The orders, signed April 10, will make it easier for companies to build oil and gas pipeline projects, and harder for states to use the federal Clean Water Act to block them.
Meanwhile, local environmental groups want to see Vermont take bolder action to address climate change, including by restricting the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure in the state.
The House Energy and Technology Committee is considering three bills that would do just that. H.51 would outright ban new fossil fuel infrastructure; H.175 would limit the use of eminent domain for pipeline projects; and H.214 would require the Public Utility Commission to consider potential fuel leaks in groundwater when approving new natural gas facilities.
A public hearing on the three bills is scheduled for April 23.
During a House Energy and Technology Committee meeting Tuesday, members asked Luke Martland, director of the Office of Legislative Council, to brief them on how the executive orders might impact the proposed bills.
Rep. Tim Briglin (D-Thetford Center) said he’s read news accounts suggesting the Trump administration is unhappy that New York state is using its federal environmental laws to slow or reject pipeline applications.
“My sense is that there is some frustration with the executive branch in Washington with the use of the Clean Water Act to stall or to prevent some of these pipelines going forward,” Briglin said.
But Martland said it struck him as premature to worry about the implications of the executive orders on the state.
He said the orders only instructed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to begin the process of revising its internal rules before it considers updates to formal regulations. Public input, the lengthy rule-making process and potential litigation are all likely to foil the administration’s goal of getting changes in place in 120 days, Martland said.
“This is the beginning of a regulatory process that may take a number of years and is not going to make any changes in the short term,” Martland said.
After the committee meeting, Sen. Chris Bray (D-Addison) told Seven Days that he planned to take part in an EPA webinar on Wednesday that’s aimed at educating legislators around the county about the impact of the orders.
“The Trump administration has done a lot of things that have made it harder to reach the state’s goal of 90 by 2050,” Bray said, referencing the 2011 initiative to get to 90 percent renewable energy by 2050.
But Bray said he doubts the orders will have much immediate impact on the future of the state fossil fuel infrastructure network.
Local opposition to such infrastructure, like Vermont Gas ran into in its effort to expand gas service to Bristol, is more likely to affect future decisions by the state’s sole natural gas utility than anything at the federal level, Bray said.
The public hearing takes place April 23 from 5 to 7 p.m. in Room 11 of the Statehouse.
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
It should be made crystal clear to legislators and to the public that pipelines that cross state boundaries (interstate) are under the jurisdiction of FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission). State control over those is largely limited to the Water Quality Standards 401. Trumps orders would be relevant to those pipelines.
But: Vermont Gas’s Addison Natural Gas Pipeline does NOT cross state lines – therefore the state has far greater authority and the legislature CAN AND SHOULD exercise that authority in adopting the above mentioned legislation.
Sure – it is possible that we will face a pipeline proposal in future that will be interstate – a FERC jurisdiction pipeline. And we need to find ways to address that. But a VT legislature banning fossil fuel infrastructure buildout would be a huge step in the right direction!
Burning cord wood, coal, LP gas, NG, oil are now “bad” things to do. Solar blight plastering across our meadows and valleys, clear cutting trees for solar and mining the earth for the raw products to make these panels is “good”. Clear cutting mountains, blasting mountaintops and bulldozing roads, even in a National Forrest, for wind turbines is “good”. Driving cars and using heat pumps powered by electricity generated by coal and natural gas is “good”. Shutting down nuclear plants that emit zero emissions is “good”. Shutting down hydro electrical generating plants and blasting out the dams is a “good” thing. Blocking new nuclear plants using much better cutting edge technology from being built is “good”. Blocking pipelines and forcing more trucks and rail cars on the road and tracks to supply necessary fuel to heat our homes, businesses, hospitals and schools is “good”.
Let’s stop all of this madness and funnel our efforts into nuclear for base load. We can still do rooftop solar and improve efficiency. We could even increase our electrical needs with heat pumps and electric cars, trucks and buses but we need a stable base load source and that’s nuclear. In the meantime, get the pipelines underground and get the trucks and trains out of the supply chain as much as possible.