When the Vermont Legislature passed Act 64 back in 2015 to clean up Lake Champlain, few realized that buried in the regulatory blueprint was a future mandate that would quietly but powerfully reshape the lives—and finances—of hundreds of property owners.
That moment has arrived.
Under Vermont’s Three-Acre Stormwater Rule, any developed property with more than three acres of impervious surface and no modern stormwater permit must now retrofit their land to control runoff. The cost? Up to $150,000 per site, with state funding already exhausted.
In testimony before the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee on April 11, Deputy DEC Commissioner Neil Kamman confirmed the total estimated cost of compliance sits at $260 million statewide, while only $40 to $50 million has been invested so far.
“This is a $260 million problem,” Kamman said. “And we’ve only funded a fraction of it.”
But perhaps more concerning is that the state’s current list only includes about 800 properties—a figure that lawmakers are warning is just the beginning.
“This Is Bigger Than Anyone Realizes”
Senator Terry Williams (R-Rutland) wasn’t buying the agency’s reassurances.
“This problem is bigger than I think anybody realizes it’s going to be,” Williams said. “People can’t sell their property now… and the people I’m hearing from? They’re screwed.”
Williams highlighted calls he’s received from constituents who only discovered their obligations mid-transaction, often with no idea how they got added to the list—or how they’re going to pay for compliance.
Worse, many missed out on a key funding window: a $49,999 grant cap made available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). That money is now gone.
“They weren’t even aware there was funding,” Williams told agency officials. “So they’re stuck with the full bill now, and we’ve basically told them ‘too bad.’”
Who Owns the Problem?
Williams’ toughest questions weren’t about engineering specs or phosphorus tables—they were about who’s responsible for cleaning up Vermont’s stormwater legacy.
“Is anybody from the agency going back to the federal government and saying, ‘Hey, we’re trying to comply here, and it’s not our fault?’” he asked.
Kamman responded that DEC has worked closely with Vermont’s congressional delegation and is hopeful more money may eventually flow. But for now, compliance costs fall squarely on property owners—many of whom are small businesses, aging homeowners, or members of informal HOAs.
While public schools and manufactured housing communities received substantial financial support, most private landowners are on their own.
“That’s still taxpayer money,” Williams noted. “Just because schools got covered doesn’t mean the public didn’t pay. And now the rest are out of luck.”
A Second Impact Is Coming
Lawmakers are increasingly worried about a second wave of affected properties. Many developments built before 2002—especially those with shared roads or parking areas—haven’t been flagged yet but could suddenly find themselves over the threshold.
Senator Ruth Hardy (D-Addison) pointed out that some developments are being pushed into the rule simply because municipal roads within them are being counted as part of their impervious area.
“If you take the municipal roads out, some of these wouldn’t even hit three acres,” Hardy said.
She requested a more detailed and up-to-date breakdown of all properties affected, sorted by type and permit status.
Not Cost-Effective—But Still Required
Even the agency acknowledged that this is not a cheap or efficient route to phosphorus reduction. Kamman admitted that aside from building new wastewater plants, this may be the least cost-effective environmental intervention Vermont is pursuing.
Yet the EPA mandate doesn’t care about cost-effectiveness. The stormwater reductions from these properties were baked into Vermont’s Lake Champlain phosphorus plan, and removing them would require rewriting federal agreements.
“It’s the last increment,” Kamman said. “But we still need those pounds.”
Real-World Pain, Real Political Fallout
With no more ARPA funds, a ticking construction timeline, and no realistic off-ramp for many homeowners, lawmakers say this could become a political disaster if the second wave of impacted landowners starts calling.
“You’re going to have a whole lot more people coming forward asking, ‘Why am I on this list? And where’s my help?’” Williams warned.
Unless something changes, the answer may be: There is no help. You’re just now finding out you’ve been drafted into a rule you didn’t know existed.
Dave Soulia | FYIVT
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