Environmental laws are meaningless without adequate enforcement measures to back them up. Together our recommendations look to address the status quo enforcement approaches in Virginia and increase the public’s understanding of pollution in their communities. Fenceline communities¹ across Virginia are overburdened with pollution from facilities in violation of their pollution limits. By providing DEQ adequate funding, authority, and capacity to pursue enforcement and compliance actions, especially in or near environmental justice communities, Virginians can have a cleaner and healthier environment in which to live.

Over the last two decades, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)’s budget has been cut by $37 million per year and the number of agency staff has reduced by a third. A majority of the permit fees are outdated, set in statute, and do not cover the increased volume and complexity of permits for polluters.² A lack of adequate funding, staffing, and statutory authority to robustly pursue enforcement actions (including inspections, sampling, and monitoring), hold polluters accountable, process permits, and engage the public has jeopardized the health of Virginia’s air, land, and water. In turn, the health of fenceline communities – oftentimes communities of color and low-income communities who are overburdened by a disproportionate number of pollution sources – suffer as a result.³ Without necessary legislative changes, DEQ will not be able to fulfill its mission of protecting and enhancing Virginia’s environment while promoting “the health and well-being of the citizens of the Commonwealth.”⁴

Likewise, unlike other Bay states in the region, Virginia does not require any annual enforcement and compliance reporting from DEQ. The annual reports serve as an important tool to not only inform the public about DEQ’s enforcement activities, putting a spotlight on pollution trends and noncompliant sectors, but to build awareness among state legislators about DEQ’s enforcement needs. Without this information, legislators, scientists, and other stakeholders will not be able to access key information about the state’s response to illegal pollution in their communities.

Over the last two decades, the DEQ’s budget has been cut by $37 million per year and the number of agency staff has reduced by a third.

Virginia’s DEQ needs adequate funding to ensure the agency has the capacity to pursue enforcement measures and bolster existing monitoring and compliance programs, with a focus on protecting frontline communities. In order to do so, DEQ must have the authority to respond to its budgetary and programmatic needs by increasing permit fees and having the ability to pursue certain enforcement actions, like issuing on-the-spot fines for minor violations. DEQ should have the authority to issue deterrent-based penalties that result in changed behavior from bad actors, or polluters who consistently violate the law or their permit terms.

On a similar front, the legislature must establish an Environmental Justice Enforcement Division within the Virginia Attorney General’s office to pursue enforcement actions in pollution hot spots in or near environmental justice communities. This division should work with DEQ’s recently-established Environmental Justice Office to pursue initiatives such as increased community-based air monitoring, restored ambient air toxics monitoring, and the expanded air quality monitoring for particulate matter and ozone — positively impacting Virginia’s environmental justice enforcement. DEQ can also ensure its environmental justice goals are better met by seeking out and utilizing a Virginia-based Environment Justice screening tool, similar to those utilized in other states in the region.

Lastly, the legislature must also ensure that DEQ has full funding to produce the required annual enforcement and compliance reports. These reports will allow the Virginia General Assembly and the public to better understand DEQ’s enforcement needs and compliance levels across certain pollution sectors.

1 Va. Code § 2.2-234. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title2.2/chapter2/section2.2-234.

2 Report to Governor Ralph S. Northam on Executive Order Number Six Secretary of Natural Resources. Secretary of Natural Resources Matthew J. Strickler (2018), (Accessed June 2, 2021). https://www.governor.virginia.gov/media/governorvirginiagov/media/EO-6-Final-Report-from-SNR.pdf.

Permit Fee Program Evaluation: A Report to the Honorable Ralph S. Northam, Governor and the House Committees on Appropriations, Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources, and Finance and the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and Finance. Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (January 2020). https://rga.lis.virginia.gov/Published/2020/RD7/PDF.

3 EPA Administrator Announces Agency Actions to Advance Environmental Justice. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (April 7, 2021). https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-administrator-announces-agency-actions-advance-environmental-justice.

4 About Us | Virginia DEQ. Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (Accessed June 14, 2021). https://www.deq.virginia.gov/get-involved/about-deq. Va. Code § 10.1-1183. https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0492.