Senate passes bill creating Delaware freshwater-wetland stewardship program

The Delaware Senate on June 10 approved Senate Bill 9, a measure authored by Senator Elizabeth Hansen to create a unified state freshwater wetland stewardship program that would bring many non‑tidal wetlands under state regulation.

Senator Elizabeth Hansen, the bill sponsor, told colleagues the measure is “monumental” and the product of a multi‑year, multi‑stakeholder process that aims to protect wetlands that act as “nature’s purifier” for Delaware’s drinking water and reduce flood damage. She said the bill combines the existing tidal‑wetland program with a new non‑tidal program and builds in exemptions, general permits and an initial rulemaking process run by a regulatory advisory committee (RAC).

“Wetlands are critical to reducing flood damage by capturing, slowing, and holding water,” Hansen said in introducing the bill, adding that the new program reflects compromise reached among environmental groups, agriculture, business and state agencies.

Under the bill, 12 activities would be exempt from permitting (including farming on lands farmed during the prior 10 years, silviculture activities authorized by the Department of Agriculture, certain conservation practices and normal residential gardening). Eight conditionally exempt activities and seven categories of general permits would cover routine work such as voluntary restoration, linear utility infrastructure projects, wetland walkways and small‑scale projects under 0.5 acres, with more sensitive actions subject to individual permitting and fuller review.

DNREC Secretary Greg Patterson, who answered senators’ questions during floor debate, described the program’s design as a streamlined permitting system intended to be applicant‑initiated and supported by an online wetland screening tool. Patterson told senators the department expects to staff the program but that the statutory design—exemptions plus general permits—was intended to avoid an onerous, case‑by‑case backlog.

“We wanted if we were going to go down this road of regulating freshwater wetlands, we did not … want to encounter some of the difficulties that other permitting programs in DNREC have encountered,” Patterson said, explaining that general permits and applicant tools are central to the program’s efficiency.

Senators pressed on fiscal and staffing implications. The bill’s fiscal note (dated April 21, 2026) anticipates new DNREC positions: the sponsor described DNREC’s estimate as including 10 FTE for the Division of Water, three FTE for Watershed Stewardship and three FTE for Fish and Wildlife, with staffing ramped over two years; the fiscal note also projects permit‑fee revenue that does not immediately cover full implementation costs.

Hansen said the RAC must hold its first meeting by Aug. 1, 2026, and must submit initial regulations to DNREC by Aug. 1, 2027; if the RAC does not meet that deadline the secretary is authorized to promulgate regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act. The statute enshrines certain exemptions (including agricultural exemptions) so those policy choices cannot be removed by later regulation, senators were told.

Supporters emphasized the bill’s negotiated compromises and broad stakeholder participation—Hansen listed environmental groups, agricultural interests, trade associations, county entities and university partners who participated in drafting the measure. Opponents and cautious supporters sought assurances that farm operations would not be unintentionally regulated, that fees would not become prohibitive and that staffing and fee levels were realistic.

After floor debate the Senate took a roll call and passed SB 9 as amended by Senate Amendment 1; the Secretary announced the vote as 20 yes, 1 absent.

The bill now moves to the next steps identified in the statute and to the regulatory drafting process overseen by the RAC and DNREC.