 So this is a we'll call the meeting to order the Senate natural resources and energy. It's Friday the 27th We're having a meeting to take a look at Planning really for the coming week. So as you may have heard from the pro tem He would like us all to keep our eyes first and foremost on The COVID pandemic and how it affects anything related to our areas of jurisdiction I sent down an email to people with an outline of things for today So if you haven't checked email in the last 24 hours, you may want to look at an email from me to you all We're gonna have two meetings next week in which we'll really take some testimony from people looping back to people in on water issues solid waste issues energy issues and Those meetings are scheduled for 10 to 12 on Tuesday and Thursday next week to try to Stick with the regular schedule What I wanted to do with folks today was just one make sure we all had a sense of what that plan was what our priorities are Beyond the next week. So towards, you know, maybe in Thursday's meeting. We'll see how it goes We can be looking forward to doing non COVID-19 related Bills the week after and so I wanted to encourage people to start thinking about We actually have six bills all in motion at the moment Either they're on the floor or in another committee. It's something we've been looking at when we left on the 13th There were six bills Sort of in as I just said in motion. There were other a lot other bills on the wall Two of which were you know major house bills that there's a broad interest in the global warming and the act 250 bill So I just wanted to check with you all The short list I put out is much shorter than the I didn't actually count But there must be something like 40 bills in committee So I like to go through Do two things one go through those areas of jurisdiction and think allowed as a group about who we might want to hear from check back in with next week On COVID-19 related stuff and then start thinking too about when you look at the bills and committee or the email I sent out How would you prioritize them? It's unclear right now how the session is going to unfold, you know and talking with the pro tem at some length the other day He believes we're gonna have You know time to get to many bills An unhelpful dog here Just a moment I can't do much about this at my desk while right back again So the We should be thinking no one knows exactly how many bills will get to in the long run I guess that's the answer But we will get to things more than just what we had teed up as a crossover So with that said, I'm gonna doubling back to clean water Last time we checked in Michael put together that helpful memo Summarizing what's going on out there. I thought it would be helpful for us to check back in with ANR DEC on the kind of public drinking water wastewater all that kind of stuff to see if everything's working fine or People are starting to run into for instance staffing issues And that brought up There's a Vermont warned system that allows municipalities to transfer equipment and in staff between Municipal wastewater or public water supply systems So it'd be just good to know that people have worked out that Got those agreements in place stuff like that Beyond that we have, you know, a lot of work going on with Vermont Clean Water Act and I honestly have no idea what's going on out in the field In terms of implementation, I mean, there's at least a couple sides One is all the kind of data data gathering stuff that goes on There's regulatory stuff that goes on and then there's people doing things like building swales ditches bunkers and all the rest and I don't know if How the essential services are being treated, you know in terms of if water quality is enough of a nexus someone says Oh, well, we continue that work as long as you're not violating Safe working distances forever and stuff like that And the solid waste so let me pause there The list I had for people to check in with includes a and R ag NRCS and The RPCs and some representative watershed groups Can anyone think of anybody else that we might want to touch base with to follow up on that? I I don't can't think of anybody immediately again. I think my concern. I think all of our concerns it has to do with Making certain that whatever we're doing We're not pulling away from other resources at this time in other words, you know, our priorities might be Trumped by some of the other things happening and we're just keeping an eye as you've said in previous meetings on Ledge councils needs elsewhere as well as other possible needs elsewhere Yeah, good points and a good reminder and I'll count on Luke and Michael to speak up and tell us if we're ever asking them to do something when you have something more pressing I don't know economic development or health and welfare or probes, so who knows where the one thing that I wanted to offer is you EPA just put out guidance that they will not be enforcing That they're just gonna focus on administration oversight and permitting You might want to talk to a and R if they're gonna follow a similar Strategy in order to to maximize their resources and their timing right now Okay, thank you Anyone else so okay, so that's I Think fairly straightforward water quality stuff so the other piece I left out there was the because of the Whatever challenges to the state's budget because of all these delayed receipts the other thing that the Pro temp said please check in with your the agencies and departments you work with to make sure that financial constraints that are Developing day by day aren't having an impact on their operations. So it's really