The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded the State of Vermont and the Lake Champlain Basin Program $4 million to implement the 2016 Lake Champlain Phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL), which sets phosphorus pollution targets for Vermont segments of Lake Champlain.
Approximately $3.5 million is being administered by the Agency of Natural Resources and the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets for implementation projects that will reduce phosphorus and sediment pollution from developed lands, agricultural lands, and wastewater treatment facilities, and restore wetlands in the Lake Champlain Basin of Vermont. The Department of Environmental Conservation is requesting proposals for the following:
- Development and Implementation of a Best Management Practice Challenge Program for Agricultural Producers
- Developing Public-Private Partnerships (P3) to Meet the Stormwater General Permit for Parcels with ≥ 3 Impervious Acres
- Technical Assistance, Education and Outreach to Optimize Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facilities
- Using Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) to Mitigate Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs)
- Wetland Easements and Restoration
Details of the Requests for Proposals are provided below. For more information, visit the Lake Champlain TMDL Implementation Grants webpage or contact Bethany Sargent.
Development and Implementation of a Best Management Practice (BMP) Challenge Program for Agricultural Producers
The Department of Environmental Conservation, in close partnership with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, is requesting proposals to develop and implement a BMP challenge program for agricultural producers in the Lake Champlain Basin in Vermont. The goal of the program is to increase the acceptance and implementation of strategies that will reduce soil test phosphorus levels and nutrient impacts to surface waters.
- Request for Proposals
- Release Date: October 3, 2018
- Proposals Due: November 19, 2018
Developing Public-Private Partnerships (P3) to Meet the Stormwater General Permit for Parcels with > 3 Impervious Acres
The Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking proposals for stormwater assessments to assist municipalities and private landowners in achieving water quality redevelopment criteria for three or more impervious acre parcels, as well as to maximize treatment of offsite stormwater run-on and/or diversion of offsite runoff on three or more impervious acre parcel(s).
- Request for Proposals
- Release Date: October 5, 2018
- Proposals Due: October 26, 2018
Technical Assistance, Education and Outreach to Optimize Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facilities
The Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking proposals to develop and implement detailed optimization plans for wastewater treatment facilities to reduce phosphorus loading to receiving waters in the Lake Champlain Basin in Vermont.
- Request for Proposals
- Release Date: October 8, 2018
- Proposals Due: October 26, 2018
Using Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) to Mitigate Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs)
The Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking proposals to construct GSI practices to infiltrate and or treat stormwater runoff from developed lands draining to combined sewer system areas to mitigate CSOs.
- Request for Proposals
- Release Date: October 16, 2018
- Proposals Due: November 13, 2018
Wetland Easements and Restoration
The Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking proposals to implement priority wetland restoration and enhancement efforts through easement acquisition and restoration, or restoration of existing conserved lands, to attenuate nonpoint source phosphorus in the Lake Champlain Basin in Vermont.
- Anticipated Release Date: October 19, 2018
- Proposals Due: December 14, 2018