Vermont H 146: An act relating to increasing the number of examiners on the Board of Bar Examiners from nine to 11 members

Bill Text

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H.146 1
Introduced by Representative Sheldon of Middlebury 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Conservation and development; agriculture; water quality; permitting; 5
enforcement 6
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to transfer from 7
the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets to the Secretary of Natural 8
Resources all authority to administer and enforce water quality requirements 9
on farms in Vermont. 10
An act relating to administration and enforcement of agricultural water 11
quality requirements in the State 12
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 13
* * * Agency of Natural Resources; Agricultural Water Quality Program * * * 14
Sec. 1. 10 V.S.A. chapter 47, subchapter 3A is added to read: 15
Subchapter 3A. Agricultural Water Quality 16
§ 1351. PURPOSE 17
It is the purpose of this subchapter to ensure that agricultural wastes, 18
including manure, fertilizer, nutrients, pathogens, sediments, and pesticides, 19
do not enter the groundwater or waters of the State and that the regulation of 20

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agricultural water quality meets the requirements of the federal Clean 1
Water Act. 2
§ 1352. DEFINITIONS 3
As used in this subchapter: 4
(1) “Agency” means the Agency of Natural Resources. 5
(2) “Agricultural waste” means material originating or emanating from a 6
farm that is determined by the Secretary to be harmful to the groundwater or 7
waters of the State, including sediments; minerals, including heavy metals; 8
plant nutrients; pesticides; organic wastes, including livestock waste, animal 9
mortalities, compost, feed and crop debris; waste oils; pathogenic bacteria and 10
viruses; thermal pollution; silage runoff; untreated milkhouse waste; process 11
wastewater; and any other farm waste as the term “waste” is defined in 12
subdivision 1251(12) of this title. 13
(3) “Animal feeding operation” or “AFO” means a lot or facility where 14
livestock or domestic fowl have been, are, or will be stabled or confined and 15
fed or maintained for a total of 45 days or more in any 12-month period and 16
crops, vegetation, or forage growth are not sustained in the normal growing 17
season over any portion of the lot or facility. Two or more individual farms 18
qualifying as an AFO that are under common ownership and that adjoin each 19
other or use a common area or system for the disposal of waste shall be 20
considered to be a single AFO if the combined number of livestock or 21

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domestic fowl on the combined farm qualifies the combined farm as a large 1
CAFO as defined in subdivision (11) of this section or as a medium CAFO as 2
defined in subdivision (14) of this section. 3
(4) “Concentrated animal feeding operation” or “CAFO” means a large 4
CAFO, a medium CAFO, or a small CAFO. 5
(5) “CAFO permit” means a permit issued by the Secretary to a CAFO 6
under section 1356 of this subchapter. 7
(6) “Discharge” means the placing, depositing, or emission of any 8
wastes, directly or indirectly, into an injection well, into the waters of the State, 9
or into a significant wetland, including from a land application area under the 10
control of a CAFO or AFO, unless it is an agricultural stormwater discharge. 11
A discharge shall not be considered an agricultural stormwater discharge 12
unless it meets all of the following requirements: 13
(A) Precipitation is the primary cause of the discharge. A discharge 14
is not an agricultural stormwater discharge if its primary cause is farm 15
management, even if precipitation contributes to the discharge. 16
(B) The waste discharged is manure, litter, or process wastewater. 17
(C) The CAFO or AFO land applied the discharged manure, litter, or 18
process wastewater in accordance with a nutrient management plan that meets 19
the requirements of section 1364 of this subchapter. 20

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(7) “Domestic fowl” means laying-hens, broilers, ducks, turkeys, or 1
other animal types designated by the Secretary by rule. 2
(8) “Farm” means a parcel or parcels of land owned, leased, or managed 3
by a person that is devoted primarily to farming and that meets the threshold 4
criteria established under the Required Agricultural Practices, provided that a 5
lessee controls the leased lands to the extent they would be considered as part 6
of the lessee’s own farm. Indicators of control may include whether the lessee 7
makes day-to-day decisions concerning cultivation or other farming-related 8
actions on the land. 9
(9) “Farming” has the same meaning as used in subdivision 6001(22) of 10
this title. 11
(10) “Land Application Area” means the area under the control of an 12
AFO or CAFO owner or operator, whether it is owned, rented, or leased, to 13
which agricultural waste may be applied.