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This rule is intended to serve a number of purposes.
First, and most important, the rule's primary purpose is to regulate water systems in the state so
that they provide clean and safe drinking water to Vermont's citizens. This is true for the
smallest, single house source to the state's largest system. The rule also establishes well
construction standards (contained in Part 12 of Appendix A) which apply to every constructed
well in Vermont regardless of the type of facility it serves.
Second, by implementing this rule, Vermont qualifies to retain "primacy" for the Safe Drinking
Water Act from the federal US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Primacy means that
the state will administer the federal regulations that apply to all public water systems in the
country, instead of EPA. Without state regulations that are at least as strict as the federal ones,
Vermont may not administer the federal regulations.
We think having primacy represents an advantage to Vermont's water systems. The federal
regulations contain some optional provisions that permit exceptions to the regulations when
mitigating factors make it difficult or impossible to follow the regulation. Also, there are
situations where interpretations of the federal regulations can be made by states with primacy
that provide some benefit to the public water systems. EPA has stated that, in the event that they
have to administer their own rules in a state without primacy, they will not have the resources to
provide most of these permitted exceptions to the regulations.
Third, this document contains all of the state's major regulations concerning water systems in a
single document, which, in spite of its size, makes it easier for both the regulators and the
regulated community to carry out their respective roles. The Agency will bind the various parts
of the rule (discussed below) into smaller packages that make sense for the intended recipient.

Consistent with the requirements of 10 V.S.A. Chapter 48 it is the purpose of this
rule to protect and manage groundwater resources. This rule provides the
regulatory framework for the withdrawal of more than 57,600 gallons per day of
groundwater for commercial and industrial uses. Additionally, this rule requires
any person who withdraws more than 20,000 gallons per day of groundwater for
certain uses to report that withdrawal to the secretary.

The State of Vermont has established Water Quality Standards as a means of guiding the management of water quality to ensure the use and enjoyment of Vermont's lakes and streams. Typical uses may include fishing, swimming, boating, hydroelectric power generation and waste disposal. When a use such as waste disposal threatens to degrade water quality to the extent that other uses are impaired, a limit must be placed upon the quantity of waste that may be discharged. This limit, referred to as the assimilative capacity, is defined as the maximum quantity of waste the water body can accept, without water quality being degraded below established standards.

The intent of this procedure is to assure a consistent process is used in determining acceptable minimum stream flows when there are existing or potential competing uses of the water. This does not necessarily mean that a uniform minimum stream flow number will be reached in every case. What it does mean is that the minimum stream flow numbers will be derived using a consistent procedure.

These rules are adopted pursuant to the authority of Title 10 V.S.A. Chapter 41,
Subchapter 3. Water Withdrawal for Snowmaking. These rules shall not supersede the water
quality standards adopted by the water resources board pursuant to Title 10 V.S.A. Chapter 47.

It is the purpose of this procedure to establish which types of non-compliance will normally be given priority in Agency response efforts with respect to discharge permits issues pursuant to 10 V.S.A. §1263; except that this procedure does not apply to indirect discharge permits issued pursuant to the Indirect Discharge Rules, Chapter 14: Environmental Protection Rules.

The 1991 amendment to the Vermont Water Pollution Control Regulations establish the overarching framework for the issuance of General Permits for the discharge of wastes with in a common geographic area, including state-wide, that share the same or substantially similar qualities such that the discharges can be regulated by the same or similar permit conditions. General Permits are typically employed to authorize the discharge of wastes from petroleum contamination remediation projects.

The 1974 Vermont Water Pollution Control Regulations establish the overarching framework under which Vermont exercises its federally delegated authority to issue National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for the discharge of treated wastewater to surface waters and for the discharge of treated industrial wastes to municipal sewage collection systems for conveyance to a wastewater treatment facility.

This rule has been replaced