Senate amendment expands environmental provisions: $50 pesticide fee proposed, paint stewardship and household hazardous waste changes, Rutland fair stormwater"

The House Ways & Means Committee examined the Senate amendment to the miscellaneous agricultural and environmental bill, which adds several revenue and program provisions: a $50 annual fee on pesticide product registrations to reimburse solid waste districts for disposal costs; expansion and statutory codification of the paint-product stewardship program; additions related to household hazardous waste collection plans; and a site-specific accommodation for the Rutland State Fair under stormwater permitting.

Michael Grady, who briefed the committee, summarized the changes and said the bill had been expanded on the Senate floor from roughly 24 pages to about 70 pages by incorporating provisions from H.319. Grady described section-by-section changes and fiscal implications. "They are proposing to add a $50 per product annual fee to the state's pesticide registration fee," Grady said, adding the fee would be deposited into the pesticide monitoring special fund and used to support collection and disposition of unwanted pesticides.

Fiscal office analysis: James Duffy of the fiscal office told the committee that pesticides are already registered annually with a $200 fee and that the added $50 would be charged to the same registrants. Duffy said the Joint Fiscal Office estimates that the $50 fee would generate roughly $600,000 annually for the pesticide monitoring special fund.

Key provisions summarized: - Pesticide registration fee: Sections 2 and 3 add a $50 annual fee per registered pesticide product, with estimated revenue of about $600,000 annually. The transcript states the existing $200 fee is currently split with $185 to the Pesticide Monitoring Special Fund and $15 to the Agriculture Water Quality Special Fund; the new $50 would be deposited to the pesticide monitoring special fund. - Household hazardous waste: The bill incorporates household hazardous waste collection plan requirements. If manufacturers fail to submit acceptable plans by the statutory deadline (noted in the bill), the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (AFM) may perform the plan and bill manufacturers up to 10% of the implementation cost; agency staff said they expect full manufacturer compliance and do not expect the authority to be triggered. - Paint product stewardship: The bill expands the existing architectural paint stewardship program to include related products (thinners, industrial paints, stains, strippers) and moves the fee-setting authority into statute so the General Assembly will set fees rather than the agency. Duffy estimated this expansion would generate about $6,000 in additional sales tax revenue from fees being taxable components of sale prices and would require an agency report with a proposed fee schedule by Dec. 15, 2025. - Rutland State Fair and stormwater permit: The amendment would require the Rutland State Fair to obtain a three-acre stormwater permit but would provide an engineering-feasibility accommodation for site constraints (railroad, swamp, state highway, adjacent development) so the fair would not be required to pay a stormwater impact fee or undertake an offset project for on-site work that engineering prevents. The agency told the committee the exemption from the stormwater impact fee has no direct state fiscal impact because the fee revenue funds watershed restoration projects; the fair would still pay annual permit operating fees. - Use Value Appraisal (UVA) change: The Senate-added provision that would allow donated crop value to count toward UVA eligibility for parcels up to 25 acres drew concern; committee members said Representative Durfee will offer an amendment in the House Agriculture Committee to remove that section.

Committee discussion and next steps: members asked clarifying questions about fee design, stakeholder agreement, and implementation timelines. Grady said AFM, industry representatives, and solid waste management entities met to discuss the pesticide-fee approach. The transcript records that the agency and involved parties will study sustainable funding models, including extended producer responsibility, and report back by Dec. 15, 2025.

Decisions recorded in the transcript: the committee noted that the UVA donation eligibility provision (section 5) will be removed by amendment in House Agriculture; no formal Ways & Means vote on the Senate amendment was recorded in the transcript. Agency and fiscal staff posted or will post updated fiscal notes and supporting materials to the committee page.