H.526 Legislative Update

Dear Members and Friends,

            Please find in the following an update on the status of the legislation which we’ve been encouraging the membership to review:

• H.526 An act relating to the establishment of lake shoreland protection standards

We convened as many of the trustees as available on Saturday afternoon (April 6) to discuss the status and an update for those who would be directly impacted by the legislation. 

The status is H.526 has been voted on and passed the VT house and will be reviewed by committee in the Senate.  Today it is unclear how the voting will go in committee.  A review of the bill is on the schedule for next week.

The ad-hoc committee of trustees that has formed, to which I as Legislative chair am explicitly grateful to, has the following observation:  the bill H.526 as approved has been amended to address some concerns that were voiced with the original bill and to this we applaud our representative(s) for listening and working hard to find solutions.  However, there continue to be fundamental apprehensions about the legislation.

• Statewide regulation – the result is a loss of local control to address local issues.   The legislation is presented as one size fits all.  What has been tossed around is our lakes are not Lake Champlain.
• Enforcement – this item has not been addressed, and  as evidenced by reducing  dollars for battling invasive species (Milfoil) and other EPA infractions  (wetlands encroachment), it’s unclear new regulations will receive the required attention to have the desired impact. 
• Impact of Stream and tributary runoff – the legislation doesn’t address the “nutrients and sediment” that results in the lakes from these sources.   

So, we believe that our efforts to date have generated due respect and appreciation for the issues of property owners by the legislature, but now we have a new audience to review the policy and must continue to be vocal with our opinions on the legislation.

We hope the continued updates help you understand the issue and speed, which this is moving.  We welcome the feedback from the membership that has been received and would appreciate any help you could provide to notify the boarder community about this and call or mail a note to your senator with your comments on H.526. 

Spring is coming slowly as Lord Dunmore observed the dip! 

Respectfully,

Chip Paison

Legislative Chair

Legislative Update on H.526

March 29, 2013

Dear Members and Friends,

House Bill H.526 passed the House on 3/27/13.  The bill passed by a vote of 105-42.  The bill now advances to the Senate.  The LDFLA Board will keep you informed on the progress of the bill in the Senate. We will also work with our Addison County Senators to address any concerns brought to our attention by the membership.

The bill, having gone through 11 drafts, finally came out of the Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources Committee on an 8-1 vote. It readily became apparent to the LDFLA Board that H.526 had the needed support to pass in the House. While the Board continues to support the goals of the bill to “prevent degradation of water quality in lakes and preserve natural stability of shoreline”, the bill did not address important issues of health and safety that are perhaps unique to our lakes.   It also did not address the very important question of shoreland properties being viewed as part of the common-law public trust doctrine.  It was critical, in board members’ opinions, that these issues be addressed in the bill before it continued to move forward.  Therefore, Board members sought a meeting with our district State Rep. Willem Jewett.  Rep. Jewett did meet with us informally on Sunday afternoon March 24.  He listened to our concerns regarding how this bill could affect mosquito breeding habitat and that it could discourage the necessary upgrades to the lakes’ private roads that need to be kept accessible to today’s larger emergency vehicles.  He also heard our concerns how privately owned shorelands could now, or in the future, be viewed as part of the public trust doctrine, thereby allowing unimpeded access by the public. There was also concern expressed by several Association members that the State’s parks should be required to be managed with the same requirements that private property is under the bill.

Rep. Jewett, as he had agreed at our meeting, took our list of concerns back to the Committee Chair, and author of the bill, Rep. David Deen.  On March 27 Chairman Deen did offer four amendments addressing our specific concerns on the House Floor (a copy of the amendments is attached).  These amendments passed the House and are now a part of H.526.  The Board of Trustees will continue to follow this bill closely as it proceeds in the Senate and we strongly encourage you, the membership to do the same.  A link to contact information for Vermont Senators is attached.

Without the involvement of our membership, the letters, telephone calls, and emails to your House Representatives, the bill would no doubt look much different than it currently does. The original H.223 (processor of H.526) was considered by many of us to be unduly restrictive and overreaching.  As a result of our membership’s positive interaction in the legislative process, hopefully the LDFLA will be viewed as a credible stake-holder moving forward in the Senate process, and later in rule making if the bill becomes law.

Thank you,

Sue Potter

http://www.leg.state.vt.us/legdir/alpha.cfm?Body=S&Session=2014

H.526 Added Amendments

 

 

Link to Vermont House Bill H.526 (formerly H.223) as introduced

http://www.leg.state.vt.us/database/status/summary.cfm?Bill=H.0526&Session=2014

Link–Vermont House Bill–H.223

http://www.leg.state.vt.us/database/status/summary.cfm?Bill=H%2E0223&Session=2014

Legislative Alert Vermont House Bill H.223

February 23, 2013

Dear Members and Friends:

The LDFLA Board held a special Trustee’s meeting on Feb. 22, 2013, to consider Vermont House Bill H.223. The following statement was voted the official position of the LDFLA Board concerning H.223:

“Although the goals of water quality and shoreland preservation are laudable the LDFLA Board cannot support H.223 as written, and believe it requires further consideration and study.  Our primary concerns are:

1.     impingement of property rights

2.     cost and enforcement

3.     additional bureaucracy, both municipal and state”.

The bill may well go through further write-ups and revisions in the Fish, Wildlife, and Water Resources Committee. It is expected that further testimony on the bill will be taken in the committee Thursday, February 28. To be an important part of this process we encourage you to contact your Vermont House Representative and the Governor’s office (802-828-3333) to inform them of your opinion on the bill. 

Thank you,

Sue Potter

President

 

Link to Legislative Directory:       www.leg.state.vt.us/legdir/legdirMain.cfm

Contact the Governor’s Office at:    http://governor.vermont.gov/

(Follow the link under “Contact us”)

 

Winter Storm 12/21/12 Photos by Kathy Dick

Winter Storm 12/21/12 Photos by Mike Korkuc