Virginia's General Assembly Completes Historic Session for Resilience Needs
Virginia is Now Part of the Climate Change Solution
The 2020 General Assembly session adjourned sine die on April 22, celebrating Earth Day with a surprising record of accomplishments on the resilience and climate adaptation front.
VIRGINIA ADAPTATION FUNDING AT LAST
HB 981 Enactment of this bill was the most significant environmental accomplishment of the session – perhaps of the last few years. The law has Virginia joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a market-based compact among the New England and Mid-Atlantic states to reduce CO2 emissions. The auction process for CO2 allowances generates funding, which will be allocated in Virginia for low-income energy efficiency programs (50% of funds) and for the newly reconstituted Community Flood Preparedness Fund (45% of funds).
This program has the potential to generate tens of millions of dollars for flood protection and sea level rise adaptation efforts in Virginia. Provisions in the law also allow the funds to be used for studies, like long-overdue updates of rainfall intensity estimates for Virginia and local government resilience plans.
CLIMATE CHANGE MADE PART OF SHORELINE CONSERVATION
HB 504 was enacted to modify the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, a statute that regulates activity in the zone behind wetlands. Established as a water quality program, it was changed by Governor Northam to include “coastal resilience and adaptation to sea-level rise and climate change” as one of the purposes of the Act. This change will trigger new regulations and could provide Virginia localities with a new adaptation tool.
LIVING SHORELINES MADE PRIMARY MEANS OF EROSION CONTROL & SEA LEVEL RISE MADE PART OF WETLANDS PERMITTING
SB 776 makes living shorelines the default option for shoreline erosion control unless the applicant can show that the living shoreline will not work on the specific location. This will increase the use of these nature-based shorelines across the Commonwealth. Another significant provision in the bill requires the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) to update standards for wetlands permits, taking climate change impacts into account on each wetland permit application. The provision also calls for the Commission to update the wetlands permit guidelines, last re-written in 1993! A letter to local wetlands boards on these changes was sent by VMRC.
ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOW A MISSION OF VIRGINIA’S DEQ
HB 1164 adds climate change to the purposes of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) by requiring the agency develop and implement policy and regulatory approaches to reduce climate pollution and promote climate resilience in the Commonwealth. The bill also requires that climate impacts and climate resilience are considered across all DEQ programs and permitting processes.
CREATING A “CHIEF RESILIENCE OFFICER” TO LEAD VIRGINIA’S ADAPTATION EFFORTS
HB 1313 creates a “Chief Resilience Officer” position in Virginia government to lead the state’s adaptation and resilience efforts. Jointly with the Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection, this person will coordinate flooding and adaptation policy across the state agencies to deal with statewide resilience needs. This attempts to get all of government aligned around Virginia’s resilience needs.
Despite these record accomplishments there was one significant setback.
LEGISLATURE KILLS FLOOD RISK DISCLOSURE LEGISLATION
HB 858 would have required the owner of a resident to disclose to potential buyers that the property is located in a special flood hazard area (100-year floodplain). The bill did not require disclosure of prior flood damage, just that the residence was in the high risk flood zones. The real estate lobby killed the bill in subcommittee.