§ 1978. Rules

(a) The Secretary shall adopt rules, in accordance with 3 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 25, necessary for the administration of this chapter. These rules shall include the following:

(1) Performance standards for wastewater systems.

(2) Design flow standards for potable water supplies and wastewater systems.

(3) Design requirements, including isolation distances.

(4) Monitoring and reporting requirements.

(5) Soils and hydrogeologic requirements.

(6) Operation and maintenance requirements appropriate to the complexity of the system.

(7) Requirements for engineering plans and specifications for potable water supplies and wastewater systems.

(8) Provisions for the acceptance and approval of alternative or innovative technologies, based on performance evaluations provided by qualified organizations with expertise in wastewater systems, including the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission.

(9) Provisions allowing the use of a variety of alternative or innovative technologies, including intermittent sand filters, recirculating sand filters, waterless toilets, and greywater disposal systems, and constructed wetlands, that provide an adequate degree of protection of human health and the environment. When alternative or innovative technologies are approved for general use, the rules shall not require either a bond or the immediate construction of a duplicate wastewater system for those alternative or innovative technologies.

(10) Provisions allowing for appropriate reductions in leachfield size, depth to the seasonal high water table, or other minimum site conditions when the wastewater system design does not solely rely on naturally occurring soils to provide an adequate degree of treatment, and when those systems, combined with the reductions, provide an adequate degree of protection of human health and the environment.

(11) Provisions allowing for experimental systems.

(12) Provisions regarding the licensing of certain classes of designers.

(13) Provisions regarding the delegation of authority to and removal of authority from a municipality to administer this chapter.

(14) Other requirements necessary to protect human health and the environment.

(15) Provisions authorizing the use by a residential dwelling of surface water as a source of a potable water supply permitted under this chapter.

(b) The Secretary may, by rule, establish permitting exemptions upon a determination that those exemptions are consistent with the purposes of this chapter, and are necessary for the appropriate implementation of this chapter.

(c) The Secretary shall first adopt rules under this section no later than July 30, 2002.

(d) The Secretary shall not adopt rules under this chapter that allow wastewater systems that serve lots created after June 13, 2002 to be constructed on ground with a maximum slope in excess of 20 percent. This limitation shall not apply to replacement wastewater systems.

(e)(1) The Secretary shall periodically review and, if necessary, revise the rules adopted under this chapter to ensure that the technical standards remain current with the known and proven technologies regarding potable water supplies and wastewater systems.

(2) The Secretary shall seek advice from a Technical Advisory Committee in carrying out the mandate of this subdivision. The Governor shall appoint the members of the Committee and ensure that there is at least one representative of the following entities on the Committee: professional engineers, site technicians, well drillers, hydrogeologists, town officials with jurisdiction over potable water supplies and wastewater systems, water quality specialists, technical staff of the Agency of Natural Resources, and technical staff of the Department of Health. Administrative support for the Advisory Committee shall be provided by the Secretary of Natural Resources.

(3) The Technical Advisory Committee shall provide annual reports, starting January 15, 2003, to the Chairs of the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions and the Senate Committee on Institutions. The reports shall include information on the following topics: the implementation of this chapter and the rules adopted under this chapter; the number and type of alternative or innovative systems approved for general use, approved for use as a pilot project, and approved for experimental use; the functional status of alternative or innovative systems approved for use as a pilot project or approved for experimental use; the number of permit applications received during the preceding calendar year; the number of permits issued during the preceding calendar year; and the number of permit applications denied during the preceding calendar year, together with a summary of the basis of denial.

(4) [Repealed.]

(f) The Secretary may adopt emergency rules as necessary to assure that the implementation of this chapter does not have an undue adverse effect upon the marketability of title to real estate. (Added 2001, No. 133 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. June 13, 2002; amended 2001, No. 149 (Adj. Sess.), § 95, eff. June 27, 2002; 2009, No. 33, § 83; 2011, No. 139 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. May 14, 2012; 2015, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)