Water and wastewater operators often pride themselves on the many roles they play, like plumber, electrician, mechanic, and scientist. Now, they have one more: first responder.
Recent legislation in Vermont expanded the definition of “first responder” to include public works, drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater personnel. Everyone from operators, engineers, equipment providers, and technical assistance providers—whether they are municipal employees or not—is now officially designated as a first responder.
This was part of Act 143 (formerly S.310), a bill that addresses many things related to last year’s flooding and future natural disasters. On May 30, Governor Scott signed it into law. Other topics in the bill include creating a grant program for disaster mitigation, creating an urban search and rescue team, and amending parts of the Vermont Statues related to emergency management.
The Ludlow wastewater treatment facility after the July 2023 flooding.
For water and wastewater workers, the first responder designation will help with situations like being able to travel to critical infrastructure such as treatment facilities and pump stations when roads are closed due to an emergency. For example, during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, Wayne Graham, one of Vermont Rural Water’s wastewater specialists, and Wayne Elliot, with the engineering firm Aldrich + Elliot, were trying to help Wilmington’s wastewater system, which had been badly impacted by flooding. However, the road into Wilmington was closed and the Vermont National Guard wouldn’t let them through. John Lazelle, Wilmington’s chief wastewater operator, took the municipal license plates off an old truck and gave them to Wayne and Wayne as a sort of “hall pass” to show they should be allowed into town. With the new first responder designation, this extra effort shouldn’t be necessary.
The first responder designation also elevates the water resources industry, demonstrating just how important the work we do is every day as well as during emergencies. This can also be used as a talking point when recruiting new workers and in our ongoing efforts to bolster Vermont’s water workforce.
To our knowledge, Vermont is now the only state that explicitly lists water, wastewater, and stormwater workers as first responders. The new bill is based on recent legislation in New Hampshire that designated public works personnel as first responders.
Vermont Rural Water and our partners have been working towards an official designation for water and wastewater workers since the Covid-19 pandemic, when our industry was not always included on lists of “essential workers” and “frontline workers,” leading to inconsistencies in whether or not we were included in programs like hazard pay or vaccine prioritization.
We would like to thank many individuals and organizations for help on this initiative, including the Vermont Water and Wastewater Response Network (VT WARN), the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT), the Green Mountain Water Environment Association (GMWEA), American Public Works Association New England Chapter, and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR). Extra thanks to Ray Counter (Brandon Fire District #1) for working with his state representative to draft the first version of this bill. Another big thank you Rick Kenney (Town of Hartford, retired) for communicating with his state senator while the bill was in committee discussion.
Stay tuned for next steps, such as how to inform the appropriate departments in your town that you are now a designated first responder and how to be granted access to a critical location during an emergency.