Introduced in House | Passed House | Introduced in Senate | Passed Senate | Became Law |
01/06/2020 | 01/14/2020 |
State air, waste, and water boards; permit authority, appointment of members.
Removes the authority to issue, reissue, amend, or modify permits or certificates or to hear permit actions from the Air Pollution Control Board, the Waste Management Board, and the State Water Control Board and places such authority with the Department of Environmental Quality. The bill changes the composition of the three boards from appointment exclusively by the Governor to the following: two members appointed by the Governor; two members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules from a list recommended by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources; and three members appointed by the Speaker of the House from a list recommended by the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources. The appointing authority shall appoint members for the unexpired term upon a vacancy other than by expiration of a term.
20107564D2020 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. � 1. That the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) shall, in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, review the authority and processes utilized by the State Air Pollution Control Board, the Virginia Waste Management Board, and the State Water Control Board (the environmental boards) in issuing, reissuing, amending, or modifying permits and shall review (i) the timeframe and requirements regarding public comment in relation to the environmental boards; (ii) the efficiency of the Commonwealths permitting processes; (iii) the demands the environmental boards place on the staff of the Department; (iv) the average time required for issuing, reissuing, amending, or modifying permits, from the time a permit is first noticed; (v) the predictability and consistency of the permitting process; (vi) the nature and relationship of the environmental boards with local governments in the permitting process; (vii) how other states, particularly those states that participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), handle the permitting process and if those states utilize citizen boards for such purpose; (viii) the functions of citizen boards in states that participate in RGGI; (ix) the authority citizen boards have in states that participate in RGGI; (x) for a state, if any, that participates in RGGI but does not have a citizen board, who makes decisions for an individual permit; (xi) the process such states use for appeal of a permit decision and how such process is funded; and (xii) any other issues deemed relevant or appropriate by the Department in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General. The Department, in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, shall report to the Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources by December 1, 2020, with the results of the review and the Departments recommendations.
Date | Branch | Action |
---|---|---|
01/14/2020 | House | House: Assigned ACNR sub: Natural Resources |
01/06/2020 | House | House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20103260D |
01/06/2020 | House | House: Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources |