HazMat Incident Cost Recovery
Hazardous Materials (HazMat) response can eat up large amounts of time, equipment and personnel resources. In fact, the response to a large HazMat incident could cost a department its entire year's budget. So what is a fire chief to do? The answer is here.
Weekly Legislative Report
The 16th and final Weekly Legislative Report of the session features snapshots of numerous bills VLCT Advocacy is following as the legislative session winds down, including H.287 and H.436 (tax increment financing), S.78 (telecommunications), H.441 (the FY12 state budget bill), H.258 (environmental enforcement), H.202 (health care reform), and more.
The 2011 Health Care Bill
The website of Governor Shumlin details his health care bill, including (1) a summary of the health care reform legislation, (2) the testimony of Anya Rader Wallack, Special Assistant to the Governor for Health Care, (3) a PowerPoint summary, and (4) a text summary.
New 2011 Wellness Initiatives Video
EPA Criticizes Vermont's Water Quality Plan
On January 24, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) disapproved Vermont's water quality plan for phosphorus in Lake Champlain as embodied in the lake's Phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). Subsequently, Karen Horn wrote to the EPA's regional coordinator, who responded. And on March 2, she commented to representatives from the EPA Region 1 on the Hartford, Vt. NPDES. Here's the troubling chain of correspondence:
- the letter of disapproval;
- the Determination to Disapprove the TMDL;
- EPA's press release denoting how it plans to improve Lake Champlain's water quality;
- VLCT's Jan. 28 letter to the EPA regional coordinator;
- the Feb. 14 response from EPA; and
- comments on the EPA Objection to the Hartford VTPDES.
FY12 VLCT Dues
The VLCT Board of Directors has set the organization's dues for the fiscal year beginning in July of 2011 at $.98 per capita, based on the 2009 U.S. Census population estimates figures. The per-municipality service fee remains at $700. A memo detailing the dues is here and a spreadsheet showing the dues for each Vermont municipality is here.
EPTTR
You can now file a Vermont Property Transfer Tax Return electronically. Details here.
Log On to Learn
New, discounted online webinars available to VLCT Members. Learn more about the program on the Log On to Learn page.
Information Links
See the VLCT News Page for more news.
See the VLCT Grant Information Page for current grant information and links.
Surplus State Vehicle Auction
The Department of Buildings and General Services will auction over 100 State vehicles to the general public beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 7, 2011. Details here.
