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Explore our latest coverage of environmental issues, climate change and more.

EPA Approves State Clean Water Programs

AP/Toby Talbot

After years of pressure by environmentalists, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved a plan that gets Vermont into compliance with the Clean Water Act.

The EPA says one issue remains unresolved. The agency says towns will have to pay to upgrade sewage plants even if state funds are not available.

The federal government began taking a close look at Vermont’s clean water programs in 2008, when the Conservation Law Foundation filed a petition with the EPA. CLF argued the Natural Resources Agency, under then-Governor Jim Douglas, was failing in areas such as enforcement of environmental laws, and in controlling pollution from large farms.

Natural Resources Secretary Deb Markowitz said the Shumlin Administration has already addressed most of the concerns raised by EPA and CLF.

“What did it was us all sitting around the table and hashing out what in some cases were pretty tough issues,” she said. “And we found that our EPA partners were great in that they really were helpful; they brought resources to the table to help us look at how other states were managing these issues.”

Markowitz said the Legislature changed the environmental enforcement law to allow the public to comment on settlement agreements and the state recently instituted a permit program for confined animal feeding operations.

But the EPA said the state still has to address the contentious issue of who pays to upgrade sewage treatment plants. A state law says towns don’t have to upgrade the plants unless there is state funding to pay for it. Christopher Kilian, CLF’s Vermont director, said the state statute conflicts with federal law.

“The concern is that our state law basically makes compliance with the Clean Water Act contingent on state and federal money being provided,” he said. “And EPA made it clear that that is a straightforward and clear violation of the Clean Water Act.”

The Vermont League of Cities and Towns doesn’t see it that way. Steve Jeffrey is the league’s executive director. He said the EPA let the state off the hook and put the burden on the towns.

“A lot of our sewer treatment plants are located in individual communities but they also contract with a number of septic tank operations that haul septage from all over the state,” he said. “So it really is a statewide obligation and it should be the state that’s complying with the order it’s receiving from the EPA.”

Natural Resources Secretary Markowitz said the state can help towns with a revolving loan fund or direct financial assistance, as it did recently with the town of Waterbury.

“At the end of the day, though, it is a municipal obligation. That’s why towns go out for bonds,” she said. “You saw Waterbury successfully bonded for improvements to its facility. But the state stepped in as well and made a significant contribution.”

Markowitz said the legislature will ultimately have to address the issue and rewrite the law.

John worked for VPR in 2001-2021 as reporter and News Director. Previously, John was a staff writer for the Sunday Times Argus and the Sunday Rutland Herald, responsible for breaking stories and in-depth features on local issues. He has also served as Communications Director for the Vermont Health Care Authority and Bureau Chief for UPI in Montpelier.
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