Phil Scott administration moves forward with wetlands changes, despite lawmakers’ objections
The fight over wetland rules has played out while Vermont's leaders have been locked in a wider debate over land-use regulations, prompting questions around where the state should encourage home construction and where it ought to bolster environmental reviews.
Nearly one year ago, Scott, a Republican, issued an executive order that would allow housing development to proceed without a permit in certain wetlands that are not officially mapped by the state — specifically in areas that the state has designated for growth. The order also cut in half the buffer zone around a wetland that developers would need to avoid, from 50 feet to 25 feet.
Vermont keeps a list of where large crowds gather. The feds get a copy.
Last week, town clerks throughout Vermont received an email asking if they would voluntarily hand over a list of potential public and private events of at least 2,500 attendees in their respective towns. Susan Gage, Brandon's town clerk and treasurer, had never heard of such a request in her 12-year tenure.
The email came from the Vermont Homeland Security Unit, a state entity under Vermont State Police that's fully funded by the federal government. The unit facilitates something called the Vermont Intelligence Center, which describes as its goal identifying signs of criminal and terrorism-related activity in the state.
"I suppose we just had a little fair in town, and if something horrible happened there, I would hope that there would be people that would respond quickly," Gage said in an interview with VTDigger. "But at the same time … we don't need monitoring."
Gage turned down the state's request.
Vermont joins other states in data privacy consortium
Each state in the consortium has its own data privacy laws, Clark said. These laws are all relatively new. Vermont passed its own Data Privacy and Online Surveillance Act (Act 145) in June when Gov. Phil Scott signed it into law.
Act 145 will be in full effect by Jan. 1, 2028, according to a summary of it on the Vermont Legislature's website. The law is aimed at giving consumers more control over their personal data, from how and when it's collected to what gets done with it afterward.
Clark said Vermonters will likely notice the rollout of that law more than they'll see the results of their state having joined this consortium, but Vermont's membership in it is important to Act 145 and future legislation.
