wastewater

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.

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.

Sections 1263 and 1265 of Title 10 of the Vermont Statutes (10 V.S.A. §§ 1263 and 1265) provide that any permit for the discharge of waste into the waters of the State shall require proper operation and maintenance of the wastewater treatment facility in the treatment or processing of waste by qualified personnel in accordance with standards established by the Secretary. The Secretary has delegated this responsibility to the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation. This Rule is established to provide minimum standards of experience and knowledge required of chief operators, assistant chief operators, and operators of wastewater treatment facilities. A certified operator shall be present at a treatment facility when any operational activity is being undertaken. This Rule is applicable to any state agency regulating activity which requires a certified wastewater treatment facility operator.