0c6d18/thumbnail_3572000.jpg","/articles/6318306/Vermont/State-Auditor-tells-committee-budget-largely-unchanged-internal-service-fund-remains-majority-of-financing","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6318306-86cb1568394da3fa8b314ec403d5c89e/orig.mp4?Expires=1771169715&Signature=d6Mu2BGX7eB5i-sFWzg0dmxn6yQKZIyqhbtjQl6YP6o-gs~llx7eynTHKUt6qiH9raIWj~0EqUDHPIyY08L6hEWEY11t0MdlweCewZ7yI2jVLpZWfQYJ4z9ovH3pW6sbJunOghsPwCX4YEwlf5ZgNi1HxbPO-821XqSRO9iuafyLfjhWEYJakF9kUfoUZFFxIb4xcdA9WlUSXDUbkkZomuQT4bNsk4bXYhnPUtiwpiBX4z2C7Od3rFflKQFNo~2OiRq1WeVwfjDACDj7uBFZyNUuiS-GrNh-QxMzLs5-bGhDREoAAL6rnDCwhvDG6DR2zJ9zyf3QiLTcXcWDjJWiQw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The State Auditor told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 20 that the office’s FY26 budget shows minimal change from the prior year, with most spending carried in an internal service fund and a comparatively small general-fund allocation.

The auditor said about 90% of the office’s budget is funded through an internal service fund, roughly 8% from the general fund and a small special-fund balance (about $53,000). The office meets the governor’s budget target and described two drivers of modest cost increases: higher external audit-contract costs and pay-act obligations. The auditor explained that the contract with CLA (the firm performing the state’s financial-statement and single-audit work) replaced a prior auditor and represents a modest increase.

County sheriff audits that were formerly undertaken by a Vermont firm have moved to the larger contractor and are now somewhat more expensive; the auditor said some local firms declined to bid for the work. The auditor also noted that the office’s physical workspace was closed after 2023 flood damage and that many staff continue to work remotely under a hoteling system.

Ending: The auditor offered to provide committee members with additional printed materials and follow-up documentation, and committee members thanked the office for the briefing.","The State Auditor briefed the Senate Appropriations Committee that the auditor's office budget shows little change for FY26, with most spending in an internal service fund and small general- and special-fund amounts; the office noted higher contractor costs for certain county audits.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

DEC budget rises as federal infrastructure funds drive growth; lawmakers press on PCBs in schools and Lake Carmody treatment

Vermont Forests, Parks and Recreation seeks $54.8M in FY26 to address staffing, infrastructure and visitation pressures

State Auditor tells committee budget largely unchanged; internal service fund remains majority of financing