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The Vermont Statutes Online
Title
10
:
Conservation and Development
Chapter
041
:
REGULATION OF STREAM FLOW
Subchapter
002
:
ALTERATION OF STREAMS
§
1021. Alteration prohibited; exceptions
(a) A person
shall not change, alter, or modify the course, current, or cross section of any
watercourse or of designated outstanding resource waters, within or along the
boundaries of this State either by movement, fill, or excavation of ten cubic
yards or more of instream material in any year, unless authorized by the
Secretary. A person shall not establish or construct a berm in a flood hazard
area or river corridor, as those terms are defined in subdivisions 752(3) and
(11) of this title, unless permitted by the Secretary or constructed as an
emergency protective measure under subsection (b) of this section.
(b) The
requirements of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to emergency
protective measures necessary to preserve life or to prevent severe imminent
damage to public or private property, or both. The protective measures shall:
(1) be limited
to the minimum amount necessary to remove imminent threats to life or property;
(2) have prior
approval from a member of the municipal legislative body;
(3) be reported
to the Secretary by the legislative body within 24 hours after the onset of the
emergency; and
(4) be
implemented in a manner consistent with the general permit adopted under
section 1027 of this title regarding stream alteration during emergencies.
(c) No person
shall remove gravel from any watercourse primarily for construction or for
sale.
(d)
Notwithstanding subsection (c) of this section, a riparian owner may remove up
to 50 cubic yards of gravel per year from that portion of a watercourse running
through or bordering on the owner's property, provided:
(1) the material
shall be removed only for the owner's use on the owner's property;
(2) the material
removed shall be above the waterline;
(3) at least 72
hours prior to the removal of 10 cubic yards, or more, the landowner shall
notify the Secretary;
(4) however, if
the portion of the watercourse in question has been designated as outstanding
resource waters, then the riparian owner may so remove no more than 10 cubic
yards of gravel per year, and must notify the Secretary at least 72 hours prior
to the removal of any gravel.
(e) This
subchapter does not apply to dams subject to chapter 43 of this title nor to
highways or bridges subject to 19 V.S.A. § 10(12).
(f) This
subchapter shall not apply to:
(1) accepted
silvicultural practices, as defined by the Commissioner of Forests, Parks and
Recreation, including practices which are in compliance with the Acceptable
Management Practices for Maintaining Water Quality on Logging Jobs in Vermont,
as adopted by the Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation; or
(2) a farm that
is implementing an approved U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource
Conservation Service streambank stabilization project or a streambank
stabilization project approved by the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and
Markets that is consistent with policies adopted by the Secretary of Natural
Resources to reduce fluvial erosion hazards.
(g) Nothing in
this chapter shall prohibit, in the normal use of land, the fording of or
access to a watercourse by a person with the right or privilege to use the
land.
(h)(1)
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, recreational mineral
prospectors:
(A) shall not
operate suction dredges in any watercourse;
(B) may operate
sluice boxes in any watercourse, provided:
(i) a request
for approval to conduct mineral prospecting shall be filed with and approved by
the Secretary; and
(ii) mineral
prospecting shall not be conducted on private land without landowner
permission, or on State land without permission from the Secretary.
(2) Hand panning
prospecting techniques shall be exempt from this subchapter. (Added 1965, No.
111, § 1, eff. June 22, 1965; amended 1969, No. 281 (Adj. Sess.), § 6; 1975,
No. 150 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1981, No. 222 (Adj. Sess.), § 24; 1983, No. 193
(Adj. Sess.), § 4, eff. April 27, 1984; 1987, No. 67, § 4; 1997, No. 106 (Adj.
Sess.), § 2, eff. April 27, 1998; 1999, No. 156 (Adj. Sess.), § 32, eff. May
29, 2000; 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2009, No. 110 (Adj. Sess.), §
14, eff. March 31, 2011; 2011, No. 138 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. March 1, 2013;
2015, No. 64, § 22.)