DES tells committee it will centralize wildlife reviews, raise some permitting fees and restrict overwater boathouses; new solid‑waste siting panel proposed

Concord — The Department of Environmental Services told a House Finance Division I hearing it supports a package of changes in the governor’s House Bill 2 that would consolidate several environmental permitting reviews at DES, increase a set of permit fees to pay for added staff, and add new guardrails for overwater “boathouses.” Separately, the governor’s office proposed creation of a Solid Waste Site Evaluation Committee to review very large disposal or transfer facilities and a temporary moratorium on new capacity until the committee issues rules.

At a Jan. 24 Division I hearing, Adam Crapo, assistant commissioner at the Department of Environmental Services, described sections 2 through 8 of HB 2 as “realigning some of the state agencies to make permitting a little bit quicker,” including moving several DES‑related wildlife review positions now housed at New Hampshire Fish and Game and the Natural Heritage Bureau/Department of Natural and Cultural Resources into DES. “The idea here is for when developers have a project and they need DES permits…to consolidate this to just a one‑stop shop,” Crapo said.

Why it matters: DES officials said the move aims to shorten permitting timelines and reduce applicants’ need to navigate multiple agencies. Legislators pressing DES sought revenue and process details: Representatives asked how many positions move, which fees would rise, who pays, and whether fee increases could push homeowners to work without permits.

What DES told the committee - Staff moves and structure: Crapo said HB 1 and HB 2 together would transfer most of the reviewers who complete endangered‑species and Natural Heritage Database (NHB) checks into DES’s Land Resource Management Bureau. DES asked a technical correction so Fish and Game would retain some reviewers who do work for other state or federal agencies. Under the current proposal DES would receive three staff from Fish and Game, two from DNCR, plus one new supervisory position to run an endangered‑species unit. Phil Trowbridge, who runs DES’s Land Resource Management Bureau, added that the transferred reviewers would remain…