Committee reviews technical corrections bill H.231 for Fish and Wildlife

The Natural Resources & Energy Committee heard lawmakers and agency staff discuss H.231, a technical corrections bill for the Fish and Wildlife Department, during a committee meeting. The bill would remove outdated fish definitions, clarify when nests may be taken, adjust the enforcement point system for wildlife violations, restore Judicial Bureau jurisdiction over certain public‑waters tickets, and add language on possessing certain loaded long guns and cocked crossbows in vehicles.

Savannah Smith, general counsel for Fish and Wildlife, described the proposal as “a relatively short bill dealing with truly housekeeping matters that the department felt were time sensitive.” She walked members through the measure section by section and answered committee questions about scope and enforcement.

The bill would remove two statutory fish listings that Smith said are outdated and are now managed through the agency’s fish‑management rules (referred to in testimony as section 122 of the Fish and Wildlife regulations). Smith told the committee the current statutory list functions as a species list rather than a biological definition and that management details for those species live in the department’s rules.

The proposal also updates language about taking bird nests to align with the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act: agency staff said the revised text would limit lawful removal to nests that are no longer in use. “The nests have to be… inactive nests,” Smith said, explaining the intent to avoid removing active nests.

Section 3 of the draft (10 V.S.A. §4502 as referenced in committee discussion) would align statutory cross‑references with updated rules governing enforcement points. Smith said the default point accumulation used to trigger license suspension is five points and that the statute currently references multiple thresholds (for example, ten and twenty points). A substantive change noted in testimony would reclassify snaring animals from a ten‑point violation to a twenty‑point violation, which Smith said would affect suspension outcomes.

Smith described another change intended to restore the Judicial Bureau’s civil‑ticket jurisdiction over violations of public‑waters rules. She said language added to 2015 removed an explicit reference to the Judicial Bureau; the bill would amend statutes in Title 23 and Title 10 so wardens and other marine law officers can issue civil tickets again under the Judicial Bureau process (testimony referenced 23 V.S.A. §3317 and 10 V.S.A. §1424 in that context).

The committee also discussed a deleted provision the House removed from the draft that had sought to prohibit possession of loaded rifles, shotguns, certain air rifles or a cocked crossbow in a motor vehicle or aircraft. Smith said the department’s intent was to prohibit having a long gun or a cocked crossbow that is ready to discharge while in a vehicle’s public right‑of‑way, not to address handguns protected under separate statutory schemes. Smith said she worked with law‑enforcement leadership to define technical language capturing when an implement is “ready to discharge” and to include pre‑charged pneumatic rifles and similar implements in the prohibition.

Committee members asked practical questions about the right‑of‑way scope, what constitutes a loaded or cocked weapon for air and pneumatic rifles, and enforcement in driveways or on private property. One committee member requested more testimony specifically on air‑rifle and crossbow language before the committee moves ahead.

Members also raised a related enforcement question about boat decontamination at access points. A committee member described volunteer greeter programs that inspect boats and sometimes direct owners to decontaminate to prevent invasive species spread; the member asked whether statute should expressly prohibit entry to waters for boat owners who refuse inspection or decontamination. Smith and other staff said the Department of Environmental Conservation is conducting a stakeholder process on decontamination and recommended waiting for that work to conclude before adding new statutory penalties; Smith said she would follow up with agency staff on timelines.

No formal committee vote on H.231 was recorded in the transcript. Smith said she would circulate the department’s revised draft language to staffers identified in the meeting and expected to return with more detail and additional testimony when the committee considers the bill in markup.

The discussion combined technical statutory cross‑reference updates with practical enforcement and public‑safety questions that committee members said will require clearer drafting and additional law‑enforcement input before a final committee recommendation.