Sterling Students Explore Environmental Law: From The Classroom to The Vermont Statehouse
Sterling students in the Environmental Law course have been diving deep into the world of environmental and agricultural policies, exploring the complex laws that shape Vermont, the U.S., and even international landscapes. Their studies go beyond the classroom—students are getting in-person experience by attending Legislative Sessions at the Vermont Statehouse, immersing themselves in real-time policy action and engaging with key stakeholders who influence crucial environmental issues.
Guided by the expertise of faculty member, Farley Anne Brown and Teaching Assistant, Isabel (Izzy) Kapitulik, these passionate students have crafted summaries and updates on several proposed bills, offering an insightful, on-the-ground perspective on the latest developments on Vermont Law.
Check out their findings below!
Sterling College students in the Environmental Law and Policy class stand in front of the Vermont Statehouse.
The Vermont State Legislature started the first session of this new biennium in January 2025. Over a thousand bills are introduced throughout a regular session, which ends tentatively in April or May. Students from the Environmental Policy and Law course each chose a bill they found meaningful to track over these past few weeks. Topics ranged from pollution and conservation to land and food access. Last week marked the second of two crossover deadlines, which is the point in the legislative session where a bill needs to make it to the other chamber to have a chance of passing this session. Some of the bills made it, and others did not. Read more about the bills and their status below.
Sterling College Students meet Lieutenant Governor John Rodgers at the Vermont Statehouse.
The bill updates below were written on March 19, 2025. You can find the most recent status of these bills on the Vermont General Assembly website.
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In response to the damages caused to farmers by past weather events, the shortcomings of past funding, and the current freeze in federal funding, Vermont State Legislature is putting forth a bill, S.60, in an effort to create the Farm Security Fund. This fund will ‘award grants to farms that have incurred financial losses or expenses due to eligible weather conditions’ worth up to 50% of uninsured or uncovered damages or up to $150,000 per farm per year (Hardy, 2025), with the money being transferred from state appropriations fund, coming from state taxes.
Positive testimonies were given by NOFA-VT, Rural Vermont, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, UVM Extension, Intervale Community Farm and the Vermont Farm Bureau, as well as many others. Several farmers also gave testimonies in support of the bill including Justin Rich of Burnt Rock Farm, Simon Renault of Scott Farm and Melanie Harrison of Harrison’s Homegrown. There has been no staunch opposition to the bill. When the bill was still in the Senate Agriculture Committee, the money intended to be allocated for the Farm Security Fund was reduced from $20 million to $7.5 million in an effort to ease its passing through the Senate Appropriations Committee.
This bill is incredibly important to the future survival and prosperity of farmers in Vermont State. Severe and damaging weather events have occurred more often the past few years, with farmers suffering the effects of floods, high winds, and last frosts. S.60 is essential to support our local farmers, and our local food system.
Submitted by Abigail Weinstein
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Throughout the country, there has been rising awareness of the environmental and health effects of road salts. In January, Senator Anne Watson introduced S. 29, “An act relating to establishing the Chloride Contamination Reduction Program at the Agency of Natural Resources.” This bill would direct the Agency of Natural Resources to establish statewide standards for the application of road salts and create a training and certification program for municipal and commercial road salt applicators. Throughout February and early March, the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy heard testimony from staff at the Agency of Natural Resources, the Agency of Transportation, and owners of lawncare and landscaping companies. So far, the bill has moved relatively quickly. On March 12th, the bill was committed to the Committee on the Judiciary. If the bill moves quickly in this committee, it will be likely to make it to a floor vote this session. For more information, please contact Senator Anne Watson, who sponsored this legislation.
Submitted by Finn Horak
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As the United States begins to grapple with the widespread PFAS contamination of our waterways, soils, and bodies, the Vermont legislature has become a leader in regulation of this family of chemicals. Bill H.238 expands on previous legislation, specifically Act 131, that begins the phaseout and eventual ban of consumer products containing PFAS. It adds dental floss, cleaning products, and fluorine treated containers to the long list of already axed products. It also expands the definition of “intentionally added” PFAS to include any contamination that a manufacturer may reasonably ascertain throughout the manufacturing process. This includes any PFAS contamination from manufacturing equipment even if it is not explicitly added. This bill was sponsored by Representative Amy Sheldon and Representative Ela Chapin.
Proponents of the bill include members from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, a multitude of National Nursing Organizations, the Vermont Pesticide and Poison Action network, and many of individual PFAS scientists. There were a lot of opponents to the bill and its restrictive nature, most being industry spokespeople, including the Cookware Sustainability Alliance, Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, Associated Industries of Vermont, American Apparel & Footwear Association, Sustainable PFAS Action Network, Heating Air-Conditioning Refrigeration Distributors International, and Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance.
The bill officially passed in the House on March 13th, 2025. Wahoo! This bill is an extremely important next step for preventing further contamination and the eventual necessity of costly remediation for our water systems and soils. It protects developing children and all of us from health risks associated with the bioaccumulation of these chemicals in our bodies. Vermont is helping to lead the charge on this issue, and hopefully we can see PFAS disappearing from our landscape in our lifetime.
Submitted by Josie Kahn
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Vermont House bill 152 is a bill consisting of the permitting of pilot or demonstration projects to treat and/or destroy emerging contaminants in the environment.
