H 507

 BILL AS INTRODUCED  H.507
 2025  Page 1 of 2
1H.507
2SHORT FORM
3 Introduced by Representative Boutin of Barre City
4 Referred to Committee on
5 Date:
6 Subject: Conservation and development; wetlands; development; buffer zones
7 Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to amend
8 multiple provisions regarding the permitting of development in wetlands. The
9 bill would amend the definition of a Class II wetland to provide that a Class II
10 wetland is one that is not a Class I or Class III wetland and is mapped on the
11 Vermont significant wetlands inventory maps or is an unmapped wetland that
12 the Secretary of Natural Resources determines merits protection based on an
13 evaluation of the functions and values. The bill would also amend the buffer
14 zone requirements for a Class II wetland by providing that the buffer zone shall
15 be 25 feet for a Class II wetland when the wetland is located in an industrial
16 park, designated center, Tier 1A or Tier 1B area approved by the Land Use
17 Review Board, or in locations meeting the requirements for an interim Act 250
18 permit exemption. The bill would also exempt from permitting any
19 construction activity location in an unmapped Class II wetland when the
20 wetland is located in an industrial park, designated center, Tier 1A or Tier 1B
21 area approved by the Land Use Review Board, or in locations meeting the
                                                                   VT LEG #382668 v.1
 BILL AS INTRODUCED  H.507
 2025  Page 2 of 2
1 requirements for an interim Act 250 permit exemption. In addition, the bill
2 would extend from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 2026 the deadline for the Secretary
3 of Natural Resources to amend the Vermont Wetlands Rules to clarify that the
4 goal of wetlands regulation and management in the State is a net gain of
5 wetlands. The bill also would amend the ratio for restoration of adverse effects
6 in a wetland from a ratio of 2:1 restoration to loss to a ratio of 1:1 restoration to
7 loss when the adverse effect occurs in an industrial park, designated center,
8 Tier 1A or Tier 1B area approved by the Land Use Review Board, or in
9 locations meeting the requirements for an interim Act 250 permit exemption.
10 The bill would require the Agency of Natural Resources to publish wetland
11 guidance on the mitigation and compensation sequence contemplated in the
12 Vermont Wetland Rules.
13    An act relating to the regulation of development in wetlands
14 It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
15(TEXT OMITTED IN SHORT-FORM BILLS)
                                                                      VT LEG #382668 v.1