Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Elizabeth Courtney, the executive director of Vermont Natural Resources Council.
Over the past four decades, Vermont has enacted a patchwork of planning and regulatory systems to guide land development while protecting our natural resources. And although the state’s planning and zoning laws, water quality standards, Act 250 and other regulations might be protective, effective and user-friendly in and of themselves, they often work poorly together, costing Vermonters and state government more than we can afford.
There are many of us in Vermont who think it’s time to make some structural adjustments to our permitting process.
A new entity — the Department of Environmental Quality — could be established to hear appeals from Agency of Natural Resources permits and Act 250 land-use and local-zoning decisions.”
It’s been 40 years since Act 250 was passed, and in the years since, many state and federal laws have been put into place. Yet we have never taken the time to step back from these regulatory processes to assess their redundancies and inefficiencies, nor their cumulative effectiveness in protecting natural resources.
As a result, Vermont does not have a “permit process” per se. We have many individual permit processes — and therein lies the problem.
Our permit systems have become more redundant and litigious, requiring legal assistance, stamina and capital. This shuts many Vermonters out of the process. There are inefficiencies, issues of fairness and access, and unnecessary time and expense to all participants, including applicants.
The 1970s and the 1980s were the years when most of our environmental regulations and planning laws were passed. This era of intense legislative action was a response to rampant growth and pollution. Climate change and energy security were hardly on the radar screen and were barely part of our vocabulary until the 1990s.
Today we have a very different set of economic and environmental concerns that arise from the effects of climate change and the transition into a new energy future. Energy conservation and efficiency, increased transportation options for Vermonters, affordable housing, smarter land-use patterns that concentrate growth in town centers and leave working landscapes for the production of food and fuel — all could help Vermont flourish in the 21st century.
There is a broad cross-section of lawmakers, interested groups and individuals who have worked during the past year to build consensus on an approach to aligning the various permitting processes that is comprehensive and addresses a changing Vermont. Last year this idea was drafted into two bills sponsored by the chairs of the House Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources and House and Senate Natural Resources and Energy committees, but failed to progress for lack of time. However, earlier this month, the Senate began discussing a similar version of that legislation.
The basic proposal calls for a consolidation of three state agencies: the Vermont Environmental Court, the Vermont Natural Resources Board and the permitting functions of the Department of Environmental Conservation at the Agency of Natural Resources. This new entity would be called the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). A three- to five-member professional board appointed through a judicial nominating process would be established to hear appeals from Agency of Natural Resources permits and Act 250 land-use and local-zoning decisions.
The proposal also would begin to integrate the myriad local zoning standards and processes with state regulations through better growth-center planning and modifications to the criteria of Act 250 to address today’s land-use and environmental concerns.
We have grave needs resulting from the threats of climate change and energy insecurity, economic contraction and a shortage of affordable housing. Yet these demands bring with them unique opportunities to rethink Vermont’s permitting infrastructure and criteria.
This proposal would save Vermonters money and better protect our invaluable natural resources. It would create incentives to develop and redevelop our town centers, streamline cumbersome elements of permitting and result in better outcomes for the economy, the environment and all Vermonters.