Emerging contaminants represent a category of pollutants that, although present in the environment, are not yet widely monitored or regulated. These pollutants include, but are not limited to pesticides, pharmaceuticals, hormones (endocrine disruptors), wood preservatives, laundry detergents, antibiotics, and flame retardants. They are a group of relatively low concentration, high toxicity pollutants in the environment that pose a potential risk to human and environmental health. The methods most commonly used to remove emerging contaminants mainly include the microbial method, the electrochemical method, the absorption method, membrane process, and chemical oxidation process. Among these, the absorption method stands out due to its high efficiency and low cost compared to other methods listed. Some common adsorbents include active carbon, silica, alumina, polyacrylamide, absorbent resin, modified biochar and zeolite. Among these adsorbents, modified biochar and activated carbon stand out due to their relatively low cost, high efficiency and environmentally friendly compared to other absorbants listed. Modified biochar and activated carbon can absorb heavy metals, antibiotics, pesticides, and the vast majority of emerging contaminants. Biochar and activated carbon can also be harnessed from our waste streams, such as agricultural or municipal waste.
This is a bipartisan bill with mutual support from both parties and currently is located in the House Committee on Environment. This bill was introduced on February 6, 2025, and has seen little to no movement since then. Most people understand the value of this bill regardless of their political standing, since it helps limit exposure to toxic pollution but there is only so far one bill can move in a session.
Submitted by Joaquin Robledo
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Last month the Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency and Forestry was looking at a bill called H.343, who’s long title is “An act relating to making State lands available for farming by citizens of State-recognized Native American Indian tribes”. The main sponsor for this bill is Representative John O’Brien. Since the time major European settlements were being created in the Americas, the native population was already having land stolen from them that they had been living off of for many generations. There are four State Recognized tribes in Vermont right now, the Elnu Abenaki Tribe, the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe, the Abenaki Nation at Missisquoi and the Koasek Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation.
Bill H.343 seeks to address the issue of access to farm land for the Abenaki tribes in Vermont, and to provide more food security to the local community. On February 25th, 2025 the bill had its first reading in the House of Representatives, and was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry. The only time this bill was brought up in that committee was on February 27th. The bill did not pass through to the Senate in time for crossover, so the bill will likely not be passing this legislative session.
Submitted by Bryce Leipzig
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The purpose of bill H.166 as introduced, aims to amend and establish further minimum requirements for hunting with dogs, by utilizing the Uniform Point System, similarly used for driver’s licenses, as well as requiring further accountability for the handlers and their hunting dogs. Currently there is little to no legislation regarding the requirements for hunting with dogs, and the legislation that is in place, does not hold hunters as accountable as they should be. Establishments of limited field trials for the utilization of training hunting dogs through the period of June 1 to September 15 only from sunrise to sunset have been proposed. H.166 strives to limit what types of game the hunting dog and handler can hunt and pursue, while also discussing the limitations of permitting a person to train and condition their hunting dog through a designated time limit. Currently, the bill is assigned to the Committee of Environment and no discussion was held, other than the original reading on February 7, 2025. This topic is important and unfortunately, is unlikely to see further action in this legislative session. This bill is significant to the wildlife around us, as well as citizens and their domesticated animals because of the importance of safety.
Submitted by Kat O’Brien
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Bill H.113 , An Act Relating to Lakes in Crisis and Requirements for Designation’ was introduced to the House Committee on Environment February 11th, 2025. The bill aims to declare Lake Memphremagog as a “lake in crisis” and therefore directing The Secretary of Natural Resources to work with the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets and the Secretary of Transportation in the development of the crisis response plan. In the bill's introduction, the House Committee on Environment member asked whether there have been any conflicts or concerns with the bill, and they were informed on concerns from some conservation groups that the designation may take focus and money away from their projects around the lake. As of today the last action taken on the bill was the bill’s introduction to the House Committee on Environment and the bill is unlikely to see further action in this legislative session. This bill would focus attention, time, and money on the health of Lake Memphremagog and allow conservation groups in the area to more easily access grants for research and cleaning of the lake. Lake Memphremagog has a poor water quality grade due to the large amount of phosphorus runoff into the lake, there is also a concerning presence of invasive species in the lake and surrounding watershed. Invasive species of concern include Zebra Mussels, Spiny Water Flea, Curly-leaf Pondweed, and more. These invasive species damage water quality through interference with the local ecosystem. Regardless of whether the bill passes, it is a good sign that bills concerning lake and ecosystem health are given enough attention to be introduced to the Vermont House.
Submitted by Sarah Tutt
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House Bill 167, An act relating to establishing the Vermonters Feeding Vermonters Grant at the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, has been progressing steadily through the State House this session. This bill aims to address food insecurity and support Vermont farmers by adding $2,000,000 to the state’s Agency of Agriculture yearly budget that is already earmarked for the Vermont Foodbank. The Foodbank will use this money to purchase things like produce, eggs, dairy and meat directly from Vermont farms and distribute it to pantries around the state, or create subgrants for the food pantries to do their local purchasing themselves. As USDA cuts federal funding to similar purchasing programs around the country, this bill would be a huge win for food shelves, for Vermont farmers, and for everyone in the state facing hunger.
Upon introduction, the bill was referred to the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency and Forestry, where they heard testimony from members of the Vermont Foodbank, the Agency of Agriculture, and legislative council. Some minor amendments were made, more on the wording of the bill than its contents, before it passed in committee unanimously. On notice, it was declared favorable to pass with amendments and is now sitting in the House Appropriations Committee awaiting approval of the budget. The trajectory of H.167 looks hopeful, and the potential social and economic benefits to the state if it passes would be numerous.
Submitted by Sarah Kennedy
