Panel reviews how Act 181 and Act 250 treat wood-products manufacturers

Legislative counsel Ellen Tchaikowski told a committee the Legislature has carved out specific treatment for wood-products manufacturers within the state land-use law, Act 250, and that Act 181 of 2024 made further, targeted changes. Tchaikowski said the statute defines wood-products manufacturers as operations that aggregate timber from forestry operations and add value through processing or marketing, and that it "includes sawmills, veneer mills, pulp mills, pellet mills, producers of firewood, wood chips, mulch, and fuel wood, log and pulp concentration yards."

Why it matters: the changes affect small sawmills, cordwood producers and other rural businesses whose operations are seasonal, require mobile deliveries and can intersect with municipal zoning and other state permits. Tchaikowski said some facilities qualify automatically for a faster "minor" Act 250 review and certain permit conditions were written to reflect the industry's seasonal needs. "Under Act 250, logging and forestry below 2,500 feet in elevation is exempt from Act 250," she said, adding that value-added processing is the point where a facility can move into Act 250 jurisdiction.

Key details: a 2017 change created a default minor-permit track for smaller operations. The thresholds described by counsel were 3.5 million board feet per year for sawmills, 3,500 cords per year for firewood/cordwood producers, and 10,000 tons or less for wood chips or pellets. Tchaikowski described permit-condition flexibility adopted in 2022, including authority for district commissions to account for "seasonal weather dependent, land dependent and varied conditions" and to allow deliveries outside standard hours when necessary to avoid adverse impacts; she quoted the statute saying permits can allow deliveries "including nights, weekends, and holidays" for deliveries demonstrated by the manufacturer as necessary "not to exceed 90 days per year."

The law also provides a specific seasonal accommodation for fuel products used to heat homes: permits may allow flexible deliveries from October 1 through April 30. Counsel noted that, while Act 250 is a state land-use system administered by the Land Use Review Board, district commissions (nine local, three-member volunteer panels) review and issue permits locally, and appeals of district commission permits go to environmental court. Municipal zoning remains a separate system and may apply in addition to, or in coordination with, Act 250.

On prime agricultural soils, Tchaikowski summarized a change from Act 181 (2024): for wood-products manufacturers that would damage primary agricultural soils, the statutory mitigation ratio for conserving comparable soils or paying mitigation was set at 1:1 for those manufactures, reducing the typical 2:1–3:1 ratio applied in other contexts. "This provision set that for wood product manufacturers ... the mitigation ratio is 1 to 1," she said, noting the reduction lowers the fee but still requires conservation. The Act also required the Land Use Review Board, in consultation with the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, to convene a stakeholder group and report on how permitting could better support wood-products manufacturers; committee members said the report, due in December 2024, was released later and urged colleagues to review it before the Land Use Review Board's upcoming presentation.

Committee concerns and context: speakers stressed the economic reality for small operators. One member warned of the practical risks to small businesses and the potential for municipal or neighbor complaints to threaten operations: "You're very vulnerable to a disgruntled neighbor or a town that's has some, you know, very repressive leaders," an attendee said, and another said the state has lost most of its manufacturing capacity in recent decades. Members asked about other ANR rules (for example, water rules) and whether a new sawmill might need permits from multiple agencies; counsel replied that other ANR permits can apply and municipal permits may also be relevant.

Next steps: the committee will receive a presentation from the Land Use Review Board and other stakeholders on the report and continue discussion of wood-products manufacturers later in the week. Committee members were asked to review the stakeholder report in advance.