The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 10: Conservation and Development

Chapter 008: Geographic Information

• § 121. Definitions

  As used in this chapter:

  (1) “VGIS” means the Vermont Geographic Information System developed pursuant to the comprehensive strategy developed by the Center as required by section 122 of this title.

  (2) “Electronic products and services” means computer-related services and products provided by the Center, including:

  (A) Electronic manipulation of the data contained in public records in order to tailor the data to a customer’s request, or to develop a product that meets the needs of customers.

  (B) Duplication of public records in alternative formats not used by the Center, providing periodic updates of an electronic file or database, or duplicating an electronic file or database.

  (C) Provision of on-line access to an electronic file or database or any form of electronic access to the information system of the Center.

  (D) Provision of software developed by or for the Center.

  (E) Generating maps, listings, or other standard or customized products from an electronic geographic information system.

  (3) “Media” means the physical material on which written, printed, or electronically encoded information is stored. (Added 1993, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. June 17, 1994.)

• § 122. Vermont Center for Geographic Information, incorporated; establishment

  (a) The State of Vermont shall support a comprehensive strategy for the development and use of a geographic information system, including:

  (1) data and mapping standards;

  (2) potential applications and their priorities;

  (3) priorities for collecting and digitizing information;

  (4) geographic location standards for all data collection;

  (5) software and hardware standards;

  (6) management needs;

  (7) private sector cooperation;

  (8) costs and benefits of use;

  (9) [Repealed.]

  (10) ways to make information gathered available to regional and municipal entities, commercial entities, the public, and others;

  (11) ways to ensure that data gathered by governmental entities conforms to the geographic information system; and

  (12) an implementation schedule.

  (b) In order to develop and implement that strategy, and to ensure that all data gathered by State agencies that is relevant to the VGIS shall be in a form that is compatible with, useful to, and shared with that geographic information system, there is hereby established the Vermont Center for Geographic Information (the Center) as a unit of the Data Management Division under the Agency of Digital Services.

  (c) [Repealed.] (Added 1993, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. June 17, 1994; amended 2013, No. 179 (Adj. Sess.), § E.800.1; 2018, No. 11 (Sp. Sess.), § F.101; 2019, No. 49, § 6, eff. June 10, 2019; 2023, No. 6, § 77, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• § 123. Powers and duties

  (a) [Repealed.]

  (b) The purposes of the Center shall be to:

  (1) assure that all VGIS data are of high quality and are compatible with, useful to, and shared with other public-sector and private-sector data users;

  (2) encourage the same high standards of quality and compatibility in other Vermont GIS cooperators;

  (3) promote the efficient development and use of geographic information by agencies of the State, its political subdivisions, and Vermont businesses and citizens;

  (4) facilitate the growth of commercial services within Vermont for the provision of spatial data, products, and services.

  (c) Within the limits of available resources, the Center shall operate a program of standards development, data dissemination, and quality assurance, and shall perform the following duties:

  (1) Provide or ensure provision of geographic information products and services to Vermont citizens, to local and regional planning organizations, to State government, to the federal government, and to private businesses and industries.

  (2) Develop procedures for access to the VGIS. Those procedures shall ensure that VGIS data are readily available for the purposes of 24 V.S.A. chapter 117, as well as for the support of efficient and economical geographic analysis and decision making by government, business, and citizens of Vermont, at a reasonable cost and in reasonable forms.

  (3) Develop, publish, maintain, and implement such VGIS standards as are necessary to assure that data are compatible with, useful to, and shared with all users of VGIS data, including geographic data standards relating to scale, accuracy, coding, documentation, data format, and physical media.

  (4) In developing relevant policies, procedures, and standards, seek the consultation of institutions of higher learning, local government, local and regional planning, private business and industry, and other members of the public with an interest in or knowledge of GIS technology.

  (5) For all geographic data that are or may be useful to the Center’s users, and that have been collected by any part of State government or generated with State support, ensure that such data:

  (A) Are developed and maintained so as to conform to VGIS standards.

  (B) Upon request of a potential user, are actually made available to the user in a usable format in accordance with 1 V.S.A. § 316 relating to access to public records and related statutes.

  (C) Are stored and distributed in a manner that will limit the disclosure of data containing individual identifiers to disclosure consented to by the individuals in the data.

  (6) Assist in assessing VGIS financial needs and resources for cooperating State agencies, evaluating the adequacy of those financial resources to meet the goals of the three-year VGIS work plan, and developing alternate sources of revenue for VGIS data acquisition.

  (7) Enter into memoranda of understanding, form contracts, and enter cooperative agreements for the development, acquisition, maintenance, distribution, and marketing of GIS data.

  (8) Include in any contract for electronic products and services provisions that:

  (A) Protect the security and integrity of VGIS information and of information systems that are shared by public agencies.

