Friday, January 27, 2012

H. 343 - Lake Champlain Water Quality (Introduced 2011 session)

Requires the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) to (1) inspect all concentrated animal feeding operations in the St. Albans Bay watershed to determine if such operations require a discharge permit; (2) seek funding under the federal Water Resources Development Act for restoration projects in the Lake Champlain watershed; and (3) conduct a study of the feasibility and cost of constructing sewer systems in the St. Albans Bay watershed. This bill also establishes a Lake Champlain watershed team within ANR to develop and recommend management measures to reduce phosphorus pollution in the Lake Champlain watershed, initially in the St. Albans Bay watershed. The bill also requires that the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Market’s Accepted Agricultural Practices be amended to require all dairy or livestock operations, regardless of size, to develop and implement a nutrient management plan designed to prevent nutrient discharges to state waters, and be amended to require the exclusion of livestock from state waters.
March 18, 2012: Still in House Fish, Wildlife & Water Resources