FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)
ABOUT SALVAGE YARDS
Requirements surrounding the location and operation of salvage facilities frequently raise legal
questions. When the Vermont State Legislature drafted the salvage facility laws, it noted the
importance that salvage yards play in the recycling of materials, but that poorly operated salvage
yards have the potential to “significantly impact and contaminate the natural resources of Vermont.”
The following is a brief overview of the statutory requirements.
Q. What is a salvage yard (formally known as a junk yard)?
A. The term “salvage yard” means any place of outdoor storage or deposit for storing, keeping,
processing, buying, or selling junk or as a scrap metal processing facility. Salvage yard also means
outdoor area used for operation of an automobile graveyard. “Automobile graveyard” means a yard,
field, or other outdoor area on a property owned or controlled by a person and used or maintained
for storing or depositing four or more junk motor vehicles.
“Automobile graveyard” does not include:
 an area used by an automobile hobbyist to store, organize, restore, or display motor vehicles or
parts of such vehicles, provided that the hobbyist’s activities comply with all applicable
federal, state, and municipal law;
 an area used for the storage of motor vehicles exempt from registration under chapter 7 of Title
23: wood splitters and pole dinkeys;
 an area owned or used by a dealer registered under 23 V.S.A. § 453 for the storage of motor
vehicles; or
 an area used or maintained for the parking or storage of operational commercial motor vehicles,
as that term is defined in 23 V.S.A. § 4103(4), that are temporarily out of service and
unregistered but are expected to be used in the future by the vehicle operator or owner.
The term “salvage yard” does not mean a garage where wrecked or disabled motor vehicles are
stored for less than 90 days for inspection or repairs. *Facilities permitted by the ANR as solid waste
facilities are exempt from municipal regulation as a salvage yard. (15)*
Q. What are a municipalities’ responsibilities?
A. The law gives municipalities the authority to regulate location of salvage yards. Municipalities
may impose screening requirements, appropriate location conditions and appropriate environmental
and public health conditions. The law also gives the municipalities the right to inspect salvage yards
to make sure they comply with the law and set back requirements.
Municipalities’ enforcement authority includes field penalty authority, ability to obtain a temporary
restraining order, preliminary injunction or permanent injunction against a salvage yard which is in
violation of terms of the statute or the Certificate of Approved Location (CAL) in Environmental
Court. The municipalities have these rights with, or without, having zoning or a local salvage yard
ordinance.
Q. What are the licensing procedures for opening a salvage yard?
A. Generally, a person cannot operate or maintain a salvage yard unless the person has obtained the
following: (1) a Certificate of Approval (CAL) for the location of the salvage yard; and (2) a Certificate
of Registration from VT ANR for the location of the salvage yard.
1. Contact the Town by phone or mail asking for an application for a certificate of approved
location (CAL) for a salvage yard (either where the salvage yard is located or where it is
proposed to be located).
2. Once you receive the form, read it carefully to make sure you have all other permits required
under state or federal environmental law before you turn in the application, because you must
make copies of those permits and attach them to the application.
3. There is an application fee of twenty-five ($25.00) that must be made payable to the
municipality when you turn in the form.
4. Once the Town gets your application, they will place a notification of Advance Public Notice
of a hearing on the application in the local newspaper. Within 30 days a Public Hearing will be
held allowing the applicant and adjacent landowners to participate. A decision will be made
within 30 days approving or denying the CAL which may include additional conditions.
5. After CAL has been approved, an Application for Certificate of Registration must be obtained
by Vermont DEC, completed and submitted with a copy of the approved CAL within 30 days.
Q. What does a municipality’s review of an application for a CAL include?
A. A public hearing on the application will be held. There are specific requirements for
municipalities to consider when reviewing the application for Certification of Approval for proposed
location of a salvage yard. These considerations include but are not limited to:
o
The salvage yard is not located within a protected area (i.e. near drinking water, wetlands,
buffer zones, etc.)
o
The salvage yard is not located such that it is visible from the main traveled way at any season
of the year.
o
The salvage yard is not located near churches, schools, hospitals, public buildings, or other
places of public gatherings;
o
The location of the salvage yard will not affect public health, safety, environment, protections
from a nuisance condition and aesthetics; and
o
The local governing body may take into account general aesthetic considerations and whether
the proposed use will have a negative aesthetic impact on the surroundings. For example, the
governing body may consider such factors as: the road the salvage facility would abut (and
from which the facility may be seen); natural and artificial barriers protecting the facility from
view; the proximity to established tourist and recreational areas or main access routes thereto;
as well as the reasonable availability of other suitable sites.
Q. Irrespective of these factors, does the law prohibit the locating of salvage facilities in certain
locations?
A. Yes. No one may place, discard or abandon a junk motor vehicle in a place where it is visible from
the main traveled way of a highway nor may anyone abandon or discard any motor vehicle upon the
land of another with or without the consent of the land owner. Motor vehicles so placed, discarded or
abandoned are hereby declared to be a public nuisance.
Q. When must the governing body render a decision on a salvage facility application?
A. Within 30 days of the hearing, the governing body must make a finding regarding the approval or
denial of the application, with notice to the applicant, postage prepaid. If approved, the governing
body is required to issue the license, including the granted certificate of approval location (CAL).
Q. Once approved, does a salvage facility license need to be renewed?
A. Yes. Statute requires that a certificate of approved location have a term of not less than three (3)
and not more than five (5) years. The length of the certification period is decided by the Selectboard.
Renewal is based on the following:
All the provisions of the salvage facility statute have been complied with during the previous license
period; the salvage facility has not become a public nuisance under the common law; and the
applicant is not convicted of any type of larceny or receiving stolen property.
If the junkyard is found to be non-compliant, the Selectboard shall enter an annual inspection
indicating the junkyard failed the inspection and shall change the junkyard status to illegal. Changing
the status of the salvageyard to illegal will automatically generate a 60 Day Salvage Yard Letter.
Q. Can a governing body require an applicant to put a fence around the salvage facility?
A. Yes. Prior to opening, a new salvage facility must be completely surrounded with thick natural
screening by trees or shrubs, or a solidly constructed fence. The fence must be maintained.