The permitting of docks on state lakes has long been the responsibility of the department of environmental services. But an amended measure passed by the state senate without public hearing, gives the department of safety the power to grant its own dock permits.
Hudson State Senator Gary Francoeur says allowing the department of safety to grant certain dock permits is logical. He points out that Safety already oversees some 1000 boat moorings. And says that agency would provide better enforcement.
"They�re already on the water; they�re already involved in the environmental issues dealing with moorings. So it would only make sense because they have the people and the manpower to put docks under safety."
And under the amendment Francouer tacked onto a house wetlands bill, some docks would indeed be under DOS authority. Specifically, those no more than 6 feet wide, or 40 feet long. The docks would also have to be perpendicular to the shore, and would have to have no effect on adjacent wetlands or any unreasonable adverse effect on the environment. Assistant commissioner of Safety John Stephen says the Francour amendment will better serve the public..
"The department of safety is trying to make it simpler to receive approval for permit on the docks that really have no shoreline protection at all. Really minimal impact. We�re doing mooring permits. It�s just makes sense that we could be there to also do reviews of docks."
But not everyone is convinced the plan is so logical��David Shaarsmith of the New Hampshire lakes association doubts the creation of overlapping juridictions will yield any public benefit.
"We�re creating the situation where we have two agencies that are able to permit the same types of docks, and you also have two agencies that are enforcing the regulations. So you will have confusion with the public and confusion with enforcement."
Part of that confusion say critics, is because dock issues are more complicated than those that pertain to moorings.�.And they say DES is only agency truly equipped to judge compliance requirements. Again David Shaarsmith.
"Docks are not a shore land structure permitted by wetlands�.Under safety rules there can be now shoreline�.The department of environmental services is the one who keep the records on that. So now were asking the department of safety talk to the environmental services before permitting a dock�.. Splitting it I think solves no problems."
But according to assistant commissioner of safety, John Stephen, such concerns are misguided. And fail to recognize that safety and DES have a long record of cooperation.
"We definitely would work together and as soon as there would be a shore land protection that was seen and observed by our folks, we would contact the department of environmental services. Which is what we do right now. The two departments work well together on the waterways."
But that statement seems debatable. On Monday, the department of safety informed DES there was no longer enough space to accommodate DES�s boat at the state police�s Glendale dock on Lake Winnipesauke. As a result, if DES wants access to the state�s largest lake, it must rely on public boat ramps�And that�s after transporting the displaced vessel from its storage area�..Which at present is the front lawn of the agency�s Concord headquarters�..Both DES and Safety declined comment on DES�s loss of dock privileges�.. DES also declined comment on the Francoeur amendment or anything to do with dock permitting�...For his part, Senator Gary Francoeur says allowing safety to carry out functions traditionally reserved for environmental services will benefit the public��And Francouer stresses that unlike DES, which now charges 40 dollars for dock permits, safety would do so at no cost.
"They�re the ones that have the manpower to do it. They could do it for free, while the department of environmental services was talking about going up to $100 for the same thing."
If the idea of lost state revenue seems a hard sell given the New Hampshire�s current fiscal situation�. Francouer�s did hint another factor could be at work: frustration with acting DES commissioner Dana Bisbee.
"Well I think a lot of the legislation we�ve had this year is because the commissioner has overstepped his bounds�."
For the dock permitting amendment to become law it must first win house approval�.. House leadership had yet to take a public position on the matter�..But Shaheen legal counsel Judy Reardon says the governor has.
"It�s not acceptable to governor Shaheen to have two separate tracks for approving docks, and Governor Shaheen has conveyed that to the involved parties."
Reardon says a compromise proposal has been submitted to the Governor�s office and is now under review. And Reardon says a Shaheen veto is certain if the plan as passed by the Senate ever reaches the Governor�s desk.
