Anti-degradation Rule

The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation requests participation by interested stakeholders in its development of a rule that will specify how Vermont implements its anti-degradation policy in Federal and State discharge permits and certifications. Federal regulations at 40 CFR 131.12 specify that states must develop and adopt an antidegradation policy and then identify the methods for implementing the policy.

Vermont’s anti-degradation policy is set forth in the Section 1-03 of the Vermont Water Quality Standards. The policy is available from the Natural Resources Board's Water Resources Panel (link to VT Water Quality Standards). In sum, the policy establishes three levels or tiers of protection:

Tier 1	Protection and maintenance of existing uses and water quality supporting those uses
Tier 2	Where the quality of water is better than the applicable water quality standards, those water bodies should be maintained at that existing high quality unless it is necessary to accommodate important social or economic considerations. If such a decision is made, existing uses must still be fully protected
Tier 3	This is the highest level of protection from pollution to waters specifically identified as very high quality. These water bodies are designated as Outstanding Resource Waters (ORWs)

Since the initial adoption of the anti-degradation policy in the Vermont Water Quality Standards there have been many changes to the state and federal structure for water protection and to the understanding of water quality. The Department intends, with the assistance of this stakeholder effort, to thoroughly investigate the issues and to develop a rule for implementing Vermont’s anti-degradation policy. As part of this effort, the Department will consider state consistency with federal anti-degradation policies as identified by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The new anti-degradation rule will potentially affect the owners and operators of all discharges/activities that impact Vermont waters and the citizens of Vermont who will be affected by those discharges/activities. The rule will apply to the review of applications for coverage under the Department’s permitting programs, including but not limited to permits for wastewater treatment discharges and stormwater discharges.

The stakeholder process will help serve to inform and advise the Department’s development of this new rule, with a particular focus on major topical areas. Interested persons or groups are invited to attend the following stakeholder meetings and may submit comments or information at any time during this process to the contact listed below. The Department will hold five stakeholder meetings centered on critical anti-degradation issues. The first stakeholder meeting will be held on January 26, 2010. At the conclusion of the final meeting on April 21, 2010, the Department will consider all comments received, and then commence the formal rulemaking process. The Department will issue a response to comments received throughout this process at the time that formal rulemaking is commenced.

The five stakeholder meetings will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the following locations, and will generally focus around the topics as listed below:

Date	Place	Discussion Topics
January 26, 2010	St. Leo’s Hall, 109 South Main Street, Waterbury, Vermont	Introduction to anti-degradation topics and issues Applicability of Anti-Deg to discharges/activities
February 16, 2010	Skylight Conference Room, Agency of Natural Resources, 103 South Main Street, Waterbury, Vermont	Identification and Protection of High Quality Waters and Existing Uses
March 9, 2010	Skylight Conference Room	Application of Anti-deg to Federal and State Permitting Programs
March 30, 2010	Skylight Conference Room	Cumulative Impacts Alternatives Analysis Socio-economic Justification Analysis Public Participation
April 21, 2010	Skylight Conference Room	Review and Discussion of Draft Rule

The implementation of anti-degradation requirements involves a critical balancing between the protection of Vermont’s waters and economic and social considerations. The implementation rule will have long lasting impacts on how Vermont’s high quality waters are protected and managed, as well as on the ability of the Department to ensure efficient, predictable and consistent permitting actions. The Department will seek to develop a practical and sustainable anti-degradation implementation rule that will protect Vermont’s waters.

It is easiest to understand anti-degradation in the context of addressing traditional point source discharges, such as from wastewater treatment facilities. However, other discharges that were traditionally considered “non point” sources, such as stormwater discharges, are now regulated under NPDES permits and are therefore potentially subject to anti-degradation review. The stakeholder process will need to address how anti-degradation review will be applied to stormwater discharges, which are significantly different from other point sources discharges, and also how anti-degradation can be implemented through general permits. Stakeholders will also be asked to consider how anti-degradation review should apply to other permitting programs.

Prior to each meeting the Department will distribute by email and post an Issue Paper relating to each listed topic here. Each issue paper will provide background on the issue and include questions to stimulate discussions at the upcoming meeting.

If have any questions regarding this process or wish to submit relevant comments or information, please contact Christy Witters at Christy.witters@state.vt.us or 802-241-4582.