Water Quality; Required Agricultural Practices and Best Management Practices

V.S.A. tit. 6, ch. 215, subch. 2

in effect

6 V.S.A. § 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. 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; 2025, No. 157 (Adj. Sess.), § 4, eff. July 1, 2026.

6 V.S.A. § 4810a Required Agricultural Practices; revision

4810a. Required Agricultural Practices; revision (a) The Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall maintain the Required Agricultural Practices in order to improve water quality in the State, ensure practices on all farms eliminate adverse impacts to water quality, and implement the small farm certification program required by section 4871 of this title. At a minimum, the Required Agricultural Practices shall: (1) Specify those farms that: (A) are required to comply with the small farm certification requirements under section 4871 of this title due to the potential impact of the farm or type of farm on water quality as a result of livestock managed on the farm, agricultural inputs used by the farm, or tillage practices on the farm; and (B) shall be subject to the Required Agricultural Practices but shall not be required to comply with small farm certification requirements under section 4871 of this title. (2)(A) Except as authorized under subdivision (C) of this subdivision (2), prohibit a farm from stacking or piling manure, storing fertilizer, or storing other nutrients on the farm: (i) in a manner and location that presents a threat of discharge to a water of the State or presents a threat of contamination to groundwater; or (ii) on lands in a floodway or otherwise subject to annual flooding. (B) Except as authorized under subdivision (C) of this subdivision (2), manure stacking or piling sites, fertilizer storage, or other nutrient storage shall not be located within 200 feet of a private well or within 200 feet of a water of the State. (C) The Secretary may authorize one or more of the following: (i) siting of manure stacking or piling sites, fertilizer storage, or other nutrient storage within 200 feet, but not less than 100 feet, of a private well or surface water if the Secretary determines that the site is the best available site on the farm for the purposes of protecting groundwater quality or surface water quality; and (ii) siting of a waste storage facility within 200 feet of a surface water or private well if the site is the best available site on the farm for the purposes of protecting groundwater quality or surface water quality and the waste storage facility is designed by a licensed engineer to meet the requirements of section 4815 of this title. (3) Require the construction and management of barnyards, waste management systems, animal holding areas, and production areas in a manner to prevent runoff of waste to a surface water, to groundwater, or across property boundaries. (4) Establish standards for nutrient management on farms, including: (A) required nutrient management planning on all farms that manage agricultural wastes; and (B) recommended practices for improving and maintaining soil quality and healthy soils in order to increase the capacity of soil to retain water, improve flood resiliency, reduce sedimentation, reduce reliance on fertilizers and pesticides, and prevent agricultural stormwater runoff. (5) Require cropland on the farm to be cultivated in a manner that results in an average soil loss of less than or equal to the soil loss tolerance for the prevalent soil, known as 1T, as calculated through application of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation or through the application of similarly accepted models. (6)(A) Require a farm to comply with standards established by the Secretary for maintaining a vegetative buffer zone of perennial vegetation between annual croplands and the top of the bank of an adjoining water of the State. At a minimum the vegetative buffer standards established by the Secretary shall prohibit the application of manure on the farm within 25 feet of the top of the bank of an adjoining water of the State or within 10 feet of a ditch that is not a surface water under State law and that is not a water of the United States under federal law. The minimum vegetated buffer requirement required under this subdivision (A) shall not apply to a farm that is determined by the Secretary of Natural Resources to be a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation and is required to obtain a CAFO permit as required under 10 V.S.A. § 1353. A farm determined to be a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation that requires a CAFO permit shall instead comply with the setback and buffer requirements established in the federal CAFO regulations. (B) Establish standards for site-specific vegetative buffers that adequately address water quality needs based on consideration of soil type, slope, crop type, proximity to water, and other relevant factors. (7) [Repealed.] (8) Regulate, in a manner consistent with the Agency of Natural Resources’ flood hazard area and river corridor rules, the construction or siting of a farm structure or the storage of manure, fertilizer, or pesticides within a river corridor designated by the Secretary of Natural Resources. (9) Establish standards for the exclusion of livestock from the waters of the State to prevent erosion and adverse water quality impacts. (10) Establish standards for soil conservation practices such as cover cropping. (11) Allow for alternative techniques or practices, approved by the Secretary, for compliance by an owner or operator of a farm when the owner or operator cannot comply with the requirements of the Required Agricultural Practices due to site-specific conditions. Approved alternative techniques or practices shall meet State requirements to reduce adverse impacts to water quality. (b) The Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall maintain the Required Agricultural Practices in order to include requirements for reducing nutrient contribution to waters of the State from subsurface tile drainage. Upon adoption of requirements for subsurface tile drainage, the Secretary may require an existing subsurface tile drain to comply with the requirements of the RAPs for subsurface tile drainage upon a determination that compliance is necessary to reduce adverse impacts to water quality from the subsurface tile drain. (c) The Secretary shall amend the Required Agricultural Practices to include requirements for activities occurring in areas that are excluded from regulation by the Agency of Natural Resources under 10 V.S.A. § 902 because the area is used to grow food or crops in connection with farming activities. Added 2015, No. 64, § 4; amended 2015, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 12, 2016; 2017, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 36; 2019, No. 64, § 6; 2025, No. 67, § 2, eff. July 1, 2025.

