Senate Natural Resources & Energy committee outlines session priorities on water, solid waste and energy

Good morning. It is Tuesday, January 28th, and that was Senate Natural Resources and Energy. And we are gonna start off, this morning with a committee discussion about things that, you might want to see happen over the course of, this session, Speaker 3, a committee member, said as the meeting opened.

The committee spent its meeting identifying topics to track this session and areas for follow-up rather than taking formal action. Members flagged water and stormwater management (including the so-called 3-acre rule), solid-waste concerns near wetlands and a single landfill, extended producer responsibility (EPR) proposals for products including car seats and solar panels, and how to handle large batteries from electric vehicles and solar arrays.

The wide-ranging discussion began with concerns about a single landfill close to wetlands. Speaker 2, a committee member, said, “I don't know what the solution or the answer is. I just I know, it's an issue that is out there,” describing worries about proximity to wetlands that staff and future briefings will need to address.

Committee members pressed for implementation reviews of laws passed in recent years. Speaker 4, a committee member, said the group should "really just focus on the implementation of what we've done the last few years ... and see how it's going," and urged outreach to people involved in those programs to check whether they are unfolding as intended.

Members also discussed specifics of likely bills. Speaker 3 summarized several items on the short list: a "salt bill" aimed at chloride reduction on roads; tweaks to a household hazardous-waste law passed last year to improve producer-responsibility provisions; and possible work on packaging and product stewardship. On extended producer responsibility, Speaker 3 said there are currently no car-seat EPR programs in the country but suggested the committee could study whether to start one in Vermont.

The committee flagged energy and climate topics, including siting for utility-scale solar and successor ideas for group net metering that could expand access to people without on-site photovoltaics. Members also raised the disposal and reuse of large batteries. "What are we gonna do with them?" Speaker 1, a committee member, asked of vehicle and solar-panel batteries; Speaker 3 noted a prior bill on rechargeable batteries and said a study on large batteries is planned.

On a related procedural item, Speaker 1 asked about the status of "Act 18" and the report process; Speaker 1 said the full legislature will need to hear the report and the committee should understand where that process stands.

The meeting included a brief cultural note: Speaker 3 described a wool hooked rug by artist Suzanne Douglas, donated to the Sheldon Museum in Middlebury and now hung in the committee room.

No motions or formal votes were recorded in the transcript. Members agreed to pause the meeting and reconvene, with a planned check-in before a scheduled appearance by "TJ Ford" of the "Public search department," per the transcript. The committee indicated it will schedule staff briefings and follow-up work on the topics discussed.

The discussion served principally to set the committee's early-session agenda and to identify items for staff research and presentations rather than to adopt policy.

Looking ahead, the committee signaled it will take up water-related bills (including stormwater/3-acre rules), solid-waste system questions, several forms of extended producer responsibility and battery/solar-panel disposal issues, and climate/energy items such as solar siting and programs to broaden access to renewables.

Votes at a glance: no formal actions or recorded votes in this meeting.