COLCHESTER, Vt. (AP) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says Vermont’s failure to develop a key pollution permit program threatens the health of Lake Champlain.
In a letter sent last month, the EPA said the state is behind schedule on developing a stormwater permit for properties that are three acres of larger, Vermont Public Radio reported.
If the permit isn’t completed by Sept. 4 the state will be given a failing grade on that part of its cleanup efforts.
Environmental Conservation Commissioner Peter Walke said the state doesn’t have a funding mechanism in place to help businesses comply with the permit and there’s too much uncertainty to have it done by September.
“We were not able to offer them sort of assurances as to when we would be ready because there is so much uncertainty,” Walke said. “They picked the September deadline and that’s their choice, but frankly I don’t think it is a realistic timeline.”
In 2015 former Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a law requiring the state to take a number of steps to reduce phosphorus pollution, including designing a new stormwater permit program for properties three acres or larger.
The plan to implement the law included 28 milestones to accomplish the goals of reducing the amount of phosphorous that flows into the lake
In 2018, the EPA said it was pleased with Vermont’s progress, but in the June 25 letter EPA Regional Administrator Dennis Deziel said the state had failed to meet the last milestone, for the permit system.
The letter says that failing to complete the milestone could result in increased federal oversight of pollutants that reach the lake.
Walke said the three-acre rule would apply to about 700 parcels of property. Complying with the permit would not be too complicated in some sites, but others sites in more urban areas would require engineering and retrofit work.
“They’re complex and it’s really challenging,” Walke said. “It’s not an easy fix. There are not simple solutions for many of these places.”
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