News & Notes From the Virginia Office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 2

From the Desk of Peggy SannerVIRGINIA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

HEADWATERS

T he Virginia General Assembly convened on January 12 and CBF staff have been collaborating with legislators, as well as our partners

and members to advance bipartisan Clean Water Blueprint goals. Read further for updates on some of the key bills we are working on this session.

CBF supports Senate Bill 537 and House Bill 1346 to enhance localities’ flexibility to conserve and restore tree canopy. Many local governments have expressed the desire to use tree canopy to cost-effectively reduce flooding, manage polluted runoff, and reduce the health impacts of urban heat islands, but have limited authority to do so. These bills extend statewide the authority for localities to develop tree canopy programs—programs that require developers to preserve or plant trees that are or would be lost to development.

CBF is working with Delegate Kathy Tran on House Bill 949, which provides localities the option to prohibit the use of toxic driveway sealant in their jurisdictions. Driveway sealant containing coal tar has about 1,000 times more polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) then sealant products with an asphalt base. PAHs are toxic and carcinogenic, harmful to birds, amphibians, fish, mammals, and vegetation.

CBF opposes Senate Bill 657 and House Bill 1261 which would severely limit the ability of citizen boards to ensure that permitting decisions are made in public view. Virginia’s citizen boards, such as the State Water Control Board and the Air Pollution Control Board, play key roles in Virginia’s balanced framework for protecting the environment by ensuring that citizens drawn from across the Commonwealth, not bureaucrats, get the final say on regulatory and permitting decisions.

Citizen boards also promote transparency by ensuring that important environmental decisions are made in full public view.

Relatedly, Senate Bill 81 seeks to block the Air Pollution Control Board from considering siting factors when evaluating projects. This legislation is in response to the Air Board’s recent denial of an air permit for a compressor station proposed for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, largely due to a failure to comply with project siting requirements in both Virginia law and legal precedent. For context, the Air Board has exercised its authority to find a proposed emissions source unsuitable for its proposed site on only two occasions—once in 1979 and the pipeline permit denial last year.

During last year’s legislative session, the General Assembly passed the Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act, which allowed Virginia to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and created the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund (CFPF), which support localities’ efforts to install projects that reduce flooding.

Unfortunately, proposed legislation in this current session (House Bill 1301 and Senate Bill 532) would repeal the Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act. CBF is urging legislators to keep Virginia in RGGI, maintain the CFPF statewide, and keep authority for the CFPF in the Natural Resources Secretariat, which has the most experience planning for and mitigating flooding.

Please join us in advocating for these issues. Bills move quickly, being heard by committees on short notice. We need your support to ensure clean-water issues are advanced and defended. Visit cbf.org/VASession stay up-to-date on our legislative issues.

General Assembly Session Updates

In December, the Chesapeake Bay Trust, in partnership with the Chesapeake Oyster Alliance, announced the approval of 13 grants in Maryland and Virginia for the Chesapeake Oyster Innovation Awards, a program supported by CBF.

This partnership is awarding $127,185 while leveraging an additional $90,000 in match, for a total of $217,185 towards accelerating oyster restoration efforts.

Virginia grant recipients include the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, Shored Up LLC, Rogue Oysters, Portsmouth Public Schools, Oyster Seed Holdings, and Lynnhaven River NOW. The funded projects all represent novel approaches to expanding the number of oysters in the Bay as well as our understanding of this keystone species.

Founded by CBF in 2018, the Chesapeake Oyster Alliance is a coalition of more than 80 partner organizations, businesses, and academic institutions committed to adding 10 billion oysters to Maryland and Virginia waters by 2025.

To learn more about the Chesapeake Oyster Alliance, please visit chesapeakeoysteralliance.org.

