The war on Vermont’s farmers has entered another chapter, and once again, the state’s agricultural community is the scapegoat for a problem the federal government helped create. In 2022, the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC), and the Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) filed a petition with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), claiming Vermont was failing to enforce CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) regulations and demanding that the EPA revoke the state’s authority over farm pollution permits. This wasn’t the first time they pulled this move—back in 2008, these same groups ran to the feds with similar claims, leading to a 2013 EPA-mandated Corrective Action Plan that forced Vermont to tighten regulations on farms.
The 2022 complaint led to the EPA issuing a compliance warning in September 2024, threatening to strip Vermont of its ability to regulate farm water pollution if it didn’t step up enforcement. Rather than pushing back, Vermont’s lawmakers rushed to comply—not by challenging the feds for their role in the legacy phosphorus problem, but by drafting a new bill to crack down even harder on farms.
That bill, S.100, was introduced by Senator Ruth Hardy (D-Addison), Senator Patrick Brennan (R-Chittenden), Senator Thomas Chittenden (D-Chittenden), and Senator Robert Norris (R-Franklin). Instead of addressing why Vermont’s phosphorus problem exists in the first place, this legislation expands the state’s authority to regulate farms under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and CAFO permitting system. The justification? If Vermont doesn’t regulate farms more aggressively, the EPA will step in and do it for them.
“The last thing we want is for the EPA to come in and take over, which is why we need to get ahead of this,” Senator Hardy explained during a Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee hearing.
While Hardy and her colleagues are focused on protecting Vermont’s regulatory authority, what no one in Montpelier is talking about is why Vermont is dealing with excess phosphorus in the first place.
The Federal Government’s Role in Vermont’s Phosphorus Crisis
Vermont’s phosphorus problem didn’t start yesterday, and it didn’t start with today’s farmers. For decades, the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) actively promoted phosphorus-rich fertilizers and manure spreading through federal farm subsidy programs. These policies encouraged farmers to apply phosphorus in quantities that far exceeded what local ecosystems could handle.
The result? Vermont’s soils became saturated with phosphorus, a problem now known as “legacy phosphorus”—nutrients that persist in the environment long after they were first applied. Even if every farm in Vermont stopped using phosphorus today, the state’s waterways would still suffer from phosphorus runoff for decades due to this historical buildup.
Yet, rather than addressing the federal government’s role in creating this mess, Vermont lawmakers are bending over backward to meet the EPA’s latest demands, tightening regulations on farmers while letting the real culprits off the hook.
S.100: Expanding State Power at Farmers’ Expense
S.100 does more than just respond to the EPA’s threat—it expands Vermont’s government control over farms in ways that could have serious consequences for the agricultural sector. Among its key provisions:
- Grants the Secretary of Natural Resources expanded power to regulate, inspect, and enforce CAFO permits.
- Allows Vermont officials to unilaterally classify farms as CAFOs even if they don’t meet federal CAFO definitions.
- Eliminates legal protections for farms following Vermont’s Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs)—meaning even compliant farms could face new permitting requirements.
- Increases inspections, record-keeping, and bureaucratic oversight, making it harder for farms to operate without running afoul of new mandates.
For farmers already dealing with rising costs, labor shortages, and market pressures, these added regulations could be the final straw. More paperwork, more inspections, and more threats of fines will only make it harder for small and medium-sized farms to stay afloat.
“We’ve lost 32% of our dairy farms in five years. We’re hemorrhaging farms, and no one’s talking about that. That’s a problem.” – Senator Williams
The Fight That Isn’t Happening
If Vermont’s lawmakers truly cared about protecting the state’s farms and waterways, they wouldn’t be rushing to appease the EPA—they’d be fighting back.
A real response to the EPA’s demands would include:
✔ A lawsuit against the federal government for its role in creating Vermont’s phosphorus crisis through decades of bad farm policies.
✔ A demand for federal funding to help mitigate legacy phosphorus, rather than forcing farmers to bear the burden alone.
✔ Legislation that protects farms from federal overreach, rather than expanding the state’s power to regulate them into the ground.
Instead, Vermont’s lawmakers are taking the easy route—going after farmers instead of going after the real culprits.
Conclusion: It’s Time to Push Back
Vermont’s farmers didn’t create the phosphorus crisis. The federal government did, and now it’s trying to pass the blame onto farms that are already struggling to survive. S.100 is not about protecting Vermont’s environment—it’s about protecting Vermont’s regulatory power at the expense of the people who put food on our tables.
If lawmakers truly want to stand up for Vermont’s future, they need to stop caving to EPA pressure and start holding Washington accountable. Until that happens, Vermont’s farmers will continue to pay the price for a mess they didn’t make.
Dave Soulia | FYIVT
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