Douglas wants changes to Act 250

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(Host) Governor Jim Douglas says Vermont’s environmental permit programs discourage business growth and development.

He wants Act 250 – the state’s main development review law – to weigh economic benefits as well as environmental impacts.

But advocates and some lawmakers are leery of the changes.

VPR’s John Dillon has more:

(Dillon) The governor says during economic hard times, the state should do everything possible to encourage development. He says the current permit programs send the wrong message.

(Douglas) "We have a culture of "No" in permitting to a great extent. I think we have to change that so that someone who applies for a permit is looked at as a positive partner, someone who is going to create opportunities for employment, create economic progress, and work with that individual in an active and successful way."

(Dillon) The state’s environmental agency is run by the governor’s appointees. And the district environmental commissions that review development are also named by the governor.

Douglas says the problem is not the people he’s hired, but the law itself.

(Douglas) "The law allows special interest groups to intervene and bring lawsuits in a very generous way. … The law does not allow, as I believe it should, to consider economic and social benefits of projects that come before district commissioners."

(Dillon) But critics use the state’s own statistics to refute the governor’s argument that Act 250 thwarts development.

Brian Shupe directs the sustainable communities program at the Vermont Natural Resources Council, a statewide environmental group.

He cites a state report that shows that less than 1 percent of all Act 250 permits were denied in 2007, a typical year. The same report says that 81 percent of permits were issued within 180 days.

(Shupe) "So with 99.1 percent of the applications approved, that seems to be a culture of yes."

(Dillon) Douglas says the figures don’t show how many businesses are discouraged from applying for permits in the first place.

(Douglas) "Because they understand what they’re in for. They understand the length and cost of the process that simply choose not to endure."

(Dillon) But Shupe says there’s evidence as well that the Act 250 land use law helps the economy. Vermont bankers, he says, credit Act 250 with controlling speculative development. Some bankers have said the law is responsible in part for the state’s low rate of home foreclosures.

(Shupe) "It’s the Vermont way to take a hard look at serious changes to our communities and serious threats to our natural resources. So a little bit of delay in order to protect what’s special about Vermont is not a problem. That’s really a strength the state has."

(Dillon) It’s not likely that the administration’s permit reform proposals will win quick approval in the Statehouse. The chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee says it’s shortsighted to use the economic downturn to weaken environment review.

For VPR News, I’m John Dillon in Montpelier.

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