An environmental group says the state has failed to crack down on water pollution from large farms and a sewage treatment plant. The Conservation Law Foundation says that since the state isn't doing the job, the federal government should take over the clean water permit program.

The Environmental Protection Agency is reconsidering its approval of a state clean up plan for Lake Champlain. The plan was approved by the federal government in 2002, but pollution levels have continued to rise in the big lake.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has taken the rare step of reaching across state lines into Vermont in order to protect Long Island Sound - hundreds of miles downstream. The EPA has formally objected to permits proposed for two Vermont sewage treatment plants. The agency says the Vermont plants would let too much pollution flow down the Connecticut River to the Sound.

Within the next few weeks, the state will tell about 400 property owners in Chittenden County that they have to help control stormwater pollution. The Agency of Natural Resources will impose the new regulation in response to a court order. The court said five streams have been damaged by run-off from parking lots and streets and they need to be cleaned up.

A proposal to allow limited use of All Terrain Vehicles on state land has raised environmental concerns.

Should all terrain vehicles be allowed to use state land? That's the subject of a public hearing in Montpelier. The Agency of Natural Resources stirred up considerable controversy when it proposed a rule that would allow ATV connector trails across state property.

President Obama has pledged $8 billion of stimulus money to upgrade high speed inter-city rail service. States will compete with each other for the money. But because rail service ties communities together, some rail advocates in this region are calling for a multi-state approach.