2012 Vermont Statutes
Title 10 Conservation and Development
Chapter 47 WATER POLLUTION CONTROL
§ 1265 Temporary pollution permits

§ 1265. Temporary pollution permits

(a) A person who does not qualify for or has been denied a waste discharge permit under section 1263 of this title may apply to the secretary for a temporary pollution permit. Application shall be made on a form prescribed by the secretary and shall contain information as the secretary may require. The person shall pay to the secretary at the time of submitting the application a fee in accordance with 3 V.S.A. § 2822. The secretary may require the person to submit any additional information he considers necessary for proper evaluation.

(b) The secretary shall give notice of each application to the public and any appropriate officials of another state and the federal government including the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and shall provide an opportunity for written comments or a public hearing or both on the application before ruling on the application. The secretary may require the applicant to submit any additional information which he considers necessary, and may refuse to grant a permit until the information is furnished and evaluated.

(c) After consideration of the application, any additional information furnished and all written comments submitted, and the record of any public hearings the secretary shall grant or deny a temporary pollution permit. No such permit shall be granted by the secretary unless he affirmatively finds:

(1) the proposed discharge does not qualify for a discharge permit;

(2) the applicant is constructing, installing or placing into operation or has submitted plans and reasonable schedules for the construction, installation or operation of an approved pollution abatement facility or alternate waste disposal system, or that the applicant has a waste for which no feasible and acceptable method of treatment or disposal is known or recognized but he is making a bona fide effort through research and other means to discover and implement such a method;

(3) the applicant needs permission to pollute the waters of the state for a period of time necessary to complete research, planning, construction, installation or the operation of an approved and acceptable pollution abatement facility or alternate waste disposal system;

(4) there is no present, reasonable, alternative means of disposing of the waste other than by discharging it into the waters of the state;

(5) the denial of a temporary pollution permit would work an extreme hardship upon the applicant;

(6) the granting of a temporary pollution permit will result in some public benefit;

(7) the discharge will not be unreasonably destructive to the quality of the receiving waters;

(8) the proposed discharge will not violate any applicable provisions of state or federal laws or regulations.

(d) Any temporary pollution permit issued shall:

(1) specify the manner, nature, volume and frequency of the discharge permitted;

(2) require the proper operation and maintenance of any interim or temporary pollution abatement facility or system required by the secretary as a condition of the permit, to include but not to be limited to all terms and conditions authorized under subsection 1263(c) of this title;

(3) require the permit holder to maintain monitoring equipment and make and file such records and reports as the secretary deems necessary to insure compliance with the terms of the permit and evaluate the effect of the discharge upon the receiving waters;

(4) be valid only for the period of time, not exceeding five years, necessary for the permit holder to place into operation the facility, system or method required to obtain a permit under section 1263. However, the terms of the permit may be amended upon application of the permit holder and a finding by the secretary that the amendment meets all of the requirements of subsection (c). If the permit is amended so as to provide for a change in the manner, nature, volume or frequency of the discharge permitted, the secretary shall require as a condition for the amendment the payment of periodic pollution charges in accordance with pollution charge rates established by the board pursuant to subsection (e). Upon application of the permit holder and a finding by the secretary that the amendment meets all of the requirements of subsection (c) and that there is a substantial change in circumstances not under the control of the permit holder, the terms of the permit may be amended foll

owing all determinations and procedures for initial permit application;

(5) require as a condition of the permit the payment of periodic pollution charges in accordance with pollution charge rates established by the board pursuant to subsection (e); and

(6) contain other requirements, restrictions and conditions which the secretary deems necessary and desirable to protect the quality of the receiving waters and promote the public interest.

(e), (f) [Repealed.] (Added 1969, No. 252 (Adj. Sess.), § 12, eff. April 4, 1970; amended 1971, No. 93, § 1, eff. April 22, 1971; 1971, No. 255 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 4, 5, 10, 11, eff. April 11, 1972; 1973, No. 103, § 7, eff. April 24, 1973; 1981, No. 222 (Adj. Sess.), § 25; 1987, No. 76, § 5; 1989, No. 278 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)