Bill would create conservation license plate to fund cyanobacteria mitigation

A bill to create a conservation registration plate to fund cyanobacteria mitigation projects in New Hampshire advanced at the Senate Transportation Committee hearing. Representative Rosemarie Rung, prime sponsor of House Bill 105, told the committee the plate would direct $30 of the registration fee to the Cyanobacteria Mitigation and Grant Fund administered by the Department of Environmental Services.

Why it matters: State and lake officials told the committee cyanobacteria blooms — often called blue‑green algae — have become more widespread and longer lasting in recent years and can pose risks to human and animal health and to local economies reliant on swimming and recreation. Existing mitigation grants have been largely spent; DES officials said just under $200,000 remained of a roughly $1 million fund established in 2023.

Representative Rung said the plate would be modeled on New Hampshire’s existing conservation-style specialty plates and estimated initial start‑up costs at about $24,000, to be recouped from early sales. She described projects that the fund would support, including culvert reconstruction, stormwater and runoff remediation identified through watershed management plans, and large in‑lake aluminum (alum) treatments to address phosphorus in lake sediments — projects whose costs can reach several hundred thousand dollars.

Department of Motor Vehicles Director John Marasco confirmed the DMV provided a fiscal note that estimated about $25,000 for system upgrades to support a new plate; he said production costs and whether the DMV could recoup manufacturing expenses would require further review. Marasco also told senators that the decal option is commonly used because nonprofits often distribute decals and it avoids some DMV production burdens.

Environmental scientists from NHDES emphasized the agency’s existing cyanobacteria program and the scale of need. Amy Smagula, chief aquatic biologist and director of the Limnology Center at NHDES, said the agency has led a statewide cyanobacteria plan and that mitigation projects can range from “a couple hundred thousand dollars to half a million dollars or more,” with dozens of water bodies currently experiencing sustained blooms.

Opponents and concerns: Mike Marchand of New Hampshire Fish and Game said his agency opposed the bill because a new specialty plate that overlaps conservation imagery (in this case a loon) could draw revenue away from the long‑standing Moose Plate program, which he said supplies roughly 40% of the non‑game program’s budget and is used to match federal grants. Marchand cited Maine experience where the introduction of additional specialty plates correlated with declines in revenue for an existing wildlife plate.

Supporters representing lake associations and conservation groups urged the committee to approve the bill, arguing a specialty plate or decal would provide a steady, visible revenue source to support mitigation work that local associations and DES cannot fully fund.

Next steps: Committee members asked for more precise cost information from the DMV about manufacturing and decal options and discussed whether a decal, a full plate, or other approaches would better balance startup costs, state administrative burden, and potential revenue. No final committee action on HB 105 was recorded in the transcript.