V I R G I N I A1108 East Main Street, Suite 1600

Richmond, VA 23219 804-780-1392

CBF_Richmond@cbf.org

H A M P T O N R O A D SBrock Environmental Center

3663 Marlin Bay Drive Virginia Beach, VA 23455

757-622-1964

C B F H E A D Q U A R T E R S Philip Merrill Environmental Center

6 Herndon Avenue, Annapolis, MD 21403 410-268-8816

Membership information: 888-SAVE-BAYC B F . O R G

CBF in the Community

A D V O C A C Y General Assembly Advocacy Legislation being considered in the

Virginia General Assembly is critical

for Chesapeake Bay restoration. Please

monitor our 2022 legislative priorities

at cbf.org/VASession then contact your

state delegate and senator to tell them

you support Bay priorities. To find out your

legislators’ contact information, visit the

General Assembly website at

whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov.

C O M M U N I T Y Webinar: Creating a Backyard Buffet Tuesday, February 8, 6:30–8:00 p.m.

Join Ann Jurczyk, Chesapeake Bay

Landscape Professional and certified

arborist, to learn how to make your yard

attractive—for humans and wildlife. Visit

cbf.org/webinars to register.

Annual Clean the Bay Day Monday, May 30–Saturday, June 4

Save the date for the 34th year of this

Virginia tradition! The 2022 event will

last six days, giving participants the

flexibility to host their own litter clean up

anytime during the week or to register and

attend a more formal cleanup at a local

park or beach. Email ctbd@cbf.org or call

757-644-4122 for more information.

Virginia’s Next Budget Should Support Clean WaterIn addition to the legislation that CBF is working on during this year’s General Assembly session (see front page), we are also advocating for funding for clean-water issues.

CBF requests that the state’s next biennial budget include $286 million for the Virginia Agriculture Cost-share Program, which helps farmers pay for projects like streamside fencing and buffers. We also support $100 million for the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund, which provides matching grants to localities for projects that reduce polluted runoff; $69 million for wastewater treatment plant upgrades; and $165 million to stop sewage overflows into the James and Potomac Rivers from antiquated sewer systems. We also urge funding of $14 million over two years for the Virginia Department of Forestry to support

its Virginia Trees for Clean Water and Urban Tree Canopy programs, as well as its New Kent Nursery.

Additionally, legislators have introduced budget amendments that will advance fisheries management in the state, including funding to hire a new staff member at the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to prepare an oyster stock assesssment, and funding to hire two scientists at the Department of Wildlife Resources to prepare a statewide mussel restoration plan.

Lastly, CBF is thrilled to see budget amendments that will revitalize Virginia’s Office of Environmental Education, by funding two new positions. These positions will be tasked with developing a statewide environmental literacy plan and coordinating

environmental education efforts with local school districts across the state.

The House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees will now deliberate on all budget items and prepare a two-year budget for consideration by the full General Assembly by the end of session.

CBF Assesses the State of the BlueprintCBF recently released an assessment of the collective progress by the three primary Bay states in meeting the pollution reductions outlined in the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint. Without significant acceleration, the Blueprint will be yet another failed effort to restore the Bay. The Blueprint is a historic federal/state plan established in 2010 to restore water quality in the region’s rivers, streams, and Chesapeake Bay. The goal is to have programs and practices in place by 2025 that will result in a restored Bay.

Virginia is largely on track to achieve its 2025 pollution-reduction targets, largely due to its investment in upgrading wastewater treatment plants. Pollution is also declining thanks to investment in conservation practices on farms, but without a major acceleration of these efforts, Virginia will not meet targets for agriculture. This is why CBF is urging state legislators to invest $286 million in the Virginia Agriculture Cost-share Program in the next state budget.

Meanwhile, pollution from Virginia’s urban and suburban areas is rising—in fact, offsetting pollution reductions in agriculture. This is why CBF urges passage of legislation to help conserve and restore tree canopy under pressure from development, as trees filter water and reduce pollution. This is also why legislators must fund the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund to support projects that filter polluted runoff.

While CBF’s recent assessment is alarming, it is not too late to support practices that will advance the Blueprint and ensure a clean Bay by 2025.

Proposed funding for the state’s next biennial budget includes money to revitalize Virginia’s Office of Environmental Education, which will help more children learn outside.

Funding to help pay for buffers along streams can help farmers reduce polluted runoff.

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