Governor Phil Scott is allowing important flood safety climate bill to become law

Governor Phil Scott allowed a major climate bill aimed at reducing flood damage to go into effect without his signature.

The Flood Safety Act calls for the first-ever regulations in Vermont’s history for new development in river corridors.

This is an area where rivers flow, changing their course over time, sometimes crossing fast and dangerous channels during floods.

Most of the flooding in Vermont happens there, and building in river corridors is not regulated by FEMA, and many people who live there don’t have flood insurance on their properties.

The policy also strengthens protections for wetlands that slow and filter floodwaters, and creates stricter regulations for private dams, as well as a new funding program for removal and repairs.

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Lauren Oates works with the Nature Conservancy, which lobbied for the bill.

“We really need to think differently about how and where we build, and this is a necessary first step toward making Vermonters safer in the years and decades ahead,” Oates said.

Bob Kinzel

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The audience in Vermont

Scott says he supports the bill’s goals, but said he found the three-year timeline for developing new regulations unreasonable. He says the Natural Resources Agency will ask lawmakers next session for more time.

“Given that the program will have a significant impact on communities and landowners, this pace is reckless,” Scott said.

Scott says the Natural Resources Agency will ask lawmakers next session for more time.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth called the bill visionary in scope and said that directly addressing Vermont’s flooding challenges — exacerbated by climate change — is a top priority for lawmakers.

“I believe that in the decades to come, S.213 will be seen as the moment when Vermont seriously began to prepare for the worst of climate change,” Baruth said.

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