fiscal and Personnel issues, I think that are gonna be the first impact So then if there's nothing more there than on solid waste Again, this just seems like a check-in to make sure that There was an issue came up with septage last week that I think they were short staffed at a wastewater treatment facility and so a Truck, you know that it was pumping septage out of people septic tanks couldn't unload. I don't know if you've heard anything more Michael about that the agency is Working with septage companies to try and find wastewater treatment facilities that will accept Their septage they understand it's a problem and they're trying to to find alternatives for the septage companies There's a kind of a corresponding issue Some of the farm fields that are where septage is applied are coming back testing for PFOS in the soil So that that can become an issue for that farm Because the feed that they grow on the field is Eatten by the cows and is bio accumulated into the cow So that that's septage is got a kind of multiple issues going on right now okay on the PFAS bio accumulating in cows Which doesn't sound like a good thing for the cows is it but is it Does that have an impact on ability to ship milk produced by those cows? Yes the co-op reserves the right to not Not ship the milk because it's what they would call contaminated Okay, so have you been working with the ag agency and I'm sorry with well ag agency and also Senate ag are they aware of this going on? There they're both the the agency is working on it Senate senator star at least is aware of it So they're trying to figure out ways to address the issue Okay, I'm trying to think about the alternatives are I Mean you could spread in non-farm fields Right, or you do not grow a feed on on that field Okay All right, and and then in the next bucket here energy issues so Thought we could double back and make sure that there are no problems with the folks that we checked in with before The you know the utilities finance manages utilities so I would think of normal utility oversight were continuing in finance and The complimentary I mean we could just verify that things are going fine. No new issues have come up The but one thing I was thinking is other energy stuff around it so for instance How is this impacting efficiency Vermont and weatherization work or efficiency work or We're already having some challenges, you know making our meeting our goals Does it mean that we're also having to put on hold all that kind of stuff Chris Rogers Rogers here. I did I've been in communication with some of the efficiency Vermont folks and they are no longer doing Assessments or in the field work. So I would say yeah, they're pretty much stymied at this point working at home Right, right. You can't really do much of an energy audit, right? Yeah, thank you And as a quick look towards bill, I don't know if people have other issues you said, you know, we've all been getting bombarded with What about Potentially delaying the implementation of the plastic bag band just because we are here and some Concerned in some jurisdictions starting to do that right now just with health and grocery stores and even just seeing people in lines I don't think it makes sense to charge people if they're running into a grocery store to get some items, you know when they have the opportunity to Okay, well, let's think about it discuss it. I know that this has come up cuz Last week main which was you know, gonna go to a single-use bag band on the 22nd of April postpone So there's there's that implementation piece for us, it's July 1st so that we have time on On Who knows what July 1 will look like to us and 30 days, you know The other thing that's happened though. I know a Shaw's store or maybe that's every Shaw's plus The co-op store in Middlebury asked people to stop bringing in Reusable bags and next door in New Hampshire, Sunoon who banned reusable bags So I had been in I've been in touch with the Department of Health and A&R over the last week on this issue and I said, are you recommending any changes and Health said no and A&R concurred Because in essence bags are One of the lowest You know risk vectors going on the you know if you start with the shopping cart You touch the shopping basket the shelves, etc. Etc. Etc. So Right, but I think one of the concerns too is just having capacity for them So my uncle's a superintendent for school district New York State and they're using single-use bags to deliver the lunches So they can leave them on doors for sure So I just I don't know what our capacity and how our bill reads our what a school district be able to buy single-use bags for that Use, you know, if we're in a capacity where we're trying to use it for lunches or other things you're trying to give out Ars doesn't go into effect until July I think right, but we just canceled school till June So there's obviously there's reason to believe that this could still be going on some capacity through July And we're just trying to think of I mean whether or not it's a priority to deal with right now only because I Mean there's it's not like other states where we have something that we would extend the deadline on ours again They they may everybody may be backed up and running by June 1 Well, so it's a you know, I think you're I take your point So let's make sure I mean I think you know the bag band just as a reminder for all of us Is at the point of checkout So that really wouldn't apply to a school anyway, they could still be sourcing single-use bags and using them Yeah, I I thought I heard that the administration had pushed that timeline the implementation Of that