2023 MEC4722 - State of Vermont Policy Framework
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Act 153 of 2020
Vermont Global Solutions Act In September 2020, the Vermont Legislature passed the Global Warming Solutions Act, a climate-action accountability framework. The Act creates a planning process and framework to ensure stepped, strategic action on climate change. It sets deadlines for the state to cut harmful climate pollution, with the 26 percent Paris Climate Accord reduction target as the first milestone and achieving net zero by 2050. The Solutions Act sets in place guideposts for how Vermont must meet these targets. It requires a focus on a just transition; reducing energy burdens and minimizing negative impacts on rural and marginalized communities, as well as rebuilding and growing the State’s economy while protecting public health, enhancing community resilience and harnessing the power of the State’s natural systems to store and capture carbon. Ref: VECAN (Vermont Energy and Climate Network) See Resource Library for Vermont Comprehensive Energy Plan
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Act 172 of 2022
Act Relating to Municipal Energy Resilience This act requires the Department of Buildings and General Services (BGS) to issue a request for proposal by September 1, 2022, and contract with an independent third party to conduct a comprehensive energy resilience assessment of covered municipal buildings and facilities, which shall include a scope of work, timeline for completion, recommendations for improvements, and estimated costs. This act also establishes a grant program in FY 2023 for municipalities to receive recommendations on the use of more efficient heating systems and to make necessary improvements to reduce fossil fuel usage and increase efficiency in municipally owned buildings. Ref: Vermont Legislature Summary
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Act 174 of 2022
Act Relating to Improving the Siting of Energy Projects Vermont has a long history of both land use and energy planning. As Vermont has experienced the growth in renewable energy generation as one of the state’s largest new land uses, the need for integration of energy planning with land use planning has grown Both the Governor’s Energy Generation Siting Policy Commission (2013) and the Solar Siting Task Force (2015) recommended establishing a paradigm of enhanced energy planning integrated with land use planning. Informed by those recommendations, Act 174 of 2016 establishes a new set of municipal and regional energy planning standards, which if met allow those plans to carry greater weight in the siting process for energy generation. Ref: Public Service Commission Introduction to Act 174
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Act 89 of 2013
Act Relating to Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse Gas Emissions On June 17, 2013, the Vermont State Legislature adopted Act 89, which clarifies the applicability of Vermont’s residential (and commercial) building energy codes (RBECs / CBECs) to mixed-use buildings and includes various amendments to promote compliance with those codes, such as using existing State and local permit processes to encourage compliance. (Ref. Vermont General Assembly and Vermont League of Cities) Among other requirements, Act 89 established a policy for an establishing energy ratings for residential and commercial building energy utilization intensity (EUI) based upon the American Society of Heating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) EUI standards, as reflected in Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star Portfolio Manager Technical reference table for U.S. National Energy Use by building type (Ref. EUI Table). |
2023 MEC4722 - Federal Policy Framework