diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/gatk/walkers/validation/DeclareValidityWalker.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/gatk/walkers/validation/DeclareValidityWalker.java
index 8e026887c..04f2e6b2f 100644
--- a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/gatk/walkers/validation/DeclareValidityWalker.java
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/gatk/walkers/validation/DeclareValidityWalker.java
@@ -31,15 +31,20 @@ import org.broad.tribble.util.variantcontext.Allele;
 import org.broad.tribble.util.variantcontext.Genotype;
 import org.broad.tribble.util.variantcontext.VariantContext;
 import org.broad.tribble.vcf.*;
+import org.broadinstitute.sting.commandline.ArgumentCollection;
+import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.arguments.GATKArgumentCollection;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.contexts.AlignmentContext;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.contexts.ReferenceContext;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.contexts.variantcontext.VariantContextUtils;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.datasources.rmd.ReferenceOrderedDataSource;
+import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.io.OutputTracker;
+import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.io.stubs.VCFWriterStub;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.refdata.RefMetaDataTracker;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.*;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.commandline.Argument;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.commandline.Output;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.DataSource;
+import org.broadinstitute.sting.gatk.walkers.annotator.VariantAnnotatorEngine;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.GenomeLoc;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.SampleUtils;
 import org.broadinstitute.sting.utils.bed.BedParser;
@@ -49,6 +54,7 @@ import javax.activation.*;
 import java.beans.VetoableChangeSupport;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
 import java.io.Writer;
+import java.security.KeyStore;
 import java.util.*;
 
 
@@ -59,75 +65,66 @@ import java.util.*;
 @Requires(value={},referenceMetaData=@RMD(name="validated", type=VariantContext.class))
 public class DeclareValidityWalker   extends RodWalker<Integer, Integer>{
 
-
-    @Output(doc = "Write bed to this file instead of standard out")
-    public PrintStream out;
+    @Output(doc="File to which variants should be written",required=true)
+    protected VCFWriter vcfWriter = null;
 
     @Argument(fullName = "validity", shortName = "V",
             doc = "Rank of variant validity on a 0-4 scale where 0 is definitely false positive; 4 is definitely true positive.")
     int validity;
 
     @Argument(fullName = "Note", shortName = "N", doc = "Annotation to be included in FP/TP field", required = false)
-    String Note =".";
+    String note =".";
 
     @Argument(fullName = "Source", shortName = "s", doc = "Institutional source of annotation", required = false)
-    String Source = ".";
+    String source = ".";
 
     @Argument(fullName = "Build", shortName = "bld", doc = "Genome build", required = false)
     String build = ".";
 
 
-    @Override
+
     public Integer reduceInit() {
+
+        Set<VCFHeaderLine> old = VCFUtils.getHeaderFields(getToolkit());
+        Set<VCFHeaderLine> newlines = new HashSet<VCFHeaderLine>();
+        for(VCFHeaderLine each : old){
+            if(each.getKey().equals("fileformat")) newlines.add(each);
+        }
+
+
+
+        vcfWriter.writeHeader(new VCFHeader(newlines));
+
         return 0;  //To change body of implemented methods use File | Settings | File Templates.
     }
 
 
 
-    public class ValidityDeclaration{
-        protected String contig;
-        protected long start;
-        protected long stop;
-        protected int valid;
-        protected Allele refBase;
-        protected Allele altBase;
-        protected String Note;
-        protected String Source;
-        protected String Build;
-        protected String user;
 
-        public String getBuild(){
+
+
+
+    public Map<String, Object> addValidation(int Validity, String Note, String Source, String Build){
+
+
+         HashMap<String, Object> validityAnnots = new HashMap<String, Object>();
+         validityAnnots.put("validity", Validity);
+         validityAnnots.put("user", System.getenv("USER"));
+         if (Build.equals(".")) validityAnnots.put("build", getBuild());
+         else validityAnnots.put("build", Build);
+         validityAnnots.put("note", Note);
+         validityAnnots.put("Source", Source);
+
+        return validityAnnots;
+    }
+
+    public String getBuild(){
         String refPath = getToolkit().getArguments().referenceFile.getPath();
         if (refPath.contains("19")) {return "hg19";}
         else if (refPath.contains("18")) {return "hg18";}
         else if (refPath.contains("36")) {return "b36";}
         else if (refPath.contains("37")) {return "b37";}
         else {return "unknown";}
-    }
-
-        public ValidityDeclaration(GenomeLoc Loc, VariantContext Con, int validity, String Note, String Source, String Build){   //Constructor expects  1 based
-            this.contig=Loc.getContig();
-            this.start=Loc.getStart()-1;
-            this.stop=Loc.getStop();
-            this.valid =validity;
-            this.altBase = Con.getAlternateAllele(0);
-            if (Con.getAlternateAlleles().toArray().length >1)
-            {
-                logger.warn("***NOTE: Only the first alternate allele in a VCF will be declared as " +valid+"***");
-            }
-            this.refBase = Con.getReference();
-            this.Note = Note;
-            this.Source = Source;
-            this.user = System.getenv("USER");
-            if (Build == "."){
-                this.Build=getBuild();
-            }
-            else{this.Build = Build; }
-
-        }
-        public String toString() {
-            return String.format("%s\t%d\t%d\t%s\t%s\t%d\t%s\t%s\t%s\t%s", contig, start, stop, refBase,altBase, validity, user, Build, Note, Source);
-        }
     }
  /**
      *
@@ -145,9 +142,8 @@ public class DeclareValidityWalker   extends RodWalker<Integer, Integer>{
          if (current == null) {
              return 0;}
 
-
-         ValidityDeclaration bedLine = new ValidityDeclaration(ref.getLocus(), current, validity, Note, Source, build);
-         out.println(bedLine);
+         VariantContext declared = VariantContext.modifyAttributes( current, addValidation(validity, note, source, build));
+         vcfWriter.add(declared, ref.getBase());
          return 1;
      }