10 V.S.A. Section 8009 authorizes the Secretary to issue an Emergency Administrative Order (EO) when a violation presents an immediate threat of substantial harm to the environment or an immediate threat to the public health; or an activity will or is likely to result in a violation which presents an immediate threat of substantial harm to the environment or an immediate threat to the public health; or an activity requiring a permit has been commenced and is continuing without a permit.

An EO may be issued when the following takes place:

• the EO has been presented to the Environmental Court;
• all reasonable efforts have been made to notify the respondent of its presentation to the Court (date & time);
• and the Court has found that the Secretary has made a sufficient showing that grounds for issuance of the order exist.

EOs are posted for public notice on this website when filed with the Environmental Court. The pre-filing public comment period does not apply to EOs and the Environmental Court will act on the EO as required by law. A person may file a motion for permissive intervention within 14 days of the date the EO was filed with the Court, however a motion to intervene does not stay an EO. If a motion is filed, the Court may hold one or more hearings to determine whether to permit intervention or to evaluate the claims within the motion. If an EO is issued the respondent may request a hearing before the Environmental Court within 5 days of receiving it. If a respondent requests a hearing on an EO, the Environmental Court will schedule it within five days of receipt of the hearing request. The hearing is held at the earliest possible time and takes precedence over all other hearings. A request for a hearing does not stay the EO. If after a hearing the Court finds there were insufficient grounds for its issuance, the Court will dissolve the EO.

All Final EOs that have been applied for by ANR from May 1996 to the present can be viewed here.

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