§ 1263. Discharge permits

(a) Any person who intends to discharge waste into the waters of the State or who intends to discharge into an injection well or who intends to discharge into any publicly owned treatment works any waste that interferes with, passes through without treatment, or is otherwise incompatible with that works or would have a substantial adverse effect on that works or on water quality shall make application to the Secretary for a discharge permit. Application shall be made on a form prescribed by the Secretary. An applicant shall pay an application fee in accordance with 3 V.S.A. § 2822.

(b) When an application is filed under this section, the Secretary shall proceed in accordance with chapter 170 of this title. The Secretary may require any applicant to submit any additional information that the Secretary considers necessary and may refuse to grant a permit, or permission to discharge under the terms of a general permit, until the information is furnished and evaluated.

(c) If the Secretary determines that the proposed discharge will not reduce the quality of the receiving waters below the classification established for them and will not violate any applicable provisions of State or federal laws or regulations, he or she shall issue a permit containing terms and conditions as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter and of applicable federal law. Those terms and conditions may include providing for specific effluent limitations and levels of treatment technology; monitoring, recording, reporting standards; entry and inspection authority for State and federal officials; reporting of new pollutants and substantial changes in volume or character of discharges to waste treatment systems or waters of the State; pretreatment standards before discharge to waste treatment facilities or waters of the State; and toxic effluent standards or prohibitions.

(d) A discharge permit shall:

(1) Specify the manner, nature, volume, and frequency of the discharge permitted and contain terms and conditions consistent with subsection (c) of this section.

(2) Require proper operation and maintenance of any pollution abatement facility necessary in the treatment or processing of the waste by qualified personnel in accordance with standards established by the Secretary and the Director of the Office of Professional Regulation. The Secretary may require that a pollution abatement facility be operated by persons licensed under 26 V.S.A. chapter 99 and may prescribe the class of license required. The Secretary may require a laboratory quality assurance sample program to ensure qualifications of laboratory analysts.

(3) Contain an operation, management, and emergency response plan when required under section 1278 of this title and additional conditions, requirements, and restrictions as the Secretary deems necessary to preserve and protect the quality of the receiving waters, including requirements concerning recording, reporting, monitoring, and inspection of the operation and maintenance of waste treatment facilities and waste collection systems.

(4) Be valid for the period of time specified therein, not to exceed five years.

(e) A discharge permit may be renewed from time to time upon application to the Secretary. A renewal permit filing requirement for reissuance shall be determined by the Secretary and may range from a simple written request for reissuance to the submission of all information required by the initial application. A renewal permit shall be issued following all determinations and procedures required for initial permit application.

(f) Existing indirect discharges to the waters of the State from on-site disposal of sewage shall comply with and be subject to the provisions of this chapter, and shall obtain the required permit, no later than July 1, 1991. Notwithstanding the requirements of subsections 1259(d) and (e) of this title, the Secretary shall grant a permit for an existing indirect discharge to the waters of the State for on-site disposal of sewage unless he or she finds that the discharge violates the water quality standards. Existing indirect discharges from on-site sewage disposal systems of less than 6,500 gpd capacity shall not require a permit.

(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person who owns or operates a concentrated animal feeding operation that requires a permit under the federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit regulations shall submit an application to the Secretary for a discharge permit and pay the required fees specified in 3 V.S.A. § 2822. On or before July 1, 2007, the Secretary of Natural Resources shall adopt rules implementing the federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit regulations for discharges from concentrated animal feeding operations. Until such regulations are adopted, the substantive permitting standards and criteria used by the Secretary to evaluate applications and issue or deny discharge permits for concentrated animal feeding operations shall be those specified by federal regulations. The Secretary may issue an individual or general permit for these types of discharges in accordance with the procedural requirements of subsection (b) of this section and other State law. For the purposes of this subsection, "concentrated animal feeding operation" means a farm that meets the definition contained in the federal regulations. (Added 1969, No. 252 (Adj. Sess.), § 11, eff. April 4, 1970; amended 1973, No. 103, § 6, eff. April 24, 1973; 1981, No. 222 (Adj. Sess.), § 25; 1985, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. May 17, 1986; 1987, No. 76, § 4; 1987, No. 173 (Adj. Sess.), eff. May 6, 1988; 1987, No. 282 (Adj. Sess.), § 13; 1989, No. 116, § 2; 1993, No. 48, §§ 5, 6, eff. June 1, 1993; 2003, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.), § 27, eff. Jan. 31, 2005; 2005, No. 78, § 13, eff. June 24, 2005; 2005, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 5b, eff. July 1, 2007; 2015, No. 150 (Adj. Sess.), § 16, eff. Jan. 1, 2018; 2015, No. 156 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. Jan. 1, 2017; 2017, No. 144 (Adj. Sess.), § 11.)