Act No. 54

(H.313)

Economic development; ARRA; programs; planning; oversight

This act established numerous programs and policies designed to foster economic development in Vermont, particularly with regard to the use of stimulus monies made available to the state through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), Pub.L. No. 111-5. Among other things, the act addresses oversight of stimulus efforts; long-term economic planning; establishment and funding of programs designed to stimulate the economy; and changes to existing state programs to facilitate projects funded with federal dollars.

For example, with regard to oversight, the act directs the Vermont office of economic recovery and stimulus to coordinate ARRA stimulus efforts and oversight in Vermont. With respect to planning, the act directs the current chair of the Commission on the Future of Economic Development (CFED) to convene an interim work group to establish benchmarks for the four principal goals for economic development adopted by CFED, to study modes of economic development in other states, and to evaluate the unified economic development budget.

Programs created and funded by the act include the entrepreneurs' seed capital fund to promote early-stage investment in Vermont firms and the technology loan program established to meet the working capital and capital-asset finance needs of technology based companies. Provisions on permit programs include: expanding the public service board's existing authority regarding telecommunications permitting; extending to January 15, 2012 a previously-adopted sunset on interim permitting authority in stormwater-impaired waters; enlarging existing exemptions for increases in various public infrastructure projects under Act 250; expanding the general permitting authority of the agency of natural resources (ANR); creating environmental ticketing authority for ANR and the natural resources board; and establishing a permitting priority for stimulus-funded projects.

The act also amends the Clean Energy Development Fund (CEDF) statute to allow the fund to finance thermal energy and geothermal projects and emerging energy efficient technologies and to direct that various energy moneys appropriated to Vermont by ARRA be deposited into the CEDF. The act creates a new clean energy development board to oversee the fund.

Date Signed by the Governor: June 1, 2009

Effective Date: On passage (June 1, 2009, the date on which the governor signed the bill)

Note: Several sections of this act were superseded by No. 2 and No. 3 of the Acts of the 2009 Special Session.