  (B) Indemnify or limit the liability, if any, of the State of Vermont.

  (9) Notify the State Librarian of the electronic services and products offered to the public. The notification must include a summary of the available format options and the cost of such products and services.

  (10) Retain archive copies and act as a distributor for any State agency, as well as for other public and private entities, that prepares GIS data or electronic products that are compatible with, useful to, and shared with VGIS.

  (11) Assist the Secretaries of Administration, of Transportation, of Natural Resources, of Human Services, and of Commerce and Community Development, and the commissioner or director of State departments and offices not within these agencies in the identification of information gathered within the respective agency, department, or office that is relevant to Vermont’s GIS. Working in cooperation with each organization that identifies such information, the Center shall include components within the three-year VGIS work plan. Such cooperation may include:

  (A) formulation of a “memorandum of understanding” between the organization and the Center, setting out roles and the relationship between the parties;

  (B) periodic meetings to identify opportunities for improvement of VGIS information and applications gathered or used by the organization;

  (C) identification of funding strategies, technical procedures, data conversion plans, and application development projects in which the Center can be of assistance to the organization.

  (12) Provide to regional planning commissions, State agencies, and the general public orthophotographic imagery of the State at a scale appropriate for the production and revision of town property maps. Periodically, such digital imagery shall be updated to capture land use changes, new settlement patterns, and such additional information as may have become available to the Director or the Center.

  (A) The Center shall supply to each town such orthophotographic imagery as has been prepared by it of the total area of that town. Any image shall be available, without charge, for public inspection in the office of the town clerk to whom the imagery was supplied.

  (B) At a reasonable charge to be established by the Center and the Director, the Center shall supply to any person or agency other than a town clerk or lister a copy of any digital format orthophotographic imagery created under this section.

  (C) Hard copy or nondigital format orthophotographic imagery created under this section shall be available for public review at the State Archives.

  (d) The Center may provide specialized information or perform specialized services if these activities:

  (1) contribute to achieving the purposes of the Center as stated in subsection (b) of this section;

  (2) are pursued in partnership with the private sector; and

  (3) are performed without cost to the taxpayer and all direct and indirect costs of obtaining these products and services are incurred by the customer or others.

  (e) [Repealed.] (Added 1993, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. June 17, 1994; amended 1995, No. 190 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 1996; 2013, No. 34, § 5; 2013, No. 179 (Adj. Sess.), § E.800.2, eff. March 30, 2015; 2015, No. 57, § 36, eff. June 11, 2015; 2015, No. 97 (Adj. Sess.), § 19.)

• §§ 124-126. Repealed. 2013, No. 179 (Adj. Sess.), § E.800.6, eff. March 30, 2015.

• § 127. Resource mapping

  (a) The Secretary of Natural Resources shall complete and maintain resource mapping based on the Geographic Information System (GIS) or other technology. The mapping shall identify natural resources throughout the State, including forest blocks and habitat connectors, that may be relevant to the consideration of energy projects and projects subject to chapter 151 of this title. The Center for Geographic Information shall be available to provide assistance to the Secretary in carrying out the resource mapping.

  (b) The Secretary shall consider the resource maps developed under subsection (a) of this section when providing evidence and recommendations to the Public Utility Commission under 30 V.S.A. § 248(b)(5) and when commenting on or providing recommendations under chapter 151 of this title to District Commissions on other projects.

  (c) The Secretary shall establish and maintain written procedures that include a process and science-based criteria for updating resource maps developed under subsection (a) of this section. Before establishing or revising these procedures, the Secretary shall provide opportunities for affected parties and the public to submit relevant information and recommendations. (Added 2011, No. 170 (Adj. Sess.), § 16c, eff. May 18, 2012; amended 2023, No. 181 (Adj. Sess.), § 15, eff. June 17, 2024.)

• § 128. Vermont Center for Geographic Information Special Fund

  (a) A special fund is created for the operation of the Vermont Center for Geographic Information in the Agency of Digital Services. The fund shall consist of revenues derived from the charges by the Agency of Digital Services pursuant to subsection (c) of this section for the provision of Geographic Information products and services, interest earned by the fund, and sums which from time to time may be made available for the support of the Center and its operations. The fund shall be established and managed pursuant to 32 V.S.A. chapter 7, subchapter 5 and shall be available to the Agency to support activities of the Center.

  (b) The receipt and expenditure of monies from the special fund shall be under the supervision of the Secretary of Digital Services.

  (c) Notwithstanding 32 V.S.A. § 603, the Secretary of Digital Services is authorized to impose charges reasonably related to the costs of the products and services of the Vermont Center for Geographic Information, including the cost of personnel, equipment, supplies, and intellectual property. (Added 2015, No. 57, § 28, eff. June 11, 2015; amended 2018, No. 11 (Sp. Sess.), § F.100.)