ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 18, 1996 TAG: 9603190036
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: The Green Scene
SOURCE: CATHRYN MCCUE
Virginia environmentalists are generally pleased with the results of this year's General Assembly, particularly the passage of "citizen standing" legislation and a bill that moves toward faster cleanup of tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay.
The legislature also passed a healthy budget for the state's natural resource protection programs, they say.
The legislature replaced all of the funding that Gov. George Allen had cut in his proposed budget, including $600,000 each year of the biennium for the Natural Heritage program, which inventories threatened and endangered species. About $585,000 was restored to the dam safety and flood management program, and $59,000 for the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.
In addition, the legislators earmarked new money, about $25,000 per year, for the Izaak Walton League, Virginia chapter, to initiate a volunteer water-quality monitoring program.
The bills that made it through both houses now go before the governor, who has until the first week of April to veto, amend or sign them into law.
The final status of some key environmental bills follows:
nCitizen Standing - passed. Allows more citizens, localities and businesses to sue the Department of Environmental Quality over decisions on water and air pollution permits.
nAbandoned Waste Site Authority - failed. Would have provided a funding mechanism to begin cleaning up the state's 2,000 "abandoned" dumps. The notorious Kim-Stan landfill in Alleghany County tops the list and could cost more than $10 million to clean up. A substitute measure did pass, which allows government officials to seek court permission to access abandoned dumps to investigate or remedy contamination.
nShooting Preserves - carried over to next year. Would have banned future shooting preserves - where hunters can shoot captive-bred goats, boars, sheep and other animals - and required the three existing ones in the state, including Boar Walla in Alleghany County, to shut down in the next five years.
nWolf Hybrids - carried over. Would have banned Virginians from acquiring wolf hybrids. All current owners would have been required to register and neuter all their wolf hybrids; the ultimate aim was to eventually eradicate the breed in Virginia.
nAgricultural Stewardship - passed. Allows the state to investigate complaints that agricultural activities are causing or will cause pollution. Owners must submit a "stewardship plan" and correct any problems within 18 months. The bill was the result of discussions between agricultural lobbyists, environmentalists and Soil and Water Conservation Districts.
nToxic Management - carried over. Would have required DEQ to establish regulations to control toxic pollution in water discharges. DEQ now administers such regulations, but is proposing to repeal the regulation in favor of more flexible "guidance" documents.
nChesapeake Tributaries - passed. Requires the Allen administration to move faster on cleaning up rivers that empty into the Chesapeake Bay. Virginia has not complied with a 1993 joint-agreement with Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., to extend Bay cleanup programs to several rivers. Under the bill, cleanup plans would be due Jan. 1, 1997, for the Potomac River and one year later for other major tributaries.
nGeneral Permits - passed. Requires DEQ to set up a technical advisory council involving all stakeholders of a proposed general permit regulation. (General permits are issued for a whole segment of industry, such as seafood processors, rather than being tailored to individual facilities.) Also requires the DEQ to consider public comment and hold a public hearing before passing a general permit regulation.
For more information about the legislative session's environmental measures, call the Virginia Conservation Network at (804) 644-0283, or call your local legislators. For those of you in cyberspace, the General Assembly's home page address: http://www.state.va.us/dlas
/welcome/htm.
Water-quality hearing|
The State Water Control Board will hold a public hearing March 26 in Wytheville on proposed water quality standards. The board proposes to update classifications of state trout waters and public water supplies, and to change language related to the triennial review of water quality standards. Written comments will be accepted by the Department of Environmental Quality through April 22. Call Elleanore Daub at the DEQ for more information: (804) 698-4111.
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB