H 932: An act relating to the regulation of forestry under Act 250 - Vermont

As Passed by Both House and Senate (OfficialOpens in a new window) → As Passed by Both House and Senate (UnofficialOpens in a new window) · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill modifies how Act 250 permits interact with forestry operations on parcels devoted to logging and forestry. The key substantive change removes 'necessary mitigation areas' from the list of protected areas that cannot be subject to permit conditions, while adding 'apply to' as an additional prohibited action and restructuring the sentence for clarity. The remaining changes are formatting-related, removing the official bill header with committee attribution, date, subject line, and statement of purpose.

REQUIREMENT

In 10 V.S.A. section 6001(3)(A)(F), removed 'or necessary mitigation areas' from the list of parcel portions protected from permit conditions. This means Act 250 permits can now impose conditions on necessary mitigation areas on forestry parcels, expanding regulatory reach over those operations.

Added 'apply to' as a separate prohibited action in section 6001(3)(A)(F), so permits cannot merely impose conditions on non-development portions of a forestry parcel but also cannot apply to those areas at all. Also restructured the sentence so that 'restrict or conflict with Acceptable Management Practices for Maintaining Water Quality on Logging Jobs in Vermont' is a standalone prohibition rather than being grammatically tied to the conditions clause.

TECHNICAL

Removed the official bill header block including committee attribution (Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry), date field, subject line, and statement of purpose. This is a formatting change between the official and unofficial versions.

As EnactedOpens in a new window → As Passed by Both House and Senate (OfficialOpens in a new window) · 2 edits

MINOR

This diff compares the 'As Enacted' version to the 'As Passed by Both House and Senate (Official)' version of Vermont H.932, which clarifies Act 250 jurisdiction over forestry operations. The only substantive policy change is in the provision protecting forestry parcels from permit conditions: it adds 'or necessary mitigation areas' to the protected land and removes 'apply to' from the list of prohibited permit actions. All other differences are formatting and presentation changes between the two document styles.

Scope change

The scope of protection for forestry operations was slightly broadened to explicitly include necessary mitigation areas as land where permits cannot impose conditions or conflict with logging water quality practices.

SCOPE

In Section 1, subdivision (F), the protection against permit conditions on forestry parcels was expanded to include 'necessary mitigation areas.' Previously, permits could not impose conditions on portions of land that do not support the development. Now they also cannot impose conditions on necessary mitigation areas, broadening the shield around forestry operations.

REQUIREMENT

The phrase 'apply to, or' was removed from the list of actions permits are prohibited from taking with respect to Acceptable Management Practices for Maintaining Water Quality on Logging Jobs. The remaining prohibitions ('impose conditions on' and 'restrict or conflict with') likely cover similar ground, making this a technical clarification rather than a meaningful policy shift.

As Passed By the House (OfficialOpens in a new window) → As EnactedOpens in a new window · 2 edits

MINOR

The changes between the House-passed version and the enacted version of H.932 (Act No. 161) are primarily clarifying and structural. The most substantive change restructures the language in subsection (F) of the definitions section, removing the specific reference to 'necessary mitigation areas' as a protected category while adding 'apply to' as a separate prohibition on what permits can do to non-development portions of forestry parcels. The bill's core provisions - exempting logging below 2,500 feet elevation and limiting Act 250 jurisdiction to development portions of forestry parcels - remain unchanged.

REQUIREMENT

In subsection (F) of 10 V.S.A. 6001(3)(A), the prohibition on what permits can do to non-development portions of forestry parcels was restructured. The House version said permits 'shall not impose conditions on other portions... or necessary mitigation areas and that restrict or conflict with' Acceptable Management Practices. The enacted version says permits 'shall not impose conditions on, apply to, or restrict or conflict with the Acceptable Management Practices for Maintaining Water Quality on Logging Jobs in Vermont on other portions of the parcel or tract of land that do not support the development.' This adds 'apply to' as a distinct prohibition (broadening protection) but removes the explicit carve-out for 'necessary mitigation areas' (which could narrow protection for those specific areas).

TECHNICAL

The bill was renumbered from H.932 to Act No. 161 and reformatted from the House-passed layout to the standard enacted law format, including removal of the statement of purpose and introduction of the formal enactment language.

As Passed By the House (UnofficialOpens in a new window) → As Passed By the House (OfficialOpens in a new window) · 3 edits · May 29, 2026

MINOR

This is a comparison between the unofficial and official versions of H.932 as passed by the House. The substantive content of the bill is identical in both versions. The only differences are formatting and metadata: the official version adds committee attribution, a subject line, and a statement of purpose on the cover page, and uses slightly different header text.

TECHNICAL

Header changed from 'AS PASSED BY HOUSE' to 'BILL AS PASSED BY THE HOUSE'

Official version adds metadata block including committee attribution (Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry), a subject line, and a statement of purpose summarizing the bill's intent

The short title line on page 1 ('An act relating to the regulation of forestry under Act 250') is removed from the top of the official version and instead appears later in the document body

As IntroducedOpens in a new window → As Passed By the House (UnofficialOpens in a new window) · 1 edit · May 29, 2026

MINOR

The House passed H.932 without making any substantive changes to the policy content. The only difference between the introduced and passed versions is the removal of the 'Statement of purpose' preamble, which is standard legislative practice when a bill advances through the chamber. All statutory amendments regarding Act 250 forestry jurisdiction, log and pulp concentration yard exemptions, and the 2,500-foot elevation logging exemption remain identical.

TECHNICAL

The 'Statement of purpose' paragraph was removed from the top of the bill, which is a standard formatting change when a bill passes out of committee or a chamber. No policy content was altered.

An act relating to the regulation of forestry under Act 250

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