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CCRPC staff report on Basin 5 Clean Water Service Provider work and Brownfields program
Summary
Natural resources program manager Dan Albrecht briefed the board on the RPC’s Clean Water Service Provider duties in Basin 5 and ongoing Brownfields grant work, describing recent projects, the Basin Water Quality Council and constraints around contaminated soil management.
Dan Albrecht, the RPC’s natural resources program manager, updated the board on two longstanding grant and program areas: the Basin 5 Clean Water Service Provider program and the EPA‑funded Brownfields technical assistance work.
Lede: Dan said the RPC administers the Clean Water Service Provider role for Basin 5 (the Lake Champlain direct drainage basins excluding the larger named rivers). The Basin Water Quality Council — a group that includes watershed organizations, municipal staff and other partners — evaluates candidate non‑regulatory projects aimed at reducing phosphorus and improving stream corridors.
Project examples and program description Dan described recent and ongoing projects funded through the Basin 5 program, including gully repair work in Georgia and stream planting and restoration projects that often focus on natural‑resource approaches. He explained that the Clean Water Service Provider designation comes from state law (the Clean Water Service Provider Act) and that RPC staff have been convening the basin council since 2022 to review grant applications and recommend projects that maximize phosphorus reduction per dollar.
Brownfields program On Brownfields, Dan said the RPC typically secures competitive EPA grants about every three years to fund pre‑remediation work (site inventories, Phase I and Phase II environmental investigations and corrective action planning). He explained the distinction between these study grants and remediation funding and described how soil management standards in Vermont can make disposal expensive: contaminated urban soils often must be managed as regulated soils and shipped to permitted landfills, which increases project costs. Dan also noted improvements such as the development of an urban background concentration standard that has reduced the number of soils requiring special handling in some projects.
Board and stakeholder notes Several board members and advisory committee representatives, including Miles and Bruce Wilson, praised staff work on the basin council and Brownfields programs and noted the quality of materials and coordination with municipal partners.
Ending Dan told the board the Basin 5 webpage on the RPC site holds project information and that staff continue to accept proposals and to coordinate with state agencies on tactical basin planning and MS4 stormwater town support.
