Announcements
2020 Tactical Basin Planning Services
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 23, 2020
CONTACT: Mike Winslow, Transportation Planner
Office: (802) 388-3141
Municipal Tactical Basin Planning Services
Middlebury, VT – Addison County Regional Planning Commission (ACRPC) will provide support for municipalities improving water quality The work will focus on water quality in the Otter Creek and its tributaries as identified by the Otter Creek Tactical Basin Plan. ACRPC will be coordinating with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Otter Creek Natural Resources Conservation District and the Addison County River Watch Collaborative in implementing the Otter Creek Basin Plan. The work is supported through grant from DEC. Activities began this fall and will continue through July 2021.
The funding allows ACRPC to assist municipal staff and boards in developing land use policy options such as stronger municipal protections against flood hazards and river corridor erosion, stormwater master planning, and other town plan or zoning changes that improve water quality. Additionally, ACRPC will help identify areas of high sediment and nutrient run-off.
ACRPC provide a forum for municipalities to discuss and resolve mutual concerns, to provide assistance to municipalities with the planning process and information gathering, to develop a regional plan, and to be a central repository of planning information. ACRPC was established in 1967 when the Vermont Legislature passed measures enabling municipalities to join together to form regional commissions.
For more information about the ACRPC, please visit www.acrpc.org.
For more information, please contact Mike Winslow, Transportation Planner: mwinslow@acrpc.org or (802) 388-3141.
2020 Water Quality Improvement Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 11, 2020
CONTACT: Mike Winslow, Transportation Planner
mwinslow@acrpc.org
Office: (802) 388-3141
Cell: (802) 578-9999
Re: Water Quality Improvement Program
The Addison County Regional Planning Commission (“ACRPC”) is pleased to announce that the Agency of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Conservation, Water Quality Division has recently awarded a contract to the Rutland Regional Planning Commission (“RRPC”) in Rutland, VT to administer water quality improvement programs to Regional Planning Commissions (RPCs) throughout the State of Vermont. The grant is funded through the 604B program of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and is intended to fund local and regional entities to pursue water quality planning and improvements.
In Addison County, ACRPC shall use its portion of the funds to support the water quality monitoring and outreach work of the Addison County River Watch Collaborative (“ACRWC”). ACRWC consists of a dedicated group of volunteers that samples and monitors the “health” of rivers within Addison County. ACRWC collects water samples at designated locations and times. ACRWC sends the samples to the state laboratory under the LaRosa Partnership where the lab measures the samples for phosphorus, which contributes to algal growth in lakes. ACRWC also intends to analyze the samples for E. coli, to assess whether the water is safe for swimmers. ACRWC publishes its results for municipal officials, citizens and scientists to use. ACRPC will actively provide technical assistance in mapping and presenting the data collected. It will create outreach materials, analytical reports and maps for presentation to municipal officials to help them understand what the data means for water quality within their town. ACRPC will assist the ACRWC Managing Director with actively promoting and maintaining the ACRWC website (www.acrpc.org/acrwc).
For further information, please call or e-mail Mike Winslow at (802) 388-3141 or mwinslow@acrpc.org
COVID-19 Corona Virus Policy and Information
ACRPC has developed a policy for Staff, Commission, and Visitors responding to the novel Corona Virus COVID-19.
The policy is located here: ACRPC COVID-19 Coronavirus Policy (updated 3/30/20)
For more information on COVID-19, please see http://acrpc.org/programs-services/emergency-management/coronavirus-covid-19/
Clean Water Service Providers Sought
The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation has released a Request for Proposals for a Clean Water Service Providers (CWSP). The CWSP would be a new regional organization established under Act 76 of the 2019 Vermont legislature. CWSPs will be established for each Tactical Basin Planning watershed in the Lake Champlain and Lake Memphremagog basins. CWSPs will administer formula-based State grants for the purpose of identifying, constructing, and maintaining non-regulatory water quality projects necessary to achieve the Lake Champlain and Lake Memphremagog phosphorus TMDLs and other pollutant reduction targets both inside and beyond these specific basins. Formula grants received by CWSPs will be based on a standard allocation reflecting targets for non-regulatory phosphorus and other pollutant reductions to be established by the State of Vermont for all basins. Operation and maintenance funds will also be provided to CWSPs as a formula grant, based on projects implemented. CWSPs will neither be restricted from applying for other competitive grants, nor receive preference for receiving other competitive grants simply on the basis of being a CWSP. For more information, visit the DEC’s Act 76 website.
The ACRPC has submitted an application to take on the role of the CWSP for the Otter Creek Basin – the application is here – ACRPC_Basin3_CWSP_Proposal_final (160 pages)
Also, the DEC has been developing a rule to assign the CWSP for each basin and promulgate the administrative governance structure for CWSP activities. A public draft of the rule is here – Draft CWSP Rule 10.2.20 PUBLIC
View Our March 2020 Newsletter
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Please view or download our March Newsletter here. You may also view or download our previous Newsletters here. |
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