back am I wrong? What I are you talking about the 7-1 The plastic bag 7-1. Yeah, so I saw a request from Aaron Segrist on behalf of Vermont Grocers to push it back to January 1 of 21 Roll the back six months and That came through while I was just wrapping up You know a couple days of conversation with health and an arm. So I'm not sure where the administration will go. I mean they could respond to grocers and say we're pushing that back this For me the science and medicine people are the ones I would like to rely on to guide whatever we do Let the chips fall where they may But so far a and r and health are saying no need to change practices at stores. I mean it's a little When if we start having a reusable if we if we ban reusable shopping carts Um, then I'll be thinking about what reusable bags next, you know But I would do it in that order because a shopping cart everyone is handling a bag at least is only yours and if you're Feeling very conscientious. You could wash the thing before you come back. It only takes a little soap and water to well, that's true, but they're trying to They're trying to protect their employees and like price chopper They're their folks won't even touch reusable bags now And there are some stores that have outright banned the reusable bags during this time And it's just a matter of knowing that when they grab that plastic bag It's clean and if they touch somebody's reusable bag it's not necessarily and most of the Stores are now providing sanitary wipes to wipe down your cart and stuff I'm not saying that it that it eliminates the chances. I agree everything you pull off the shelf somebody's already touched Um, but they're trying to protect their employees right Well, right so center mcdonnell um I think we got a lot of difference Differences of opinion on something that just came up. Why don't we sit on this for a week and Stores may have to order Or not order depending on what we a decision we make before july 1st, but I think we've got all the various We might want to Way in on this next week after we've thought about it a bit Sure It's not really well said Emerging so And stores will make their own policies anyway So we'll keep going and see where the administration goes with it um So again, you know, I just asked people to take a look at the list of bills in that email or Go, I think I also put in the email a link to our bills and committee list Which is a lot longer And you might want to look ahead My sense is You know, we might want to focus on clearing out kind of what was in our inbasket at the time of Back on the 13th Before going on to major bills The concern I have frankly about something like act 250 and global warming solutions act is I think I'm certainly You know ready willing able I think we all are to to work on that But I also think they're complicated issues that even if in ideal circumstances like all of us in the building with all our regular work tools at hand We would probably spend weeks Going through those because there's there's a lot in them and So I'd rather, you know, not have us try to push something through with not enough testimony Especially act 250, which is really critical to what goes on in the state Um, but that's it from from I would tend to agree with that Yeah, Chris, I would tend to agree with that. I think even if we were in the building In the building those two bills could completely consume the rest of our Legislative session and and we may still feel like we would like more information So I don't see how that could possibly pull be pulled off in Trying to meet like this Especially that the need that we would Have for ledge counsel to be with us constantly on that and Yeah, there is bombarded if not more by Emails from all of us concerns trying to probably support their their colleagues who are have jurisdiction and economic development, etc right I'm one actually I would say unless there's Somewhat irresponsible possibly. Yeah um It could also be that we might find something relatively narrow and Helpful for the thing I'm thinking of is the trails related provisions So let's if I'm thinking a little optimistically about the summer and fall Our recreation outdoor recreation industry has been hit hard by what's happened in the last three weeks and Um, if thing if it's going to be safe and healthy to be outdoors and recreating this summer and fall Um, maybe doing something narrow on trails to help ensure that everyone who's trying to do that kind of run that kind of business Um, has an opportunity to keep going as opposed to Leaving that act 250 as it relates to trails question hanging with uncertainty for another full year That might be something we could look into Fine sure. Yeah, and I think that's extremely important Because I know that the groups have been working on an agreement and as you said, I think tourism Business as a whole is going to take a hell of a shot because people aren't going to be coming for the next couple months and even after the COVID-19 problem is gone. I think They're still not going to be apt to go on a vacation for a while Right. Okay, I'm afraid I have to jump off but I think we are actually Unless anyone has anything else you want to put in the table. So again, we'll I'll work with jude lining if you have any witnesses you want us to hear from. Please just email me. Let me know Otherwise, I'll line up sort of standard folks that we would hear from on those three topics We went through briefly before and if that's otherwise, I think From on my on my side my list is complete Anything else? Thank you. Great. Um, have a great weekend everybody Good weekend. See y'all