Senate Natural Resources Committee amends S.124, advances draft 2.3 with technical edits

The Vermont Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee voted April 4 to amend S.124 to draft 2.3 and advance the bill with a favorable recommendation after reviewing a new draft and several technical edits.

The committee’s discussion focused on clarifying statutory language and consistency with Title 6 and federal references. Staff described changes including replacing the term “operation” with “farm” where Title 6 uses “farm,” removing defined terms that are unused in statute, incorporating references to federally defined waters into the committee’s local “waters” definition, and standardizing a reference to the state permitting database (transcript: "BIPT" used in most places where an EPA draft had used a different name). Staff also explained insertion of a missing word in a manure/waste provision and other line-edits for clarity.

Those changes were followed by targeted debate about the stakeholder-engagement paragraph for a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) program. Committee members and staff agreed to remove language that explicitly authorized “discreet meetings” with particular groups; the committee settled on broader language requiring public notice, informational hearings and opportunities for listed stakeholders — livestock farmers, farm groups, agricultural consultants, watershed groups and water-quality experts — to provide input. Staff also confirmed the statute’s use of “secretary” can accommodate a designee rather than requiring the secretary’s personal attendance at every meeting.

Committee staff also noted edits elsewhere that substitute consistent terminology (for example, aligning the rule language with Title 6 wording) and fixed typographical and tense issues throughout the draft. Staff identified where prior EPA edits had referenced a national permitting database differently than state usage and corrected those cross-references.

At midmorning the committee took a motion to amend S.124 to draft 2.3 (the motion language read, in part, to amend S.124 to draft 2.3 dated today at 09:26 a.m., favorable with amendment). On the roll call taken during the meeting record, the following members were recorded as voting “Yes”: Senator Beck; Senator Butler; Senator Hardy; and Senator Watson. The motion was approved as moved and the committee prepared to send the bill forward as amended.

Committee members asked staff to check whether the bill would be reported to Senate Finance or another committee; staff noted the bill contains fee language but no direct appropriation and suggested it may move to Finance for further consideration.

The committee paused then adjourned to reconvene for other business and floor scheduling.