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Agency of Agriculture outlines Act 250 rules for primary agricultural soils and mitigation fees
Summary
Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets staff told the House committee how Act 250 criterion 9(b) defines primary agricultural soils, how NRCS agricultural value groups determine mitigation multipliers (2.0–3.0), and how on‑site set‑asides and offset mitigation fees to VHCB are applied. Members pressed the agency on housing tradeoffs and asked for statewide acreage figures.
Ari Rockman Miller, senior agricultural development coordinator with the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, told the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, & Forestry that under Act 250 ‘‘criteria 9 b, which is titled Primary Agricultural Soils, the agency of agriculture food and market is a statutory party,’’ and that the agency reviews projects proposing to affect primary agricultural soils and recommends permit conditions to Land Use Review Boards.
Miller described the mitigation framework set out in statute (Title 10, section 6093) and the multiplier system used to calculate required mitigation acreage. ‘‘The multiplier of 3, is reserved for agricultural value group 1,’’ he said, and gave the arithmetic behind it: ‘‘So if you're gonna impact 2 acres of that, you'd have to set aside 6 acres of mitigation.’’ He laid out the…
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