This is the 17th legislative/policy update for the 2026 New Hampshire legislative session. I provide this update periodically (almost weekly) while the New Hampshire legislature is in session to keep NHTOA members informed about what is happening in Concord.

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General Comments

This week the N.H. House and Senate had general sessions on Thursday (April 13) when they voted on bills. Next week neither the House nor Senate will have general sessions. Both chambers’ policy committees will continue to work on the bills that arrived from the other chamber. The deadline for legislative action—public hearing, committee deliberation and recommendation, and final vote by the full chamber—is May 14. This will continue until both chambers begin to negotiate policy initiatives, and we see non-germane amendments getting attached to bills as a means to force the other chamber to negotiate a policy.

A couple of priority bills are seeing action next week in committee. There is no opportunity for meaningful public input.

I am attaching the NHTOA’s bill tracker spreadsheet. It lists all the bills the NHTOA is currently monitoring and working on. All the bills of interest to the NHTOA have been vetted and reviewed by the NHTOA Policy Committee. There are still several bills about which we are seeking information. Therefore, our positions are tentative, pending the additional information.

While reviewing the spreadsheet, there are three notes to consider:

  1. The legislative process is very fluid and moves quickly. The House and Senate Status/Actions are as they are on the day the report is printed. Please note these are subject to change.
  2. The link to the bill text should take you directly to the N.H. General Court website’s link to the bill. Note that during the heat of committee meetings and debate over amendments, this link will sometimes not take you to the most current amendments.
  3. The Priority/Action looks at the entire bill and weighs many factors. The NHTOA Executive Director analyzes each bill and makes a recommendation to the NHTOA Policy Committee.

If you have any questions about any of the bills on the spreadsheet, please contact me.

Lastly, given the diversity of the NHTOA’s membership (landowners, loggers, truckers, foresters, and wood processors), the diversity of bills we monitor and lobby is large. This also explains why we will be following bills that deal with small-business interests, trucking, and renewable energy along with land use, forest management, and real estate matters.

Again, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about any of the bills listed.

Jasen

House Bill 1204 (line 12 on the spreadsheet) – This is one of three bills seeking to address a lumber grading issue. Specifically, they seek to address a market disparity between spruce/pine/fir (SPFs) grown and milled in New Hampshire and SPF grown in Canada. Due to lumber sampling and testing criteria, SPF lumber typically yields higher strength and density ratings and is exclusively specified for construction projects over SPFs. These bills seek to overcome this bias. House Bill 1204 has a very narrow focus, proposing to modify the state’s building code to put New Hampshire harvested and milled lumber on par with SPF.

NHTOA position: Because these bills support the use of locally-grown timber and their modifications are narrowly focused—as opposed to overhauling the code for all tree species and points of timber origin—the NHTOA is supportive.

Action: Last week the Governor signed this bill into law. It goes into effect October 19, 2026.

House Bill 219 and 1542 (line29 and 39 on the spreadsheet) – Both bills seek to undermine the New Hampshire Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) law. Specifically, House Bill 219 seeks to modify the RPS law by limiting what renewable power qualifies and the amount of power that can qualify (e.g., lowers the amount of eligible biomass thermal energy). House Bill 1542 raids the renewable energy fund diverting the money to state coffers and back to ratepayers. This modest fund was established when the RPS law was adopted to provide grants and assistance for the development of new renewable energy projects. It is instrumental in helping municipal, school, and private businesses build biomass heat and power units (e.g., lumber dry kilns, building heating projects). House Bill 1542 eliminates this fund.

NHTOA position: The NHTOA opposes both bills. This law is working and the renewable energy fund grants and support have helped many municipal, institutional, and businesses move to biomass heat and power, thereby saving money, using a local renewable fuel, and adding value to a low-grade forest product.

Action: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will be voting on both bills Tuesday morning. Stay tuned.

Senate Bill 592 (line 46 on the spreadsheet) – This bill enables regional, conservation, and energy resource planning for habitat strongholds and wildlife corridors. At the hearing in the Senate the NHTOA expressed concerns that the designation of a “stronghold” or “corridor” could be used to impact natural resource management (e.g., timber harvesting). Working with the bill’s sponsor, the NHTOA helped move an amendment to clarify inventoried habitat strongholds and wildlife corridors are only intended for informational purposes and shall not be utilized as a basis for municipal zoning or planning purposes. The full Senate approved the bill with the NHTOA language, and the House Resources, Recreation, and Development Committee also approved the bill with the NHTOA language. The House approved the bill and because it has a fiscal impact it was referred to the House Finance Committee.

NHTOA position: NHTOA supports the amended bill.

Action: On Monday (April 20) the House Finance Committee held a work session on the bill and the NHTOA affirmed its support for the amended language. The Finance Committee will be voting on this bill next Monday (April 27).

House Bill 1095 (line 51 on the spreadsheet) – This bill proposes to increase the weight limit for Off Highway Recreational Vehicles from 2,000 pounds to 3,499 pounds on any state trail in Coös County and the Ammonoosuc recreational trail from Haverhill to Bethlehem and the Warren recreational trail in the town of Warren in Grafton County. At the hearings in the House the bill sponsors attempted to completely remove any weight limit and dismissed the NHTOA’s concerns over damage to trails crossing private property.  In the House, the NHTOA was the only organization/person to oppose this proposal. In the Senate the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests joined the NHTOA in opposing this bill. Despite our combined opposition, last week this bill was poised for passage. The NHTOA lobbied against its passage and on Tuesday (April 14) the Senate Transportation Committee voted to pass this bill but postponed its enactment for two years. The NHTOA advocated for the postponement to enable landowners, the OHRV community, and appropriate state agencies to make the necessary changes to the weight limit enforcement procedures and provide additional funds to landowners to repair trails.  

NHTOA position: For the reasons above, the NHTOA opposed the original House Bill 1095 and agreed to the two-year postponement, recognizing landowners always reserve the right to control motorized access to their lands.

Action: The N.H. Senate will be voting on this bill later this month.