6 V.S.A. § 4811 Powers of Secretary

4811. Powers of Secretary The Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets in furtherance of the purposes of this chapter may: (1) Make, adopt, revise, and amend reasonable rules that define practices described in section 4810 of this title as well as other rules deemed necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter. (2) Appoint assistants, subject to applicable laws, to perform or assist in the performance of any duties or functions of the Secretary under this chapter. (3) Enter any lands, public or private, and review and copy any land management records as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter. (4) Sign memorandums of understanding between agencies when the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets agrees it is necessary for the success of the program. (5) Solicit and receive federal or private funds. (6) Cooperate fully with the federal government or other agencies in the operation of any joint federal-state programs concerning the regulation of agricultural nonpoint source pollution. (7) Establish programs to improve agricultural water quality. (8) Provide grants or contracts from agricultural water quality programs established under this chapter, or by the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets, for the purpose of providing technical and financial assistance in preventing agricultural pollution from entering groundwater and waters of the State, provided that the Secretary shall only use capital funding available to the Agency for water quality programs or projects that are eligible for capital assistance. Added 1991, No. 261 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; amended 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2019, No. 64, § 7.

6 V.S.A. § 4813 Basin management; appeals to the Environmental Division

4813. Basin management; appeals to the Environmental Division (a) The Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall cooperate with the Secretary of Natural Resources in the basin planning process with regard to the agricultural nonpoint source waste component of each basin plan. Any person with an interest in the agricultural nonpoint source component of the basin planning process may petition the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets to require, and the Secretary may require, best management practices in the individual basin beyond Required Agricultural Practices adopted by rule, in order to achieve compliance with the water quality goals in 10 V.S.A. § 1250 and any duly adopted basin plan. The Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall hold a public hearing within 60 days and shall issue a timely written decision that sets forth the facts and reasons supporting the decision. (b) Any person engaged in farming that has been required by the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets to implement best management practices or any person who has petitioned the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets under subsection (a) of this section may appeal the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets’ decision to the Environmental Division de novo. (c) When requiring implementation of a best management practice, the Secretary shall inform a farmer of the resources available to assist the farmer in implementing the best management practice and complying with the requirements of this chapter. Added 1991, No. 261 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; amended 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2005, No. 78, § 3, eff. June 24, 2005; 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 236; 2015, No. 64, § 14.

6 V.S.A. § 4814 Education and technical assistance

4814. Education and technical assistance The Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets may: (1) Develop educational programs dealing with agricultural nonpoint source reduction, with the assistance of other organizations, utilizing various types of media, group meetings, tours, on-farm demonstrations, and one-on-one farm visits. (2) Provide technical assistance, or contract for services to provide technical assistance, to qualified persons engaged in farming for reducing agricultural nonpoint source pollution. Added 1991, No. 261 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; amended 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003.

6 V.S.A. § 4815 Waste storage facility

4815. Waste storage facility (a) No person shall construct a new waste storage facility or expand or modify a waste storage facility in existence on July 1, 2006 unless the facility meets the standard established for such facilities by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or an equivalent standard. If an equivalent design standard is used, the design and construction shall be certified by the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets or a licensed professional engineer operating within the scope of the engineer’s expertise. (b) The Secretary may require the owner or operator of a waste storage facility in existence on July 1, 2006 to modify the facility to meet the standard set forth in subsection (a) of this section if the facility poses a threat to human health or the environment. If the Secretary determines that a facility that meets the standard set forth in subsection (a) of this section poses a threat to human health or the environment, the Secretary may require the owner or operator of the facility to implement additional management measures. (c) If the Secretary suspects that a waste storage facility may be contaminating groundwater, the Secretary shall pay the costs of any initial groundwater monitoring to determine whether a facility poses a threat to human health or the environment. Within 21 days after a determination under this subsection that a facility poses a threat to human health or the environment because of apparent violation of the Groundwater Protection Standards, the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall notify the Department of Health and the Secretary of Natural Resources of the location of the facility and the name of its owner or operator. (d) As used in this section, “waste storage facility” means an impoundment made for the purpose of storing agricultural waste by constructing an embankment, excavating a pit or dugout, fabricating an inground and aboveground structure, or any combination thereof. Added 2005, No. 78, § 4, eff. June 24, 2005; amended 2015, No. 39, § 1; 2021, No. 162 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. June 1, 2022.

