Vermont § 2622 - Rules; harvesting timber; forests; acceptable management practices for maintaining water quality

§ 2622. Rules; harvesting timber; forests; acceptable management practices for maintaining water quality

• (a) Silvicultural practices. The Commissioner shall adopt rules to establish methods by which the harvest and utilization
  of timber in private and public forestland will be consistent with continuous forest
  growth, including reforestation, will prevent wasteful and dangerous forestry practices,
  will regulate heavy cutting, will encourage good forestry management, will enable
  and assist landowners to practice good forestry management, and will conserve the
  natural resources consistent with the purposes and policies of this chapter, giving
  due consideration to the need to ensure continuous supplies of forest products and
  to the rights of the owner or operator of the land. The rules adopted under this subsection
  shall be advisory and not mandatory except that the rules adopted under section 2625 of this title for the regulation of heavy cutting shall be mandatory as shall other rules specifically
  authorized to be mandatory. (b) Acceptable management practices. On or before July 1, 2016, the Commissioner shall revise by rule the Acceptable Management
  Practices for Maintaining Water Quality on Logging Jobs in Vermont. The revised acceptable
  management practices shall ensure that all logging operations, on both public and
  private forestland, are designed to: prevent or minimize discharges of sediment, petroleum
  products, and woody debris (logging slash) from entering streams and other bodies
  of water; improve soil health of forestland; protect aquatic habitat and aquatic wildlife;
  and prevent erosion and maintain natural water temperature. The purpose of the acceptable
  management practices is to provide measures for loggers, foresters, and landowners
  to utilize, before, during, and after logging operations, to comply with the Vermont
  Water Quality Standards and minimize the potential for a discharge from logging operations
  in Vermont in accordance with section 1259 of this title. The rules adopted under this subsection shall be advisory and not mandatory. (Added 1977, No. 253 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1997, No. 15, § 1, eff. May 6, 1997; 2015, No. 64, § 49.)