Median Pay by Area
- Burlington-South Burlington
- $67,250 a year
- Northern Vermont (non-metro)
- $62,080 a year
- Southern Vermont (non-metro)
- $62,080 a year
Vermont wastewater operators
The steps from no license to a Vermont Domestic Grade I pollution abatement facility operator license, how to apply to the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) and take the exam with PSI, how to keep your license active and what operators earn. Every requirement links to OPR, its Administrative Rules for Pollution Abatement Facility Operators, 26 V.S.A. chapter 99 or the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
OPR makes the final eligibility determination. Check with OPR before you apply.
Why it matters
Vermont law says a person may not practice or offer to practice pollution abatement facility operation (running a wastewater treatment facility) unless they hold a current license. Since January 1, 2017, the Secretary of State's Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) has issued these licenses instead of DEC.
The license is needed when a facility's discharge permit requires operation by licensed operators. The owner must then employ licensed operators, including a chief operator. Contract operators need the same license as if the owner employed them directly.
The chief operator must hold a license in the same type and grade as the facility. An assistant chief operator must hold a license of the same type, no more than two grades below the facility's grade.
The law allows unlicensed people to work under the direct or indirect supervision of a licensed operator when the facility's permit allows it.
OPR offers 14 license grades by facility type: Domestic Grades I to V; Industrial Paper, Industrial Dairy and Industrial Metal Grades I, II and IV. Each license states its facility type and grade, and you may hold more than one type.
DEC's rule sets each facility's type and grade using a point system for its permitted flow and treatment processes. Domestic Grade I facilities have simple treatment and low flows; Grade V facilities have more complex treatment and design flows above 5.0 million gallons a day.
Vermont's rules list no separate license for wastewater collection systems.
Step 1
You must be at least 18, able to read and write English, and hold a high school diploma, GED or an equivalent credential OPR accepts.
First-time applicants are issued a provisional license while they gain experience. To get one, you must be employed at a Vermont pollution abatement facility when you apply.
Step 2
Create an account in OPR's Online Services System, choose Apply for Individual License, and pay the non-refundable $115 application fee by debit card, credit card or ACH.
Upload OPR's Verification of Experience form, signed by your supervisor, to show where you will work and the grade you are applying for.
To count education toward experience, have your school send transcripts directly to OPR. Education used in your first application cannot be reused to change grades.
Allow 3 to 5 business days for each item OPR receives. Updates go to the email address on file.
Step 3
Once OPR processes your application, it issues a provisional license so you can gain experience, and approves you to sit for the exam.
A provisional license lasts no more than two years. In that time you must also complete approved transitional training: 10 hours for Grade I, 12 for Grade II, 15 for Grades III and IV, and 20 for Grade V.
A provisionally licensed operator cannot make operational changes at a facility, such as adjusting valves or aeration rates, without oversight from an operator who holds a full license.
Step 4
When OPR approves you, it sends your information to PSI, which emails you how to register. Contact PSI if nothing arrives within 5 business days.
You have one year from the approval date to pass. Sign up as soon as you can; you may retest every 30 days.
Schedule online through PSI's Vermont OPR page or by phone at 833-256-1420. You pay PSI by credit card; its fees are not refundable.
Step 5
PSI sends OPR your passing score. Then log in to your OPR account and upload your experience verification form showing the required years, so OPR can issue the full license for your grade.
OPR changes the provisional license to a full license through the end of the current two-year period at no charge.
To move to a higher grade later, choose Add Specialty in your existing account (do not register a new one), upload an updated experience form and pass that grade's exam. Upgrades are free.
Step 6
Licenses run for fixed two-year periods and expire July 31 of odd-numbered years. A license issued within 90 days before the period starts lasts through the next full period.
Renewal opens six weeks before the expiration date. Renew online, pay the non-refundable $275 renewal fee and upload your course completion certificates. Late renewals carry penalties.
Each two-year period, Domestic licenses need 8 hours of approved training for Grade I, 10 for Grade II, 12 for Grades III and IV, and 16 for Grade V. Industrial licenses need 4 hours for Grade I, 6 for Grade II and 12 for Grade IV.
Online, webinar or distance learning may count for no more than half of your hours. Live virtual courses (not pre-recorded) count as in-person training.
DEC approves all continuing education courses for operators and publishes a pre-approved course list. One approved course may count toward more than one license if it meets each license's requirement.
Keep your certificates for two licensing cycles. OPR audits a share of licensees 30 days after the renewal period ends; if you fail the audit, you must complete the missing hours within 90 days.
Exam day
PSI gives Vermont's exams by appointment, Monday through Saturday, at PSI test centers across the United States or by live remote online proctoring on your own computer. Each Domestic grade has its own exam, and each Domestic exam allows 3 hours.
Questions are multiple choice (A to D), shown one at a time. You can skip and bookmark questions and return to them, and you can take an unscored practice exam first. You get a score report right after the exam.
At a test center, the proctor gives you pencils and ABC's standard formula sheet at check-in. For remote exams, the formula sheet is inside the testing software.
Only silent, non-programmable calculators without alphabetic keypads or printing are allowed. At a test center, bring two IDs; the main one must be a current government ID with your name, signature and photo.
You may reschedule once at no charge if you contact PSI at least two business days ahead. Arriving more than 15 minutes late forfeits the exam and its fee.
No OPR or PSI page read for this guide states the passing score or the number of questions. Check the exam fee on PSI's page when you schedule.
Operator Master has free practice questions with an explanation after every answer, a timed full-length practice exam and step-by-step math help built on the WPI formula table. It is an independent study tool, not the official exam.
Pay
The median pay for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators in Vermont was $63,640 a year ($30.60 an hour) in 2025, compared with $60,020 nationally. One in ten earned $50,820 or less, and one in ten earned $81,100 or more.
These federal figures cover drinking water and wastewater operators together, at every level. Pay for a new operator is usually nearer the low end.
Moving up
These are Vermont's Domestic grades; Industrial Grades I, II and IV need 2, 2 and 4 years. Each grade also needs a passing exam for that grade. Education in a water-quality-related field can replace up to half of the experience: up to 6 months for a technical school or college certificate, 1 year for an associate's degree, 2 years for a bachelor's and 3 years for a master's.
From another state
If you are licensed or certified in good standing in another state whose standards are substantially equivalent to Vermont's, you may apply by endorsement. OPR may waive the exam and may consider your past job description and experience.
Apply online and pay the non-refundable application fee. Upload a verification and the licensing requirements from the state that first licensed you and from your most recent state, if different. If a state has no online verification, ask it to send one directly to OPR.