Now that we’ve passed the “crossover” deadline in the VT Legislature – when bills need to have passed out of policy committees – we wanted to provide a snapshot of what’s still moving, and what got left behind.

There are a LOT of environmental bills in play this year, so buckle up. The good news is that despite the challenging times, we’re seeing forward progress on clean energy, new regulations on data centers, ongoing work to reduce toxic chemicals, pro-democracy initiatives, and thoughtful work to ensure our land use laws continue to support housing while also protecting our environment. 

Here are some highlights of where things stand:

Reducing Toxic Chemicals and Plastics

• A first-in-the-nation bill to ban many uses of Paraquat (H.739), which is a highly toxic pesticide linked to Parkinson’s disease and other harms, unanimously advanced out of committee and is headed to the House floor soon. 
• A bill to require testing and transparency to reduce toxic heavy metals in baby food (H.536) has advanced, and will also head to the House floor.
• A bill to update the Bottle Bill (H.915) has advanced and is now awaiting action in the Appropriations committee. We will continue to work to ensure this program functions as well as possible to protect our environment and consumers.
• Unfortunately, a proposal to phase out harmful rodenticides (H.758), and a bill to ban so-called “chemical recycling” – a toxic and ineffective practice that often entails burning plastic – and policies to reduce microplastics and toxic phthalates in medical IV bags (S.247) have stalled out. We will work to get attention for these issues in the latter half of the legislative session.

Climate and Clean Energy

• A bill to authorize Vermonters to access portable, plug-in solar units (S.202) advanced through the Senate and is being taken up in the House. Another pro-solar bill, H.710, would allow new solar projects to be sited alongside existing solar arrays – it passed the House and is now in the Senate.A bill to create new regulations for data centers (H.727) – including protections for Vermont ratepayers, protecting our water resources, and more – unanimously passed out of committee and will likely head to the House floor soon.
• A bill to create a greenhouse gas inventory to collect better data on fuel use across the state (H.740) has advanced through committee and is awaiting action in the Appropriations Committee, where we are calling for $500,000 in funding to establish and staff this program. This baseline data will be fundamental to shaping climate solutions that will work for Vermont. 

Healthy Democracy

• A bill to protect Vermonters’ access to the ballot has advanced through the Senate (the Vermont Voting Rights Act, S.298). This bill takes some positive steps forward, but key provisions were pulled from the bill, so we will continue working to strengthen the bill as it moves forward.
• A bill to close a lobbying disclosure loophole and make it easier for Vermonters to know who is trying to influence their perspectives on key issues has advanced through the House (H.686).
• A pair of bills – S.208 and S.209 – both advanced through the Senate by identical votes of 27-2. S.208 makes it so law enforcement agents must show identification and have their faces shown. S.209 prohibits civil arrests in sensitive places such as hospitals, schools, and polling places.

Clean Water

• A bill to create a program to reduce unnecessary road salt and cut harmful chloride pollution (S.218) advanced through the Senate and is being taken up in the House.
• A bill advanced through the Senate to study how we classify lakes to ensure that lakes with high water quality are protected from degradation (S.223).
• VNRC supported the creation of a new ecological restoration permit process for projects like dam removals, which is not moving forward legislatively, but the Agency of Natural Resources has committed to advancing this concept internally.

Smart Growth Development & Land Conservation

• The Senate has been working on a bill to provide more time and clarification around Act 181, the major Act 250 modernization law passed in 2024, to ensure it can be implemented as intended – and with ample opportunity for public input, education, and inclusion of important local perspectives (S.325). This bill advanced through its initial committee and is being considered in the money committees next.

A lot of misinformation is swirling around this law, so stay tuned on how you can get involved to make sure we continue to have balanced and thoughtful land use laws that make it easier to build housing while also protecting critical natural resources that Vermonters rely on.

Transportation

• The House is continuing to work on the Transportation Bill, and VNRC is calling for inclusion of some key funding – including for Green Mountain Transit and Drive Electric Vermont – and several policy provisions to allow local governments to raise revenue for transportation projects, as well as ensuring we are supporting multi-modal transportation options in our communities. See VNRC’s letter to the committee for more details.

As you can see, a lot is happening, and we’re so grateful to you, our members, for staying engaged and activated to make sure Vermont can continue to maintain a clean and healthy environment and resilient communities for all. We’ll let you know when there are key moments when your voice can make a real impact on these issues!

Thanks for all you do,

The VCV & VNRC Teams