Most Vermonters know how a bill becomes law. Fewer know how the rules that give those laws their teeth actually come into being.
Every year, state agencies — not lawmakers — decide the fine print of daily life: how farms are certified, which licenses cost what, when deer season opens, what counts as a pollutant. Those rules, carrying the force of law, are created under Vermont’s Administrative Procedure Act, or APA.
The APA, tucked into Title 3, Chapter 25 of state statute, governs how agencies make, publish, and defend their rules.
It lays out a process designed to keep bureaucracy accountable — requiring notice, transparency, and a chance for the public to speak.
Buried within that process are two remarkably democratic tools that almost nobody knows exist: the right of 25 citizens to force a public hearing on a proposed rule, and the right of 25 citizens to demand that an agency formalize or abandon an unofficial policy.
The Secretary of State maintains a Public Comment on Proposed Rules page where agencies post new filings and hearing notices — the clearinghouse for Vermonters who want to see what’s coming next or speak up before a rule takes effect.
The “Hold On” Power — 3 V.S.A. § 840
This is the one that comes into play after an agency proposes a rule.
Let’s say the Department of Fish and Wildlife wants to change a regulation about hunting seasons, or the Agency of Agriculture proposes new manure-management rules. They file the draft with the Secretary of State, publish a notice under § 839, and begin the 30-day waiting period before adoption.
During that time, Vermonters have a right to stop and say:
“Hold on. We want to talk about this.”
Under § 840(a), if 25 people, a town or agency, or an association of 25 members or more send a written request, the agency must schedule a public hearing.
The first hearing can’t be held sooner than 30 days after the public notice.
Afterward, the comment window stays open for at least seven more days so anyone can submit written feedback.
Agencies must “consider fully” all input, especially where small businesses are affected, and anyone who asks is entitled to a written explanation of the reasons for and against adoption.
In plain terms, § 840 gives the public a pause button — a way to require that proposed regulations are aired in daylight before they quietly become law.
The “Make It Official or Stop” Power — 3 V.S.A. § 831(c)
The other right, under § 831(c), operates at the front end of rulemaking.
It covers a subtler situation — when an agency is already behaving as if a rule exists, but no such rule was ever properly adopted.
Maybe there’s an unwritten policy that inspectors are enforcing, or a guidance memo that suddenly feels mandatory.
In those cases, any 25 people, or an association of 25 members, can file a petition for rulemaking.
Their message isn’t “we want a rule about this”; it’s:
“You’re already treating this like a rule — so either adopt it formally or stop enforcing it.”
Once the petition is filed, the agency must respond in writing, saying whether it will start formal rulemaking or decline to do so.
If it refuses, it must explain why. Petitioners can then take that answer to the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) or, in some instances, challenge the refusal in court.
It’s a procedural check — a demand for honesty and transparency.
An agency can’t hide regulation behind “policy guidance” or “internal practice.”
If it wants to bind the public, it has to do so through the same open process everyone else must follow.
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Two Halves of Public Oversight
Seen together, these two sections form a quiet but powerful symmetry:
| Stage | Section | What It Lets the Public Do |
|---|---|---|
| Before rulemaking | § 831(c) | Force an agency to formalize or abandon an unofficial practice |
| During rulemaking | § 840(a) | Require an agency to hold a public hearing on a proposed rule |
The first one is about calling something out, the second about calling time-out.
Both assume that if even a small group of citizens is paying attention, government has to respond.
Why Few People Know About It
The reason these powers are so rarely used is partly cultural.
Most Vermonters assume that “rulemaking” is the agency’s job and that only big organizations or lobbyists can intervene.
But the statutes say otherwise — 25 people is the threshold, not 25 lawyers or 25 campaign donors.
In a state with town meetings and a population smaller than many cities, that number was chosen deliberately.
It’s small enough to be reachable, large enough to show legitimate public interest.
Why It Matters
In today’s Vermont, agencies handle far more regulatory detail than the Legislature ever could.
That makes the APA’s procedural rights more than bureaucratic housekeeping — they’re a guardrail against quiet power.
Section 831(c) keeps agencies from making “shadow rules.”
Section 840 ensures that real rules can’t slide through without a hearing.
Neither provision guarantees a policy outcome, but both guarantee process integrity — the chance for ordinary people to see, question, and document what their government is doing.
So the next time an agency issues a “guidance memo” that feels suspiciously mandatory, or a proposed rule pops up in the Secretary of State’s notices, remember:
you don’t have to be an insider to make the state slow down or step up.
You just need 24 friends who care enough to sign their names.
Dave Soulia | FYIVT
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