Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 10, § 1671 (2026)

§ 1671. Definitions

As used in this chapter:

(1) “Drinking water” means noncarbonated water that is intended for human consumption or other consumer uses whether provided by a public water system or in a container, bottle, or package, or in bulk, including water used for production of ice, foodstuffs, or other products designed for human consumption.

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

(3) “Person” means any individual, partnership, company, corporation, cooperative, association, unincorporated association, joint venture, trust, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, subdivision, or municipality, the U.S. government or any department, agency, or subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity.

(4) “Public water source” means any surface water or groundwater supply used as a source of drinking water for a public water system.

(5)(A) “Public water system” means any system, or combination of systems owned or controlled by a person, that provides drinking water through pipes or other constructed conveyances to the public and that:

(i) has at least 15 service connections; or

(ii) serves an average of at least 25 individuals for at least 60 days a year.

(B) Public water system shall also mean any part of a piped system that does not provide drinking water, if use of such a part could affect the quality or quantity of the drinking water supplied by the system. Public water system shall also mean a system that bottles drinking water for public distribution and sale.

(6) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Natural Resources or the Secretary’s designee.

(7) “Public water source protection area” means a surface and subsurface area from or through which contaminants are reasonably likely to reach a public water source.

(8) “Required agricultural practices” shall be as defined by the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets under 6 V.S.A. § 4810.

(9) “Agricultural land” means any land, exclusive of any housesite, in active use to grow hay or cultivated crops, Christmas trees, horticultural crops, greenhouse and nursery crops, pasture livestock, or to cultivate trees bearing edible fruit or produce an annual maple product, and that is 25 acres or more in size except as provided below. There shall be a presumption that the land is used for agricultural purposes if it has produced an annual gross income from the sale of agricultural commodities in one of two, or three of the five, preceding calendar years of at least:

(A) $2,000.00 for parcels of up to 25 acres;

(B) $75.00 per acre for each acre over 25, with the total income required not to exceed $5,000.00;

(C) exceptions to these income requirements shall be made in cases of horticultural or nursery production Christmas tree production, or orchard lands planted to fruit producing trees that are not yet of saleable size or bearing age.

(10) “Community water system” means a public water system that serves at least 15 service connections used by year-round residents or regularly serves at least 25 year-round residents. The construction of a water system that upon completion of construction could be reasonably expected to serve at least 15 service connections or at least 25 year-round residents shall require a community water system construction permit.

(11) “Noncommunity water system” means a public water system that is not a community water system. There are two categories of noncommunity systems:

(A) “nontransient” systems, that are systems that serve 25 or more of the same people daily for more than six months in any year; and

(B) “transient” systems, which are all other noncommunity public water systems.

(12) “Conservation” means methods and procedures designed to promote efficient use of water and to minimize waste of water.

(13) “Capacity” means that a public water system has the technical, financial, and managerial capabilities to consistently comply with current performance standards, including the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. § 300f et seq., as amended. (Added 1991, No. 71, § 2; amended 1995, No. 103 (Adj. Sess.), § 6; 1997, No. 134 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 2001, No. 15, § 1; 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2015, No. 64, § 13; 2015, No. 97 (Adj. Sess.), § 23.)