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Natural Resources secretary pauses wake‑boat rulemaking, citing conflicts with S.224 provisions
Summary
Julie Martin, Vermont’s secretary of natural resources, told the committee she has asked staff to pause proposed wake‑boat rules because S.224 contains provisions (home‑lake registration, decontamination provider approvals, lake‑by‑lake lists and enforcement changes) that conflict with the agency's draft rules and would be difficult or resource‑intensive to implement before the 2026 season.
Julie Martin, Vermont’s secretary of natural resources, told the Senate committee she has asked ANR staff to pause their draft wake‑boat (wake‑sports) rulemaking while the legislature and agency reconcile differences between S.224 and the agency’s draft rules.
"I've asked the team to pause their work on the rule making while we sort this out," Martin said, citing conflicts that would affect both implementability and enforcement.
Martin identified several specific concerns: the bill’s approach to distinguishing wake boats from wake‑sports operation; a proposed "home lake" registration and single‑lake use restriction that would require long‑term oversight; a plan to create an approval or registration program for decontamination service providers on a short time line; and a statutory direction to compile lake‑by‑lake lists of waters eligible for wake sports. She said those features would either change the fundamental regulatory construct ANR has developed or create an unmanageable workload for implementation in the upcoming season.
On decontamination, Martin said ANR’s draft rule uses performance‑based decontamination standards rather than an immediate station‑approval program because the agency does not have capacity to establish and staff a provider‑approval program by summer. She also said a legislative requirement to list eligible lakes would likely trigger dozens of petitions and substantial agency review work.
Fish and Wildlife staff and ANR legal review raised additional technical questions: how fishing tournaments should be notified and whether tournament organizers or the department should notify municipalities; whether municipalities can be reimbursed for certain drinking‑water protections; and how enforcement and penalty structures would align between the bill and agency rules. Committee members agreed to return to the issue with additional testimony and to coordinate agency and legislative drafting before taking final action.
Next steps: The committee scheduled additional testimony and asked ANR and stakeholders to provide written clarifications and suggested statutory language to reduce conflicts and implementation burdens.