6 V.S.A. § 4816 Seasonal application of manure

4816. Seasonal application of manure (a) Prohibition on application. A person shall not apply manure to land in the State between December 15 and April 1 of any calendar year unless authorized by this section or as authorized under an emergency exemption granted by the Secretary according to criteria set forth under the Required Agricultural Practices. (b) Extension of prohibition. The Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall amend the Required Agricultural Practices by rule in order to establish a process under which the Secretary may prohibit the application of manure to land in the State between December 1 and December 15 and between April 1 and April 30 of any calendar year when the Secretary determines that due to weather conditions, soil conditions, or other limitations, application of manure to land would pose a significant potential of discharge or runoff to State waters. (c) Seasonal exemption. The Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall amend the Required Agricultural Practices by rule in order to establish a process under which the Secretary may authorize an exemption to the prohibition on the application of manure to land in the State between December 15 and April 1 of any calendar year or during any period established under subsection (b) of this section when manure is prohibited from application. Any process established for the issuance of an exemption under the Required Agricultural Practices may authorize land application of manure on a weekly, monthly, or seasonal basis or in authorized regions, areas, or fields in the State, provided that any exemption shall: (1) prohibit application of manure: (A) in areas with established channels of concentrated stormwater runoff to surface waters, including ditches and ravines; (B) in nonharvested permanent vegetative buffers; (C) in a nonfarmed wetland, as that term is defined in 10 V.S.A. § 902(5); (D) within 50 feet of a potable water supply, as that term is defined in 10 V.S.A. § 1972(6); (E) to fields exceeding tolerable soil loss; and (F) to saturated soils; (2) establish requirements for the application of manure when frozen or snow-covered soils prevent effective incorporation at the time of application; (3) require manure to be applied according to a nutrient management plan; and (4) establish the maximum tons of manure that may be applied per acre during any one application. Added 2013, No. 159 (Adj. Sess.), § 15; amended 2025, No. 67, § 5, eff. July 1, 2025.

6 V.S.A. § 4817 Management of non-sewage waste

4817. Management of non-sewage waste (a) As used in this section: (1) “Non-sewage waste” means any waste other than sewage that may contain organisms pathogenic to human beings but does not mean stormwater runoff. (2) “Sewage” means waste containing human fecal coliform and other potential pathogenic organisms from sanitary waste and used water from any building, including carriage water and shower and wash water. “Sewage” does not mean stormwater runoff as that term is defined in 10 V.S.A. § 1264. (3) “Waste materials” means non-sewage solid or liquid digestates from certified solid waste facilities or materials approved by the Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources for acceptable use under the Solid Waste Rules. (b)(1) This section shall apply to a person transporting or arranging for the transport of the following: (A) non-sewage waste to a farm for deposit in a manure pit or for use as an input in a methane digester; or (B) waste materials to a farm for storage, land application, deposit in a manure pit, or use in a methane digester. (2) A person subject to this section shall obtain approval from the Secretary prior to transporting non-sewage waste or waste materials to any farm. The Secretary may require a person to provide the following information to evaluate a request to transport the described materials to a farm: (A) the composition of the material proposed for transport to a farm, including the source of the material; (B) laboratory test results for every nutrient or contaminant that the Secretary requires the applicant to identify in the material; and (C) the volume of the material proposed for transport to a farm. (c) A person the Secretary approves to transport non-sewage waste or waste materials to a farm shall report the following information as frequently as the Secretary requires: (1) the composition of the material transported to a farm, including the source of the material; (2) laboratory test results for every nutrient or contaminant that the Secretary requires the person to identify in the material; and (3) the volume of the material transported to a farm. (d) After receipt of an application or report required under subsection (b) or (c) of this section, the Secretary may prohibit the import of non-sewage waste or waste materials onto a farm upon a determination that importing the material would violate the farm’s nutrient management plan or otherwise present a threat to the environment, human health, plants, soils, or water quality. (e) Nothing in this section shall affect the authority of the Secretary of Natural Resources to regulate wastes under 10 V.S.A. chapter 159 (waste management) or 10 V.S.A. chapter 47 (water pollution control). Added 2019, No. 129 (Adj. Sess.), § 16; amended 2021, No. 47, § 8; 2021, No. 162 (Adj. Sess.), § 4, eff. June 1, 2022; 2025, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. July 1, 2026.

6 V.S.A. § 4818 Farming; scope of activities

4818. Farming; scope of activities (a) As used to determine the scope of nuisance protection in 12 V.S.A. chapter 195, “agricultural activities” shall include “farming” as defined in this title. (b) For purposes of the application of 12 V.S.A. § 5753, all “agricultural activities” defined in this chapter, subject to the limitations and requirements set forth in 12 V.S.A. § 5753, are entitled to the rebuttable presumption that they do not constitute a nuisance. Added 2021, No. 162 (Adj. Sess.), § 11, eff. June 1, 2022.

Source: Vermont General Assembly (legislature.vermont.gov)URL: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/chapter/06/215Fetched: 10/21/2026