Legislative Affairs
Weekly Legislative Update; April 23, 2012
In this issue: AGC/VT opposing pit and quarry fee increases in Senate Finance House of Representatives vote out Labor Bill which includes Sole Contractors Senate Finance change little in Health Care Bill Senate Votes to Ban Fracking Senate Passes Transportation Bill; now in Conference
AGC/VT opposing pit and quarry fee increases in Senate Finance
The Associated General Contractors of Vermont (AGC/VT) testified in Senate Finance on the Administrative Fee Bill which includes a change in the methodology and fee increase for pits and quarries. Based on the testimony of AGC/VT and other quarry representatives, the House Ways and Means Committee decreased the Administrations proposal from $.03 per cubic yard for the term of the permit to $.02 per cubic yard for the term of the permit.
As statement in past legislative updates, AGC/VT opposed the fee increase due to the following reasons: " Fee increased 100% less than 2 years ago (July 1, 2010) o The increase went from $.10 to $.20 on the maximum extraction on any given year (no more than $150,000) " Methodology change penalizes quarries/pits which are longer termmore than 7 years o $.02 on the maximum extraction per year for the lifetime of the permitcharge every year; will increase applications fees up to at least 400% o Penalize larger quarriesdiscourages long term planning and sustainability o Decreases stability within the extraction environment (cost are prohibitive upfront therefore potential owners of new quarries will think twice prior to opening a longer term quarry) o Costs are on the maximum extractionthis means if a quarry thinks they are going to be able to extract 50,000 cubic yards per year for 50 years and doesnt (could be the material is no good, not enough of a demand, couldnt keep it running for whatever reason&.they loss their money completely) they have lost the upfront money with no ability for a refund o If application is denied: Fee is NONREFUNDABLE " Aggregate need is at its highest due to Irene o Towns need it with limited budgets o State of Vermont needs it for repair of bridges and highways with limited funds available; more expensive=less projects o Job loss due to potential quarries not opening due to prohibitive upfront costs o Trucking costs increase due to having to obtain material from surrounding states o Infrastructure challenges (over utilization; unnecessarily burdenedtrucking from out of state) " Not the only fee for pits/quarries: o Other fees within ANR are increasing this year o Some of the permits necessary to get for a quarry are: ￂﾧ Act 250 Land Use Permit ￂﾧ Air Pollution Control Permit ￂﾧ Stormwater NPDES Multi-Sector General Permit ￂﾧ Wetlands Conditional Use Determination ￂﾧ Stream Alteration Permit ￂﾧ Army Corps of Engineers 404 Permit ￂﾧ Highway Access Permit from VTrans ￂﾧ Water and Wastewater Permitsfor any sanitary facilities ￂﾧ Building Permits from Public Safetyif a building is on-site ￂﾧ Water Withdrawal Permit ￂﾧ Municipal Permits
AGC/VTs testimony prompted the Natural Resources Board to rethink the direction they were heading. The proposal from the Board is now to have a tiered fee structure which could be applied to earth extraction fees, with the first one million cubic yards of total extraction subject to the fee of $.02 per cubic yard, and any amount over one million cubic yards subject to a fee of $.01 per cubic yard. This would significantly reduce the impact of the fee change on very large earth extraction projects.
Your input would be greatly appreciated on this issue as time is nearing the end for input. Contact Cathy (Voyer) Lamberton at cathy@agcvt.org for further comments.
House of Representatives vote out Labor Bill which includes Sole Contractors
The House of Representatives passed, unanimously, the omnibus labor bill which has been pending before the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee. The bill will make changes to the state's short-time compensation program, as well as establish a voluntary sole contractor certification process through the Department of Labor (DOL). The AGC/VT worked throughout the session with numerous organizations and the Department of Labor on the sole contractor language. The bill as passed by the House will also give the Commissioner of Labor the ability to enter any business, unannounced, within reasonable times in order to speak with employees and obtain information regarding wage and hour and workers' compensation. The Senate will debate a similar labor bill and the two will meet in Conference Committee for final changes.
Senate Finance change little in Health Care Bill
The Senate Finance Committee worked late Thursday night to finalize H.559, the Health Care Exchange implementation bill. It remains largely unchanged from the House version that included a measure to allow a bronze-level plan and to limit the size of businesses forced into the Exchange to businesses with 50 or fewer employees. There is anticipation that there will be an amendment offered to make the Exchange voluntary. The amendment would allow businesses to access the Exchange if they choose and also allow them to purchase insurance in a market outside of the Exchange. That discussion will be brought up next week when the full Senate considers H.559.
Senate Votes to Ban Fracking
The Senate voted overwhelmingly this week to ban hydraulic fracturing (or fracking ) for natural gas in Vermont. This measure is more significant than the version passed in the House which only places a 3-year moratorium on fracking. While no one is fracking now, shale deposits in northwestern Vermont are believed to be similar to shale in Quￃﾩbec where natural gas is currently produced. A conference committee will have to sort out whether Vermont should have a "ban" or a "moratorium" on fracking. Governor Shumlin said this week he will sign either measure. The AGC/VT weighed in on this measure and while we dont support either&.the three year moratorium would make much more sense than a total ban.
Senate Passes Transportation Bill; now in Conference Committee with three House and three Senate members
The Transportation 2013 Transportation Spending bill is was passed by both bodies of the legislature. It is now in a conference committee for the house and senate to settle on their differences. Some of those differences directly affect our members which includes language that allows for the Agency Secretary to study the feeasibility oand evaluate the costs and benefits of acquirin a portable hot mix plan, and necessary associated equipment, for use on paving projects throughout the state. The Senate authorized the Secretary to spend up to $4,000,000.00.
Also within the Senate version on the Transportation bill is authorization for the agency to spend funds to renovate an existing building to enhance the now VTrans Training Center . AGC/VT and others testified in Senate transportation opposing these measures. VTrans should be focusing on building roads and bridges and allowing the private sector to do the training they are skilled at doing.
In addition, AGC/VT wrote a letter to the Secretary of Transportation asking for a round table discussion in regards to the lack of partnership we have seen from the agency. AGC/VT also copied the Senate and House Transportation Committee members on the letter and asked the Secretary of Transportation to get back to us prior to April 27, 2012.
Date Posted: April 23, 2012
