Editor’s note: This commentary is by Robb Kidd, who is conservation program manager of the Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club.
[A]s the snow and ice disappear for good, I’m looking ahead to the summer months, when locals and tourists alike enjoy swimming and fishing in Vermont’s many streams, lakes and rivers, biking along the shores of Lake Champlain, or simply enjoying a meal by the water. But in the heat of the summer, many beaches will be closed, and Vermonters will be exposed, as in years before, to toxic algae blooms. Is Lake Champlain a “Great Lake,” as Sen. Patrick Leahy once proclaimed, or is it a metaphorical sewer for decades of a lack of political courage from multiple governors and legislatures?
The Sierra Club and our partners in Vermont’s environmental community appreciate the extensive work of the Senate Natural Resources Committee to find a solution to address water funding in a way that satisfies all stakeholders, including Gov. Phil Scott. As the 2017-2018 Vermont legislative session nears its conclusion, I am hopeful that the General Assembly will enact long-term sustainable funding to address clean water this year.
However, given the administration’s unwillingness to identify a path to long-term water funding, continually threatening to veto any legislation that raises a fee or tax, it seems like it will be impossible to satisfy the governor on this issue. In fact, he has already threatened to veto S.260, as passed by the Senate which addresses water funding, because it created a process to study the implementation of a tiered per-parcel fee. In addition, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources has opposed long-term funding proposals for water funding put forward this year in the Legislature at every turn.
We expect this behavior from Scott Pruitt and the Trump Environmental Protection Agency, but not here in Vermont, where we are known for collaborative processes to overcome challenges.
In a positive development, the House is proposing to have revenue to fund water quality projects go into effect in 2020 if the Legislature does not develop a funding mechanism by then. We strongly support the House taking action to identify revenue sources for clean water. This will place real pressure on the governor to develop a comprehensive plan for water quality and ensure that some level of funding will be in place to support it.
At the end of the day, in order to meet our obligations with the EPA as well as the moral and economic imperative of clean water for all, Vermont needs to commit for good to having a sustainable clean water funding plan. We do not need yet another stakeholder study. We need to stop delaying and wasting money. We have delayed action on funding for clean water for too long.
The governor and the Legislature have a legal and moral obligation to fund Vermont’s clean water programs. It is irresponsible and reckless not to.
