The House has passed a Clean Water Bill that would raise $8 million in new revenues for fiscal year 2016 to be paid into a new Clean Water Fund. This would help hire 20 new staff members to implement the state's water quality plan.
The bill would also require that accepted agricultural practices be updated by July 1 of next year and have all farms self-certify that they are in compliance with the state's AAPs. Now the Senate takes up the Clean Water Bill in the Natural Resources & Energy Committee.
Westminster Representative David Deen and Senator Chris Bray of New Haven discuss what they hope the bill will accomplish, how it will be funded and whether it can meet EPA approval.
Also on the program, in Vermont, a partnership called the Brownfield Economic Revitalization Alliance, or BERA, is designed to help municipalities and developers navigate the bureaucracy and financial hurdles to get a brownfield site back into productivity. BERA is currently accepting applications. We hear from Trish Coppolino, who works on all the hazardous waste sites in the state.
Broadcast live on Wednesday, April 15, 2015 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
