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Conference committee debates 3‑acre stormwater rule, funds technical help for towns
Summary
Members debated the '3‑acre' stormwater threshold and whether regional state utilities would preempt towns; the committee included funding for ANR technical support and referenced a $10 million clean‑water allocation and a modest $100,000 line for helping towns form stormwater utilities.
Heidi Harrison told the conference committee that the "3‑acre rule" — the threshold triggering certain stormwater management requirements — remains a central issue as the conferees reconcile House and Senate language.
Harrison said stormwater utilities are "a way to have revenue in a fair way so that everyone who generates stormwater pays" and that the state had received EPA funds to help towns that were out of compliance. The committee discussed shifting some clean‑water dollars to support towns setting up utilities; Harrison said the $10 million clean‑water allocation includes items for stormwater utility design and technical assistance and that a separate, smaller line (noted in the draft at roughly $100,000) would help individual towns with initial engineering or guidance.
Several conferees warned about the policy risk of a statewide regional utility preempting municipal options. Harrison said she attended the working group on regional utilities and urged drafting that would not preclude towns from establishing their own utilities; she suggested alternatives such as water‑management districts if the state approach would unduly limit municipal authority.
The committee flagged follow up with ANR and agency staff to define eligible uses for technical assistance dollars and to ensure the conference language preserves municipal options where appropriate.
