House advances stormwater bill to give towns more time, funding options and study regional utilities

The Vermont House advanced H.481 on March 25, an act concerning stormwater management and clean‑water funding that extends permitting deadlines for sites with three or more acres of impervious surface, preserves the clean water surcharge on the property transfer tax and directs a study on regional stormwater utility districts. Representative Logan (member from Burlington), reporting for the House Committee on Environment, opened the bill presentation by saying, "Vermonters love Lake Champlain and depend on it for drinking water and recreational pursuits like fishing, swimming, and boating."

H.481 responds to Vermont's obligations under the Lake Champlain total maximum daily load (TMDL) to reduce phosphorus pollution. The bill would move the permit deadline for affected "3‑acre" sites in the Lake Champlain and Memphremagog watersheds from October 1, 2023, to October 1, 2028, and extend analogous deadlines for other watersheds to a later date tied to TMDL schedules. The bill keeps a source of state revenue for clean water by repealing a scheduled reduction and sunset of the clean water surcharge on the property transfer tax and authorizes continued clean water funding for permitting…