{"id":1435,"date":"2025-05-18T17:39:57","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T21:39:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/responsiblewakes.org\/?p=1435"},"modified":"2025-05-18T17:39:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T21:39:57","slug":"justice-too-long-delayed-is-justice-denied-vermont-anrs-foot-dragging-on-their-own-wakesports-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/responsiblewakes.org\/?p=1435","title":{"rendered":"“Justice too long delayed is justice denied” \u2014 Vermont ANR\u2019s Foot-Dragging on Their Own Wakesports Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In his\u00a01963\u00a0Letter from Birmingham Jail<\/em><\/a>, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us that \u201cJustice too long delayed is justice denied.\u201d After attending the May 6 Vermont Senate Natural Resources and Energy (NR&E) Committee hearing, Responsible Wakes for Vermont Lakes (RWVL) members saw that justice continues to be denied when it comes to the ANR-DEC\u2019s enactment of wakesports regulation thus far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From May 6, 2025, Senate NR&E Committee Meeting video: Watch the hearing HERE<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Senate NR&E Committee, Chair, Anne Watson, the purpose of the meeting was because the Committee was “interested in something for next year potentially… [to] get an update… [and to] hear where we are and get people’s thoughts about where the state is on wake boats.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Agency of Natural Resources-Department of Environmental Conservation (ANR-DEC) staff Bethany Sargent (Deputy Director) and Laura Dlugolecki (Lake and Shoreland Permitting Analyst) delivered 30 minutes of discouraging updates on the wakesport-focused April 15, 2024, Use of Public Waters (UPW) Rule<\/a>, highlighting several failures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. 2024 ANR Home Lake Rule Not Implemented<\/strong>: Despite prior assurances, including at the February 2024 Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) meeting, the rule wasn\u2019t enacted last summer due to a lack of certified decontamination stations. As a result, Vermont lakes remained vulnerable to aquatic invasive species (AIS); new infestations were found last summer in\u00a0Joe\u2019s Pond (Eurasian watermilfoil<\/a>) and\u00a0Lake Memphremagog (Zebra mussels<\/a>).\u00a0Identification of these new and their proximity to many pristine NEK lakes \u2014 potentially through ballast tank transport \u2014 underscores\u00a0the urgent need for state-certified decontamination stations and implementation of other aspects of the 2024 ANR\/DEC Home Lake Rule.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. 2025 Implementation Also About to Fall Short of ANR\u2019s Rule<\/strong>: With only 1\u20132 pilot decontamination stations planned, ANR will again fail to meet its requirements, continuing the AIS risk.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Delayed ANR-DEC Action on 10 Individual Lake Wakesports Petitions<\/strong>: ANR has yet to complete pre-rulemaking on 10 citizen petitions (covering 11 lakes), with eight pending for over eight months due to staff and funding shortages. This delay presumably results from a lack of ANR-DEC staff capacity and funding \u2014 Ms. Sargent anticipates an ANR decision \u201cwithin the next month or so.\u201d Another round of public hearings on any additional rule changes will be required.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Safety Overlooked in 2024 ANR Petition Rulemaking<\/strong>: The 2024 rule excluded water safety considerations entirely; ANR cited a lack of staff expertise and resources. Uncertainty remains whether this will happen again with the ANR 2025 rulemaking.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Unclear ANR Plans for Future UPW Rules Revisions<\/strong>: ANR plans to revise the statewide 2024 rule in the summer of 2025 but hasn\u2019t shared specifics with the public, raising concerns about potential weakening of the critically important Home Lake Rule.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    RWVL testified to these failures and recommended:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n