Advanced Search

§1973. Permits


Published: 2015

Subscribe to a Global-Regulation Premium Membership Today!

Key Benefits:

Subscribe Now for only USD$40 per month.
Print

The Vermont Statutes Online



Title

10

:
Conservation and Development






Chapter

064

:
POTABLE WATER SUPPLY AND WASTEWATER SYSTEM PERMIT











 

§

1973. Permits

(a) Except as

provided in this section and sections 1974 and 1978 of this title, a person

shall obtain a permit from the Secretary before:

(1) subdividing

land;

(2) creating or

modifying a campground in a manner that affects a potable water supply or

wastewater system or the requirements for providing potable water and

wastewater disposal;

(3)

constructing, replacing, or modifying a potable water supply or wastewater

system;

(4) using or

operating a failed supply or failed system;

(5) constructing

a new building or structure;

(6) modifying an

existing building or structure in a manner that increases the design flow or

modifies other operational requirements of a potable water supply or wastewater

system;

(7) making a new

or modified connection to a new or existing potable water supply or wastewater

system; or

(8) changing the

use of a building or structure in a manner that increases the design flows or

modifies other operational requirements of a potable water supply or wastewater

system.

(b) Application

for a permit shall be made on a form prescribed by the Secretary. The

application shall be supported by such documents and information that the

Secretary, by rule, deems necessary for proper application review and the

issuance of a permit.

(c) When a

person replaces a potable water supply or wastewater system that has been

permitted, or was exempt from permitting requirements, the Secretary shall

grant a variance from the technical standards if the supply or system cannot be

replaced so that it is in full compliance with the rules adopted under section

1978 of this title, provided that the variance requested is the minimum

necessary considering the cost of the replacement supply or system in addition

to the potential impacts on human health and the environment. No variance shall

be granted under this subsection if the supply or system would continue to meet

the definition of a failed supply or failed system, or if the replacement

supply or system allows for increases in design flows.

(d) No permit

shall be issued by the Secretary unless the Secretary receives a statement from

a licensed designer certifying that, in the exercise of his or her reasonable

professional judgment,  the

design-related information submitted with the permit application is true and

correct and the design included in an application for a permit complies with

the rules.

(e) No permit

issued by the Secretary shall be valid for a substantially completed potable

water supply and wastewater system until the Secretary receives a statement

from an installer or a licensed designer certifying that, in the exercise of

his or her reasonable professional judgment, the installation-related

information submitted is true and correct and the potable water supply and

wastewater system:

(1) were

installed in accordance with:

(A) the

permitted design and all permit conditions; or

(B) record

drawings and such record drawings are in compliance with the applicable rules,

were filed with the Secretary, and are in accordance with all other permit conditions;

(2) were

inspected;

(3) were

properly tested; and

(4) have

successfully met those performance tests.

(f)(1) The

Secretary shall give deference to a certification by a licensed designer with

respect to the engineering design or judgment exercised by the designer in

order to minimize agency review of certified designs. Nothing in this section

shall limit the responsibility of the licensed designer to comply with all

standards and rules, or the authority of the Secretary to review and comment on

design aspects of an application or to enforce agency rules with respect to the

design or the design certification.

(2) The

Secretary shall issue a permit for a new or modified connection to a water main

and a sewer main or indirect discharge system from a building or structure in a

designated downtown development district upon submission of an application

under subsection (b) of this section that consists solely of the certification

of a licensed designer, in accordance with subsection (d) of this section, and

a letter from the owner of the water main and sewer main or indirect discharge

system allocating the capacity needed to accommodate the new or modified

connection. However, this subdivision (2) shall not apply if the Secretary

finds one of the following:

(A) The

Secretary has prohibited the system that submitted the allocation letter from

issuing new allocation letters due to a lack of capacity.

(B) As a result

of an audit of the application performed on a random basis or in response to a

complaint, the system is not designed in accordance with the rules adopted

under this chapter.

(g) If there is

a dispute between the Secretary and a professional engineer concerning the

design prepared by a professional engineer or the judgment exercised by a

professional engineer, the professional engineer may request that the disputed

issues be reviewed by a licensed professional engineer employed or retained by

the Secretary. The Secretary shall grant all such requests for review.

(h) All permits

required under this section, all design and installation certifications

required under this section, and all documents required by the rules adopted

under this chapter to be filed in the town records shall be properly indexed

and recorded in the land records pursuant to 24 V.S.A. §§ 1154 and 1161.

(i)

Notwithstanding section 1-407 of the State Wastewater System and Potable Water

Supply Rules, effective August 16, 2002, a lot that contained two single family

residences, as of January 1, 1999, but did not have the State permit required

at that time is eligible for a permit for the subdivision of improved lots

under subdivision 1-407(a)(2) of those rules, provided that the subdivision of

the lot would only create a boundary between the two single family residences

and thereby place each residence on its own lot.

(j)(1) When an

applicant for a permit under this section proposes a water supply or wastewater

system with isolation distances that extend onto property other than the

property for which the permit is sought, the permit applicant shall send by

certified mail, on a form provided by the Secretary, a notice of an intent to

file a permit application, including the site plan that accurately depicts all

isolation distances, to any landowner affected by the proposed isolation distances

at least seven calendar days prior to the date that the permit application is

submitted to the Secretary.

(2) If, during

the course of the Secretary's review of an application for a permit under this

section, the location of a water supply or wastewater system permit is revised

and the isolation distances of the revised system extend onto property other

than the property for which the permit is sought, the permit applicant shall

send by certified mail a copy of any revised plan to any landowner affected by

the isolation distances.

(3) If, after a

permit has been issued under this section, a water supply or wastewater system

is not installed according to the permitted plan and the record drawings

submitted under subsection (e) of this section indicate that the isolation

distances of the system as constructed extend onto property other than the

property on which the system is located, the permittee shall send by certified

mail a notification form provided by the Secretary with a copy of the record

drawings showing all isolation distances to any landowner affected by the

isolation distances.

(4) A permit

applicant or permittee subject to the requirements of subdivisions (1) through

(3) of this subsection shall certify to the Secretary that the notices and

information required by this subsection have been sent to affected landowners

and shall include in the certification the name and address of all affected

landowners. If the Secretary approves a permit application under this section,

the permit shall not be issued to a permit applicant subject to the

requirements of subdivision (2) of this subsection until seven calendar days

after the permit applicant certifies to the Secretary that the notice required

under this subsection has been sent to affected landowners. (Added 2001, No.

133 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. June 13, 2002; amended 2003, No. 13, § 2, eff. May

6, 2003; 2003, No. 121 (Adj. Sess.), § 71, eff. June 8, 2004; 2007, No. 32, §

3, eff. May 18, 2007; 2009, No. 145 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. June 1, 2010; 2011,

No. 117 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, eff. Sept. 1, 2012; 2013, No. 147 (Adj. Sess.), §

12, eff. June 1, 2014.)