The Virginia Conservation Network tracked over 300 pieces of legislation and took a position on 118 bills this session. To see the status of all of VCN’s tracked legislation and the policy outcomes, see our updated Bill Tracker. 

VCN took a position on 23 bills dealing with clean water or flood resilience policy this session, with opposition to 9 bills and support for 14 bills. With advocacy from our Partners, we were able to move from “oppose” to “neutral” on 5 of these bills. After favorable amendments, all remaining opposed bills were defeated this session, and 5 of our supported bills are on their way to becoming law! See the legislation and talking points for these bills in our Water Bill Tracker below.

In the 11th hour and with incredible advocacy from our Partners, we defeated a bill that would remove regulatory guardrails to clear-cut forests! Creating exemptions for the harvesting of forest crops is a big threat to Virginia’s natural resources. The exemption bill (HB2282) would have allowed developers to clear-cut forests without abiding by state erosion and stormwater management regulations – policies that are in place to protect our water, land, and wildlife.

Thank you to our Partners at Chesapeake Bay Foundation for rallying support to defeat this bad bill!

Trees along the James River at Columbia. Photo by Fish Ed

The state budget significantly influences Virgnia’s water quality. Virginia has effective plans to reduce the pollutants entering our creeks, streams, and rivers that ultimately make their way to the bay. These proven programs simply need sufficient funding. 

Virginia is currently in the middle of its two-year budget cycle. The current is the biggest investment ever seen for the Chesapeake Bay, including a billion dollars for clean water. The Governor proposed even more investments in his proposed amendments that have not yet been adopted.

The legislature typically passes amendments to the two-year budget. However, this year the legislature adjourned without making major updates to the budget leaving $3 billion in new revenue unspent. As such, it will be necessary for the selected conferees from the Senate and House Appropriations Committees to reconvene in order to continue negotiations toward reaching a budget compromise for the Governor’s review. 

See our budget positions and their status in the budget process through the linked Budget Analysis on our Bill Tracker.

Last year, Virginia invested a historic $1 billion in funding to restore the Chesapeake Bay to help Virginia meet the 2025 Bay cleanup deadline. We opposed SB1129 as it arbitrarily delayed Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan goals by 5 years. In the end, our Partners reached a compromise to delay the deadline only until 2028. This compromise provides farmers additional breathing room to meet their goals due to impacts caused by the pandemic but keeps the fundamentals of the cleanup plan in place. The compromise also retains regulatory backstops to prevent backsliding and develops a workgroup to report the Plan’s progress to General Assembly agriculture committees annually.

VCN also supported the passage of policy to further support farmers meet their Bay cleanup goals:

• HB1660 & SB1239 extend the Dairy Margin Coverage Premium Assistance Program past the current 2023 deadline. The continuation of this program will offer financial relief to Virginia’s dairy farmers while encouraging agricultural best management practices that improve water quality.

Thank you to our Partners at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley, and many others for advocating for the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

While legislation is urgently needed to reduce the significant increase of plastics being found in our bodies, environment, and public waters, all of our supported bills to protect Virginia communities from the harms of plastic pollution were defeated this year. However, this fight is far from over, and we hope to see legislation in the future that will:

• Study the amount of microplastics found in Virginia’s drinking water
• Halt the use of single-use plastics and styrofoam by state agencies
• Allow localities to prohibit the use of single-use plastics

Thank you to Environment Virginia and Clean Virginia Waterways for advocating for plastic reduction.

Photo by Angela Hollowell.

Lowering exposure and concentration of toxic chemicals through legislation is critical to protect our drinking water, soil & crops, livestock, and public health. This session, legislators considered several bills to study or reduce the amount of dangerous, cancer-causing chemicals such as cyanide, PAHs, and PFAS in our environment. Ultimately, only one of these bills passed which targets PFAS, a “forever chemical” that is toxic, bioaccumulative, and extremely persistent man-made chemicals:

• HB2189 will require industries using PFAS to test for the prevalence of PFAS in waste streams if the chemical is being used and/or disposed into public waters. It also requires those using PFAS to submit the results of PFAS levels if it is detected. 

Reducing toxic chemicals in Virginia’s drinking water, breathing air, and bodies has been and will continue to be a goal of the Virginia Conservation Network. Thank you to our Partners at Appalachian Voices, The Virginia Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, and James River Association for your leadership on these bills.

See policy reviews for our other issues areas from the 2023 General Assembly session below: