Bill to double some mooring fees wins backing from lake advocates as source for cyanobacteria mitigation money

Representative John T. McDonald introduced HB1301 (also referenced as B301/FN in the hearing), proposing an increase to certain mooring fees and splitting part of the new fee to the cyanobacteria mitigation loan and grant fund. McDonald said mooring fees had not been changed in decades, and the proposal would dedicate $25 of a $50 fee per non‑congregate mooring to the mitigation fund.

Lake association leaders, including Norm Royce (Northwood Lake Watershed Association) and Andrea Lamaro (New Hampshire Lakes), testified in support. They described recurring cyanobacteria blooms, public‑health closures, the very high cost of treatments (alum treatments and watershed remediation often cost hundreds of thousands of dollars), and that the state mitigation fund was nearly depleted. DEES chief aquatic biologist Amy Smagula summarized prior spending from the 2023 appropriation and ARPA funds (roughly $2 million allocated across 11 projects) and said HB1301’s projected $68–80K would not fund a large implementation project alone but could supplement other funding sources.

Marine Patrol (Tim Dunlevy) explained mooring categories (individual moorings up to 4 per frontage, congregate fields, and public fields), noted the mooring law applies to eight named lakes in statute (plus three added by rulemaking), and said permitting and enforcement generate administrative workload: the division issues thousands of permits on the regulated lakes and maintains a clerk to manage renewals and decals. Committee members asked about applying the fee to congregate moorings or expanding to other lakes; sponsors were open to amendments and coordination with Marine Patrol and DEES.

Testimony closed after public and agency comment; the committee scheduled follow‑up and potential amendment work to reconcile language and related bills.