Leahy also announced that an official from the Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency handling portions of the planning process for CBP, will meet with the Rainvilles later this week to review the latest land acquisition and design plans. 

“I understand the need to replace the Morses Line port of entry that is now more than 70 years old,” said Leahy, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which approved funding for the project.  “However, any new facility needs to be right-sized for its purpose and location.  I appreciate that after my inquiry the Army Corps will be meeting with the Rainville family later this week.  I expect that they will be kept apprised of the planning, design, and construction process for the new port from now on.” 

Information on the project can be found online at:  http://www.northernbordernepa.com/.  Public comments may be submitted on or before October 14 by mail or online at:

Northern Border

P.O. Box 6760

Chesterfield, MO 63006-6760

comments@northernbordernepa.com

# # # # #

[The text of the letter Leahy has submitted during the project Comment Period is below or you can view a PDF of the letter online at http://leahy.senate.gov/DOX/093009MorsesLineLetter.pdf.]

Congressional conferees agreed to retain the $350 million figure first included in Sanders’ amendment that the Senate passed on August 6 by a vote of 60 to 37.  An earlier House version of the Department of Agriculture appropriations bill did not include any extra dairy funds.
 
Under the language that Congress still must approve, $290 million would be provided in direct support to dairy farmers using guidelines to be determined by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack under an expedited process.  Another $60 million would be used to purchase cheese and other dairy products for food banks and nutrition programs, spurring prices for raw dairy products by drawing down supplies of the commodity.

“Vermont’s dairy farms are an integral part of our economy and our way of life.  We’ve got to do everything we can to preserve them. While this funding will provide some much needed emergency relief, we must also develop some long-term policies which will provide fair and stable prices for dairy farmers,” Sanders said.
 
Leahy said, “I have talked with hundreds of Vermont farmers, from one end of the state to the other, who are faced with a crisis of epic proportions.  We have a dairy industry on the brink of total collapse and this could not come at a better time. I welcome this announcement today and thank the Senate and House negotiators for retaining this important funding.” 
 
The average price farmers received for their milk fell in the past year to $11.30 per hundredweight, down from $19.30 in July 2008.  It costs farmers at least $18 per hundredweight to produce milk. As prices plunged, family dairy farms in Vermont and around the country went out of business.
 
In addition to securing the funds in the Agriculture Department spending bill, Leahy and Sanders also have put a spotlight on the record profits of Dean Foods Co. and other giant dairy processors that dominate the milk market in New England and the rest of the country.
 
The Justice Department’s top antitrust enforcer at a September 20 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in St. Albans, Vt., told a packed hall of dairy farmers that increased concentration in the dairy industry merited a closer look by the department. Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney said the department is reviewing market concentration, the relationship between dairy co-ops and milk processors, “and how we’ve evolved to the point where the co-ops are basically captive of one distributor. I want to understand how we got there and what kind of competition exists.”
 
Dairy farmers got a temporary boost from the Agriculture Department last July 31 when Secretary Vilsack – after meeting with the senators from Vermont and other dairy states – approved a  three-month price hike that was expected to increase farmers’ revenue nationwide by $243 million.

Upon discovering the spill the company notified the Agency and Stowe municipal officials, who in turn shut off power to the municipal pump station. As a result, no diesel oil travelled beyond the municipal pump station or reached the municipal wastewater treatment facility. The company promptly hired a contractor and spent approximately $79,000 to remediate the impacted infrastructure. The company also reconfigured the boiler’s fuel supply and servicing system.

The incident was investigated by Environmental Enforcement Officer Sean McVeigh. After the investigation was completed, Mt. Mansfield Company was notified of the violation and agreed to settle the matter. The settlement was reduced to an assurance of discontinuance and was so ordered by the Environmental Court. In it, the company agreed to re-route the facility’s floor drain to an on-site oil/water separator. It also agreed that a civil penalty of $7,500 will be paid to the state of Vermont for the violation.

Senator Bernie Sanders introduced legislation to promote the goal of having 1 million electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles on the roads by the end of the next decade. The bill would give the Department of Transportation the resources to work with Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy to develop plans for deploying recharging stations along roads and highways by 2020.

The measure also would provide funding for pilot projects to demonstrate different types of recharging stations.

A large-scale switch to electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, coupled with a move toward more renewable energy on the electric grid, could dramatically reduce dependence on foreign oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

To read the bill, click here.

Do you think the federal government should develop electric car technology? Those who took our survey that was posted a few days ago sure think so, by a remarkable 25-to-one ratio. To take the survey on energy and other issues, click here.

H.R. 3221 is broad-ranging legislation that would increase the maximum size of Pell Grants, expand access to Perkins Loans, convert all new federal student lending to direct loans, create a new Community College Grant Program and simplify federal student loan applications.

