groundwater

(a) These Rules apply to discharges to injection wells. (b) These Rules are not intended to affect other existing regulations including, but not limited to, the Vermont Groundwater Protection Rule and Strategy and rules adopted by the Vermont Department of Health. (c) These Rules do not limit the powers of federal, state or local authorities to control existing or potential threats to human health or the environment.

10 V.S.A. 1390-1394 does not create any new permit programs for groundwater protection. The statute directs the Secretary to protect groundwater through existing regulatory programs and by the adoption of a strategy to assist in coordinating groundwater management statewide. This rule provides restrictions, prohibitions, standards, and criteria for groundwater protection that will be adopted, as appropriate, in Agency permit and regulatory programs that control activities which may affect groundwater. The Secretary shall amend all appropriate rules to conform to 10 V.S.A. 1390-1394 and this rule. These restrictions, prohibitions, standards, and criteria may be adopted by other state agencies or local governments with authority to manage activities that may affect groundwater.

(a) These rules establish standards and procedures that the Secretary uses in reviewing permit applications for indirect discharges and in the issuance and administration of indirect discharge permits under the authority referenced in §14-101 above. These rules further implement the policies established in the Water Pollution Control Act (10 V.S.A. Chapter 47) and in the Groundwater Protection Act (10 V.S.A., Chapter 48). It is the purpose of these rules to insure that: (1) Indirect discharges comply with the provisions of the Vermont Water Quality Standards. Indirect Discharge Rules Page 2 (2) Indirect discharges and associated treatment and disposal systems are designed and constructed in a manner that will provide reliable protection of the public health, groundwater, and surface water during operation and maintenance. (3) New indirect discharges of sewage from systems with a design capacity of 6,500 gpd or more: (A) will not significantly alter the aquatic biota in the receiving waters, (B) will not pose more than a negligible risk to the public health, and (C) will be consistent with existing and potential beneficial uses of the waters.

The purpose of this rule is to protect public health and the environment by providing for the licensing of water and monitoring well drillers, the recording and reporting of each well drilled, and the closure of abandoned wells. The Water Well Advisory Committee is established as a forum for the well driller industry and other interested parties to advise and assist agency staff on well drilling and groundwater issues.