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The City of Burlington will implement the public outreach phase of a plan to improve water quality through a new, integrated planning approach for wastewater and stormwater management in Burlington. The City’s Water Resource Division will be seeking public input on its upcoming water quality efforts by attending Neighborhood Planning Assemblies (NPAs) and meeting with nonprofit organizations and other public agencies to learn how Burlingtonians would like to see their stormwater and wastewater utility fees spent in the fight for improved water quality.

The Co-op Plaza has revitalized a key area of the city’s downtown and, through a public-private partnership between the co-op grocery store and a local nonprofit, provided 24 affordable apartments.

Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) Thursday announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected six Vermont communities to receive a total of $2 million for grants under the Brownfield Grant Program that will help them assess and clean up contaminated properties to facilitate their redevelopment and reuse

Working Lands Enterprise Board announced this years 36 grant recipients 24 agriculture and 12 forestry projects for just over $1 million in both Working Lands and Local Food Market Development grant funding.

In order to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment at the Fair Market Rent in Vermont, renters need to earn $20.68 per hour, or $43,017 a year.

Secretaries and Commissioners from the agencies of Agriculture, Commerce and Community Development, and Forests, Parks and Recreation will gather to announce the 2015 Working Lands grant recipients at Maple Wind Farm in Richmond, VT.

Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos released the following response: At its core, this bill is about protecting one of the most fundamental rights in our democracy, the right to vote. The right to vote is granted and protected by both the Vermont and United States Constitutions.

Eight rural, underserved Vermont communities are getting help to boost broadband internet speeds. The towns of Norwich, Pittsfield, Randolph, Royalton, Jamaica, Rochester, Reading, and Bradford will receive nearly $900,000 for speed improvement upgrades, Gov. Peter Shumlin announced today

Standing in the heart of a Colchester neighborhood, Gov. Peter Shumlin announced a $500,000 Vermont Community Development Program grant to lock in the affordability of eighty homes and make them more energy efficient. The apartments are part of Winchester Place, a mixed-income development of 166 apartments owned in partnership by the Champlain Housing Trust and Housing Vermont. The long term affordability of the homes will secured through the purchase of the land which has been leased from St. Michael’s College

Vermont Rural Ventures’ innovative financing of the redevelopment of Brattleboro’s Brooks House has been chosen as a semi-finalist by the National Development Council (NDC) for its Academy 2015 Awards.

Gov. Peter Shumlin, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, and Green Up Day sponsors Green Mountain Power and Subaru of New England today joined to remind Vermonters to participate in the 45th Annual Green Up Day this Saturday and to highlight a unique, Green Up Day-inspired art project being constructed on the State House lawn.

At Blodgett Supply in Montpelier today, Rep. Peter Welch met with a broad cross-section of Vermont energy efficiency leaders to outline his efficiency priorities for the new Congress and learn about the latest energy efficiency innovations in Vermont. The roundtable discussion comes on the heels of House approval this week of Welch-authored energy efficiency legislation which President Obama will soon sign into law.

On Monday, April 20, the VHFA Board of Commissioners committed $2.55 million in federal low-income housing tax credits and $432,500 in state housing tax credits to expand Vermont’s stock of affordable, energy-efficient housing.

The Leahy-Collins Amendment to the anti-trafficking bill was narrowly defeated Wednesday afternoon, in Senate vote of 56 to 43 – four votes short of the 60 votes needed for passage of the Leahy-Collins Amendment

The Leahy-Collins Amendment to the anti-trafficking bill was narrowly defeated Wednesday afternoon, in Senate vote of 56 to 43 – four votes short of the 60 votes needed for passage of the Leahy-Collins Amendment.

Marking Earth Day, Gov. Peter Shumlin announced the expansion of the Heat Saver Loan program, which will help Vermonters increase the efficiency of their homes and save money on their energy bills while creating jobs and reducing greenhouse emissions.

Shortly, we will vote on two amendments related to preventing human trafficking by supporting runaway and homeless youth. Senator Cornyn’s amendment pays lip service to this effort, but it is not a meaningful alternative to the comprehensive amendment Senator Collins and I will offer. Our amendment, # 290, the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act, has the support of 30 bipartisan cosponsors who understand that no effort to end human trafficking can be complete without addressing the needs of runaway and homeless youth

This afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives approved bipartisan energy efficiency legislation authored by Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) and Rep. David McKinley (R-WV).  President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law