Code of Vermont Rules › Agency 12 - AGENCY OF NATURAL RESOURCES › Sub-Agency 030 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION › Chapter 004 - MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY PROJECT PRIORITY SYSTEM RULE › Section 12 030 004 - MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY PROJECT PRIORITY SYSTEM RULE

Current through June,
				2024
Section 1.0 PURPOSE
The Water Supply Priority System defined herein is used by
				  the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation to rate and rank all
				  municipal water supply systems with respect to the urgency of the water supply
				  needs and also with respect to their readiness to proceed with the next
				  engineering planning or construction step. The priority system is used to
				  determine which municipal water systems will receive funding from State
				  construction and planning funds appropriated annually and to assist the
				  Department in adjusting surveillance, monitoring, enforcement and other program
				  activities with respect to the most critical municipal water supply
				  needs.
Section 2.0
				INTRODUCTION
The project priority system assigns priority points to each
				  municipal water supply system in Vermont based upon four general areas of
				  concern. They are:
a) the quality of
				the water actually delivered to a system user;
b) the adequacy of the physical components of
				the water system;
c) the population
				served; and
d) the readiness of the
				municipality to proceed to the next planning or construction step. The
				population of a municipality determines a numerical factor which is multiplied
				by the sum of the points accrued in the preceding two categories. The first
				three categories of points depict the relative significance of water supply
				improvement needed by a municipality. The greater the number of points, the
				higher the priority of that project. The sum of priority points from the first
				three categories are used to rank (array) all municipalities with respect to
				their water supply needs from the highest priority (most points) to the lowest
				priority (least points). That ranking is used by the Department to guide its
				actions with respect to monitoring, surveillance, and enforcement of operations
				of municipal water systems and in channeling limited planning and construction
				funds toward projects of highest priority.
Engineering planning and construction of public works
				  projects such as water supply improvements progress in three distinct steps.
				  They are:
a) preparation
				of preliminary engineering studies to assess problems and propose alternative
				solutions that are technically and financially feasible;
b) the preparation of final drawings and
				specifications based upon the selected alternative; and
c) construction of the needed facilities. The
				effective allocation of limited planning and construction funds to competing
				projects requires that the selected project be ready to proceed to the next
				planning/construction step and that it can actually use the allocated funds.
				The fourth category of points (readiness to proceed) is used for that purpose.
The priority system categories 1-3 generally remain unchanged
				  from year to year and, therefore, projects will generally retain their relative
				  position of rank. The priority list may, at the discretion of the Commissioner
				  be amended by procedures described-later in this document.
Vermont statutes authorize the award of engineering planning
				  advances for water supply projects when the project is:
a) necessary to preserve or enhance the
				quality of the water provided to the inhabitants of a municipality;
b) to alleviate an adverse public health
				condition; or
c) to allow for
				orderly development and growth. The overall municipal water supply needs within
				Vermont in the first two categories are so great as to preclude reasonable use
				of the third category (orderly development and growth) as a measure of project
				priority.