Regional planning commissions brief Senate committee on housing, infrastructure and brownfields funding needs

Leaders of Vermont's regional planning commissions told the Senate Government Operations Committee on Jan. 15 that RPCs are the state's primary regional staff resource and will press for additional state funding for brownfields cleanup, municipal technical assistance and emergency preparedness.

"Regional planning commissions really our main role in the state is to provide staff support and technical assistance to towns and state," said Charlie Baker, executive director of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission and a representative of the state association of planning and development agencies. He told the committee RPCs are "the only regional level governmental entity that exists in the state of Vermont" and that they are political subdivisions accountable to towns, state agencies and federal funders.

The presentation explained why the commissions say they are integral to housing production, infrastructure and cleanup projects. "We were given special one-time funding through the HOME Act to deliver special services known as housing resource navigators," said Debbie Neary, executive director of the Rutland Regional Planning Commission and chair of the state association, describing a Rutland housing resource guide that local developers used. Catherine Dimitryk, director of the Northwest Regional Planning Commission, added that RPCs also staff municipal planning, transportation, energy and clean-water programs.

Why it matters: RPCs said they will be central to implementing changes enacted in the 2024 housing and Act 250 legislation (Act 181), which requires updates to regional plans by a December 2026 deadline. Committee members and RPC directors flagged gaps in infrastructure funding and municipal capacity that could slow housing projects even where zoning and planning policies have been updated.

Key points from the briefing:

- Scope and scale: RPCs said there are 11 commissions statewide with roughly 135 staff members. RPCs reported helping 113 communities with grant writing last year and providing planning or zoning assistance to more than 188 towns in the prior fiscal year. Town dues provide about 5% to 7% of RPC budgets, with most revenue coming from state and federal grants and performance contracts.

- Act 181 / Act 250 implementation: RPC directors said the commissions must update regional plans to meet the new place-based Act 250 jurisdiction rules and have until December 2026 to do so. "It really does align the town, the regional, and the state planning together," Baker said, noting extensive planned public engagement with towns and planning commissions.

- Housing and infrastructure: RPCs described housing navigators, ADU guides and town inventories that supported 94 towns through housing-related assistance last year. Committee members raised the need to align water and wastewater funding with housing goals; RPCs said they are working with at least two towns on water/wastewater projects but that available infrastructure funding is limited.

- Regulatory and permitting concerns: RPCs and senators discussed permit appeals and other non-Act 250 permits that affect housing projects, including stormwater and State Historic Preservation Office reviews. Speakers said appeals at the municipal permitting stage can delay or add costs to projects.

- Brownfields and economic development: RPCs reported receiving both EPA and state brownfields funds and said cleanup is often multi-phased. They described a $2,000,000 program of EPA funds that RPCs can grant or loan for cleanup and said brownfield remediation supports downtown redevelopment and housing.

- Energy, transportation and emergency planning: RPCs stressed roles in transportation planning, rail-trail development and municipal energy resilience projects, including use of municipal energy resilience grants (described as about $36,000,000 in implementation funding). They also noted trained RPC staff who can back up the State Emergency Operations Center.

Asks and near-term items: RPC leaders said they intend to request increased legislative funding for brownfield cleanup and for municipal technical assistance tied to Act 181 implementation. They also reported forwarding a small Budget Adjustment Act request to restore emergency preparedness funding reduced at the federal level and suggested a $150,000 restoration figure for that line (RPCs characterized that figure as a small BAA request). The presentation identified the brownfields program and municipal bylaw work as likely major financial asks this session.

Committee response and next steps: Committee members signaled interest in follow-up briefings. Senator Clarkson and others discussed the ongoing regionalization/governance study and asked for updates from that panel; RPC directors said they communicate with the legislative technical advisory group and would provide information as the study progresses. RPCs also asked the committee to consider pilot approaches to shared services or council-of-government models to reduce duplication and improve access to federal funding.

No formal votes were taken during the presentation. The committee scheduled follow-up work on regionalization and indicated it will consider RPC funding requests as the session proceeds.