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Vermont faces EPA scrutiny over agricultural water-quality permitting
Summary
Legislative counsel said advocates petitioned EPA over Vermont’s agricultural permitting and that EPA warned the state to enforce farm discharge permitting or risk corrective actions or loss of delegated Clean Water Act authority.
Michael Grady, legislative counsel, told the Senate Agriculture Committee that a 2022 petition from Clean Water advocates prompted U.S. EPA to raise concerns about whether Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources is adequately implementing agricultural permitting under the Clean Water Act.
“EPA can only . . . require a permit when there's an actual discharge,” Grady said, explaining a central legal distinction: the federal program authorizes permits for point-source discharges, while much farm runoff is treated under different exemptions when farmers follow approved nutrient-management practices.
Grady said the Vermont…
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