§ 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ensure use of the withdrawn water for snowmaking, potable water, irrigation, or other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.)