Vermont § 4810 - Authority; cooperation; coordination

§ 4810. Authority; cooperation; coordination

• (a) Agricultural land use practices. In accordance with 10 V.S.A. § 1259(i), the Secretary shall adopt by rule, pursuant to 3 V.S.A. chapter 25, and shall implement and enforce agricultural land use practices in order to satisfy
  the requirements of 33 U.S.C. § 1329 that the State identify and implement best management practices to control nonpoint
  sources of agricultural waste to waters of the State. These agricultural land use
  practices shall be created in two categories, pursuant to subsections (b) and (c)
  of this section. (b) Required Agricultural Practices. Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs) shall be management standards to be followed
  by all persons engaged in farming in this State. These standards shall address activities
  that have a potential for causing agricultural pollutants to enter the groundwater
  and waters of the State, including dairy and other livestock operations plus all forms
  of crop and nursery operations and on-farm or agricultural fairground, registered
  pursuant to 20 V.S.A. § 3902, livestock and poultry slaughter and processing activities. The RAPs shall include,
  as well as promote and encourage, practices for farmers in preventing agricultural
  pollutants from entering the groundwater and waters of the State when engaged in animal
  waste management and disposal, soil amendment applications, plant fertilization, and
  pest and weed control. Persons engaged in farming who are in compliance with these
  practices shall be presumed to not have a discharge of agricultural pollutants to
  waters of the State. RAPs shall be designed to protect water quality and shall be
  practical and cost-effective to implement, as determined by the Secretary. Where the
  Secretary determines, after inspection of a farm, that a person engaged in farming
  is complying with the RAPs but there still exists the potential for agricultural pollutants
  to enter the waters of the State, the Secretary shall require the person to implement
  additional, site-specific on-farm conservation practices designed to prevent agricultural
  pollutants from entering the waters of the State. When requiring implementation of
  a conservation practice under this subsection, the Secretary shall inform the person
  engaged in farming of the resources available to assist the person in implementing
  the conservation practice and complying with the requirements of this chapter. The
  RAPs for groundwater shall include a process under which the Agency shall receive,
  investigate, and respond to a complaint that a farm has contaminated the drinking
  water or groundwater of a property owner. A farmer may petition the Secretary to reduce
  the size of a perennial buffer or change the perennial buffer type based on site-specific
  conditions. (c) Best management practices. Best management practices (BMPs) are site-specific on-farm conservation practices
  implemented in order to address the potential for agricultural pollutants to enter
  the waters of the State. The Secretary may require any person engaged in farming to
  implement a BMP. When requiring implementation of a BMP, the Secretary shall inform
  a farmer of financial resources available from State or federal sources, private foundations,
  public charities, or other sources, including funding from the Clean Water Fund established
  under 10 V.S.A. § 1388, to assist the person in implementing BMPs and complying with the requirements of
  this chapter. BMPs shall be practical and cost effective to implement, as determined
  by the Secretary, and shall be designed to achieve compliance with the requirements
  of this chapter. The Secretary may require soil monitoring or innovative manure management
  as a BMP under this subsection. Soil monitoring or innovative manure management implemented
  as a BMP shall be eligible for State assistance under the Clean Water Fund established
  under 10 V.S.A. chapter 47, subchapter 7. If a perennial buffer of trees or other woody vegetation is required
  as a BMP, the Secretary shall pay the farmer for a first priority easement on the
  land on which the buffer is located. (d) Cooperation and coordination. The Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall coordinate with the Secretary
  of Natural Resources in implementing and enforcing programs, plans, and practices
  developed for reducing and eliminating agricultural nonpoint source pollutants and
  discharges from farms. The Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall cooperate
  with the Secretary of Natural Resources in the implementation of the federal Clean
  Water Act for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). The Secretary of Agriculture,
  Food and Markets shall implement the State’s comprehensive, complementary nonpoint
  source program. The Secretary of Agriculture, Food, and Markets and the Secretary
  of Natural Resources shall coordinate regarding program administration; grant negotiation;
  grant sharing; implementation of the antidegradation policy including to new sources
  of agricultural nonpoint source pollutants, and watershed planning activities to comply
  with Pub. L. No. 92-500. In accordance with 10 V.S.A. § 1259(i), the Secretary of Natural Resources, in consultation with the U.S. Environmental
  Protection Agency and the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets, shall issue
  a document that sets forth the respective roles and responsibilities of the Agency
  of Natural Resources in implementing the federal Clean Water Act on farms and the
  Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets’ roles and responsibilities in implementing
  the State’s complementary nonpoint source program on farms. The document shall be
  consistent with and equivalent with the federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
  System permit regulations for discharges from CAFOs. The document will replace the
  memorandum of understanding between the agencies. The allocation of duties under this
  chapter between the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets and the Secretary of
  Natural Resources shall be consistent with the Secretary’s duties, established under
  the provisions of 10 V.S.A. § 1258(b), to comply with Pub. L. No. 92-500. The Secretary of Natural Resources shall be the State lead person in applying for
  federal funds under Pub. L. No. 92-500 but shall consult with the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets during the
  process. The agricultural nonpoint source program may compete with other programs
  for competitive watershed projects funded from federal funds. The Secretary of Agriculture,
  Food and Markets shall be represented in reviewing these projects for funding. Actions
  by the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets under this chapter concerning agricultural
  nonpoint source pollution shall be consistent with the water quality standards and
  water pollution control requirements of 10 V.S.A. chapter 47 and the federal Clean Water Act as amended. In addition, the Secretary of Agriculture,
  Food and Markets shall coordinate with the Secretary of Natural Resources in implementing
  and enforcing programs, plans, and practices developed for the proper management of
  composting facilities when those facilities are located on a farm. The Secretary of
  Agriculture, Food and Markets and the Secretary of Natural Resources shall each develop
  three separate measures of the performance of the agencies under the federal Clean
  Water Act and State nonpoint source regulatory authority, and annually on or before
  January 15, the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets and the Secretary of Natural
  Resources shall submit separate reports to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, the
  House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry, the Senate Committee
  on Natural Resources and Energy, and the House Committee on Environment regarding
  the success of each agency in meeting its selected performance measures. (Added 1991, No. 261 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; amended 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2003, No. 149 (Adj. Sess.), § 4, eff. June 3, 2004; 2005, No. 78, § 1, eff. June 24, 2005; 2007, No. 38, § 13, eff. May 21, 2007; 2009, No. 141 (Adj. Sess.), § 3b, eff. June 1, 2010; 2015, No. 64, § 12; 2017, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 35; 2025, No. 67, § 1, eff. July 1, 2025.)