State proposes grant to help MS4s adopt 3‑acre residential stormwater sites; municipalities ask for retroactive eligibility

On Jan. 6, 2026, at a meeting of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission MS4 Subcommittee, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation staff presented a conceptual grant program designed to fund the adoption of residential three‑acre stormwater sites into MS4 permits and solicited feedback from municipal representatives.

The grant, as described by Mary P, is intended to help municipalities and other permittees meet water‑quality targets through financial and technical assistance aimed primarily at residential sites. "This is a new grant program that is in conceptual stage presented for feedback and collaboration," Mary P said, outlining a draft formula for award amounts, a proposed funding approach and a tentative timeframe.

Why it matters: many municipalities are wrestling with how to bring privately owned residential three‑acre sites into municipal MS4 permits while maintaining fairness for residents and earlier adopters. Committee members warned that a program that excludes sites adopted before 2024 could punish early adopters and asked DEC to consider retroactive eligibility.

Municipal concerns and DEC responses

Chip S asked whether sites taken over after 2024 would be eligible; DEC staff said the agency is "trying to encourage new adoption" but that it would take the retroactivity question into consideration. "This feels punitive as we have been trying to take on older sites," Chip S said, urging flexibility for municipalities that have already adopted sites. Alex K echoed that concern, noting Colchester has adopted many sites and that residents are paying an offset fee.

Committee members pressed DEC on whether award dollars would require on‑site treatment or could be treated as programmatic awards to MS4s. DEC said once an MS4 adopts a site and receives an award, the funds are treated as an award and may be applied to eligible stormwater or roads‑specific Clean Water Projects; the agency emphasized the program is centered on phosphorus reduction.

On tracking and match requirements, multiple municipal representatives said they would prefer no local match and minimal burdensome reporting. DEC said it currently is "not imagining any match" but that tracking investments will be important to paint a complete picture of outcomes. Dan A recommended a zero match because permittees were not required to adopt sites originally; "it would be weird to indirectly reward HOAs that have done nothing at all historically," Dan A said, urging careful design of eligibility and prioritization criteria.

Program mechanics and illustrations

Dean P described an illustrative starting award: "everyone starts at $65,000 per acre, and then it goes up from there," a framework DEC staff characterized as an incentive process rather than a competitive scoring project. DEC staff noted they do not yet have a method to fully incorporate MS4s with more than two sites into the current draft formula and said details on milestones and construction timelines would be worked out in future grant agreements with the agency's business office.

Other points raised included: whether mitigation fee frameworks already in use (for example, to allow HOAs to pay fees) could interface with grant dollars; whether the eligibility formula should give extra weight to certain project types such as FRP projects; and how easement acquisition and prioritization would affect a municipality's ability to use funds.

Next steps

DEC staff said they will take feedback from the subcommittee into account as they refine the program, including whether to date eligibility back to 2024 so early adopters are not disadvantaged. The presentation and discussion occupied the bulk of the meeting; no formal vote or program adoption occurred at the Jan. 6 meeting.

At the same meeting, the committee approved minutes from Nov. 4, 2025, and CCRPC staff reported that, starting in December, the commission has been able to charge DEC grant funds for Tactical Basin Planning outreach time spent preparing for and documenting subcommittee work. The committee scheduled a Feb. 3 meeting to review two annual reports and adjourned at 1:37 p.m.