Participants in Welch’s forum included Tim Drew, a Community College of Vermont student, and Jessica Grout, a senior at Vermont Technical College. Representatives from the following organizations and institutions also took part: Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, Vermont Technical College, the University of Vermont, Champlain College, Norwich University, Union Institute and University, New England Culinary Institution, College of St. Joseph, Vermont Law School, Marlboro College, Goddard College, Burlington College, St. Michael’s College, Johnson State and Southern Vermont College.

“I am pleased to welcome AirBoss to Vermont,” Governor Douglas said. “While there is a lot more work to do to help our state rebound from this recession, this announcement is a small step in the right direction.”

In April, Governor Douglas and a team of local, state and federal economic development officials met with AirBoss executives to outline a package of supports and incentives. In May, the company received Initial Approval of VEGI incentives. The state also committed employee training funds through the Vermont Training Program and help from the Procurement Technical Assistance Center. And at its recent meeting, the Vermont Economic Progress Council gave final approval to a VEGI application from AirBoss Defense for incentives totaling up to $243,279.

AirBoss-Defense is a world leader in the design, manufacture and sale of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) protective wear, including gloves, footwear and respiratory protection (gas masks). The company had considered several locations for their capacity expansion, including a facility in North Carolina.

AirBoss made the decision to locate in Vermont and will open a 20,000 square foot facility, reutilizing a building in the Catamount Industrial Park. The company will invest close to $2 million in equipment and renovations and expects to start preliminary packing and shipping from the facility late this year. By early 2010, AirBoss intends to have four injection presses manufacturing CBRN gloves, creating between 20-30 jobs by 2011.

“I am very pleased that AirBoss chose Vermont over other options,” the Governor said. “Programs like VEGI and the Vermont Training Program certainly make us more competitive and can mean the difference between an employer creating jobs in Vermont or elsewhere.”

Under reforms proposed by Governor Jim Douglas in 2006 and passed by the General Assembly, the VEGI economic incentives are authorized based on potential job creation and capital investments that must occur before the company earns the incentives and then the company receives incentive installments over a period of years. Companies are eligible to earn the job creation incentives only if they meet and maintain payroll, employment and capital investment targets each year.

The Council approves applications after reviewing nine program guidelines and applying a rigorous cost-benefit analysis which show that because of the economic activity that will be generated by the projects, even after payment of the incentives the State will realize a minimum net increase in tax revenues. The Council also determines that the projects would not occur or would occur in a significantly different and less desirable manner if not for the incentives being authorized.

The Vermont Economic Progress Council is an independent board consisting of nine Vermont citizens appointed by the Governor that considers applications to the state’s economic incentive programs. It is attached to the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, whose mission is to help Vermonters improve their quality of life and build strong communities.

The company will partner with the Vermont Department of Labor to hold a job fair at their Burlington office on Tuesday, October 6, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Wednesday, October 7, 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. For information on the job fair, contact Melanie Langevin, Vermont Department of Labor Burlington Office: melanie.langevin@state.vt.us or (802)524-7932, or Mrs. Barbara Lee, Human Resources Manager, AirBoss Defense, blee@airboss.ca

For more information on VEPC and the VEGI incentive program, call Fred Kenney (802) 828-5256 or visit:

www.thinkvermont.com/vepc

For more information on AirBoss-Defense and their parent AirBoss of America Corp., Call Earl Laurie, Divisional President, AirBoss-Defense (450) 546-0283, or visit:

www.airbossofamerica.com

In May of this year, the department announced that eight new sugaring sites were being made available on state forest and state park land to interested sugar makers. The department received a total of six applications for three of the eight sites by the July 10th deadline.

A Maple Advisory Board has been established to advise the commissioner on this new program. The board is composed of department representatives, independent sugar makers, and representatives from UVM Extension, and the Vermont Forests Products Association. The board reviewed all applications received and forwarded its recommendations to department commissioner Jason Gibbs for approval.

Approved applicants include Glenn Goodrich of Cabot, Lewis Coty of Stowe, and Mark Turco of Mt. Holly.

“I was really impressed with the qualifications and experience of these sugar makers and look forward to working with them on this new program”, said Commissioner Gibbs.

Over the coming weeks, department staff will work with these sugar makers to delineate the sugarbush and agree on how it will be accessed and managed. “We hope to get much of this work completed in the next couple of weeks so sugar makers will have ample time this fall to get the sugarbush ready for the 2010 sugaring season”, said state lands director Mike Fraysier.

License agreements will be developed for each of the approved applicants outlining site-specific conditions and requirements and approved tapping guidelines. License terms will be for a five-year period with the option to renew for two additional five-year periods.

License fees will include a standard $50 one-time administrative fee plus an annual fee based on the number of taps in the sugarbush. The per-tap fee will be 25 percent of the average of the previous year’s price per bulk pound of Vermont fancy grade syrup and Vermont commercial grade syrup.