Senate committee narrows language on salt‑storage covers, asks ANR for inventory and cost estimate

Legislative counsel Michael Grady told members of the Senate Transportation committee that the Senate Natural Resources committee had drafted language requiring cover of municipal and private salt storage, including sand-and-salt mixtures and, in some instances, sand alone.

The committee directed the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) to deliver a report by Jan. 15, 2026, that inventories salt‑storage facilities, estimates how many are covered and how many lie within 100 yards of surface water or drinking‑water sources, and provides a total cost estimate to cover or otherwise manage those sites.

“This is Mike Grady with legislative counsel. You should have in front of you doc that says draft number 1.1…you had discussions with the Senate Natural Resources and managing committee about their proposal to require cover of salt sheds,” Grady said as he summarized the draft amendment and the agency request.

Why it matters: the change would create a clear reporting requirement tied to a possible future coverage mandate and would add a specific funding priority to the Clean Water Fund Board’s list of priorities so towns have a place to seek assistance if the cover requirement is adopted. The committee’s action is intended to produce better data and a cost picture before any coverage deadlines take effect.

Committee members debated whether to place a floor dollar amount in the bill. The initial language proposed adding a new Clean Water Fund priority for grants for municipal compliance with the proposed coverage requirement and included a minimum funding statement of $1,000,000. Members discussed removing the dollar amount and replacing the language with broader “financial assistance” to leave more funding flexibility. Grady said the agency had pushed back on grants in other contexts and has favored loan or “creative financing” approaches, but committee members said municipalities would likely press for grants.

A majority of committee members agreed to remove the $1,000,000 figure from the draft and to change the priority language to authorize financial assistance for municipalities in meeting any coverage requirement. That change also followed committee discussion that the earliest compliance deadline in the draft is 2030 and that ANR’s report in 2026 would give the Clean Water Fund Board time to weigh funding options for fiscal 2027 and beyond.

The amendment also asks ANR to estimate incremental funding needed to meet any timeline that requires towns to cover storage sites, and to report on how many facilities are already covered or are within the 100‑yard buffer of surface water. The draft explicitly frames the inventory as including “private land facilities,” which mirrors the coverage scope in the Natural Resources committee draft.

Committee directions: staff will circulate the revised amendment language changing the $1,000,000 floor to “financial assistance,” and ANR is to deliver the inventory and cost estimate noted above. The committee did not record a formal vote on the amendment during the discussion; members agreed to carry the revised language forward to the Natural Resources committee across the hall.

Looking ahead: committee staff said the Clean Water Fund Board will be considering FY26 and FY27 recommendations, and that the ANR inventory due in 2026 would inform any Clean Water Fund funding priority for fiscal year 2027, ahead of the 2030 compliance deadline in the draft.