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The Vermont Statutes Online
Title
10
:
Conservation and Development
Chapter
055
:
AID TO MUNICIPALITIES FOR WATER SUPPLY, POLLUTION ABATEMENT AND SEWER SEPARATION
Subchapter
003
:
CONSTRUCTION GRANTS-IN-AID
§
1626a. Awards for wastewater treatment plants with a capacity of 250,000
gallons or more per day
(a) Definitions.
For the purpose of this section:
(1)
"Septage" means the product of an individual or a group septic tank,
which is removed from the tank for further processing and disposal.
(2)
"Sludge" means the intermediate product of a municipal wastewater
treatment plant which receives further processing by the same plant in a manner
similar to the processing of septage by the plant.
(3) The project
or plant "cost" means the cost of the enlargement or new construction
of a wastewater treatment plant which the commissioner of environmental
conservation finds is eligible for financial assistance under this section.
(b) Loan
eligibility. The proposed enlargement or new construction of a wastewater
treatment plant with a total design hydraulic capacity of 250,000 or more
gallons per day shall be eligible for a loan for 100 percent of the total
project cost, as provided by chapter 120 of Title 24, if the commissioner of
environmental conservation finds that:
(1) the proposed
plant capacity is necessary to accommodate anticipated municipal growth; and
that
(2) the proposed
plant capacity will be sufficient to receive, treat and dispose of septage in a
quantity equivalent to the ratio of 2,000 gallons or more of such septage per
day for each 1,000,000 gallons per day of plant design hydraulic capacity.
However, this condition shall not be required if the commissioner finds that
such septage treatment capacity by the plant is not needed within the region of
the state in which the plant is or will be located.
(c) Additional
state assistance eligibility.
(1) Grants. A proposed wastewater treatment plant which
is eligible for a loan under subsection (b) of this section, and a wastewater
treatment plant with a design hydraulic capacity of 250,000 or more gallons per
day which is being refurbished, shall in addition be eligible for a grant of up
to 50 percent of the cost of that portion of the plant to be used to treat septage,
or septage and sludge in combination, if the commissioner of environmental
conservation finds that the proposed plant capacity will be sufficient to
receive, treat and dispose of septage alone in a quantity equivalent to the
ratio of 4,000 gallons or more of such septage per day for each 1,000,000
gallons per day of plant design hydraulic capacity. The portion of the plant
used for processing septage, or septage and sludge in combination, shall
include facilities for receiving septage and for the storage, treatment,
transfer, and disposal of both septage and sludge.
(2) Loans. A proposed wastewater treatment plant which
is eligible for a grant under this subsection may receive an interest free loan
for the remaining amount of the total project cost, from revolving funds
established by chapter 120 of Title 24.
(d) Conditions
of additional state assistance. The additional state assistance provided by
subsection (c) of this section shall be awarded under the following conditions:
(1) To be
eligible for additional assistance, a proposed plant shall be consistent with
any solid waste implementation plan adopted pursuant to 24 V.S.A. § 2202a, or
chapter 117 of Title 24, which is approved by the secretary of natural
resources and which addresses septage and sludge management. However, the
commissioner of environmental conservation shall not withhold additional
assistance because of an absence of an adopted or approved solid waste
implementation plan.
(2) Plants
eligible for additional assistance shall receive increased funding priority in
accordance with rules adopted by the secretary.
(3) A plant
receiving additional assistance shall, for the useful life of the facility,
maintain its additional processing capacity for use only in receiving and
processing septage. Such septage shall be accepted from any Vermont
municipality, and shall not be restricted to specific municipalities. The rate
or rates charged for acceptance by the plant of septage from sources other than
the users for whom the plant is designed primarily to serve, shall be equal to
the rate or rates charged the primary users, and shall not subsidize the
primary users. The agency shall include these requirements in any permit issued
for the construction and operation of the plant, and the requirements shall be
enforceable in the manner prescribed for that permit.
(4) Project
costs eligible for additional assistance shall include the cost of: land used
for the direct disposal of septage and sludge; facilities to receive, store,
treat, transfer and dispose of septage and sludge; and facilities to compost or
pelletize or otherwise process septage and sludge.
(5) When other
state or federal assistance is awarded to a plant eligible for additional
assistance under this section, such other assistance shall reduce, first, the
loan amount awarded under this section, and secondly, the grant amount awarded
under this section. (Added 1993, No. 233 (Adj. Sess.), § 60, eff. June 21,
1994; amended 2007, No. 52, § 42, eff. May 28, 2007.)