The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 10 : Conservation and Development

Chapter 043 : Dams

• § 1080. Definitions

  As used in this chapter:

  (1) “Department” means the Department of Environmental Conservation.

  (2) “Person” means any individual; partnership; company; corporation; association; joint venture; trust; municipality; the State of Vermont or any agency, department, or subdivision of the State; any federal agency; or any other legal or commercial entity.

  (3) “Interested person” means, in relation to any dam, a person who has riparian rights affected by that dam; who has a substantial interest in economic or recreational activity affected by the dam; or whose safety would be endangered by a failure of the dam.

  (4) “Engineer” means a professional engineer licensed under Title 26 who has experience in the design and investigation of dams.

  (5) “Time” shall be reckoned in the manner prescribed by 1 V.S.A. § 138.

  (6)(A) “Dam” means any artificial barrier, including its appurtenant works, that is capable of impounding water, other liquids, or accumulated sediments.

  (B) “Dam” includes an artificial barrier that meets all of the following:

  (i) previously was capable of impounding water, other liquids, or accumulated sediments;

  (ii) was partially breached; and

  (iii) has not been properly removed or mitigated.

  (C) “Dam” does not mean:

  (i) barriers or structures created by beaver or any other wild animal as that term is defined in section 4001 of this title;

  (ii) transportation infrastructure that has no normal water storage capacity and that impounds water only during storm events;

  (iii) an artificial barrier at a stormwater management structure that is regulated by the Agency of Natural Resources under chapter 47 of this title;

  (iv) an underground or elevated tank to store water otherwise regulated by the Agency of Natural Resources;

  (v) an agricultural waste storage facility regulated by the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets under 6 V.S.A. chapter 215; or

  (vi) any other structure identified by the Department by rule.

  (7) “Federal dam” means:

  (A) a dam owned by the United States; or

  (B) a dam subject to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license or exemption.

  (8) “Intake structure” means a dam that is constructed and operated for the primary purposes of minimally impounding water for the measurement and withdrawal of streamflow to ensure use of the withdrawn water for snowmaking, potable water, irrigation, or other purposes approved by the Department.

  (9) “Nonfederal dam” means a dam that is not a federal dam.

  (10) “Dam removal” means all actions needed to eliminate the risk of dam failure-related inundation below the dam and include partial or complete structural removal to the extent that the dam is no longer capable of impounding water, liquid, or sediment. (Added 1981, No. 242 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1987, No. 76, § 18; 2003, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.), § 22; 2017, No. 161 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2023, No. 121 (Adj. Sess.), § 18, eff. July 1, 2024.)