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A Preview of the 2009 Virginia General Assembly Session

by Jayme Hill, Assistant Director for Legislation & Development, Sierra Club, Virginia Chapter

The Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, as an active member of the Virginia Conservation Network’s legislative committee, has been working diligently with local, state and regional environmental allies on developing issue statements and recommendations for legislative action through the General Assembly’s 2009 session. These statement papers will be included in the 2009 Virginia Conservation Briefing Book and distributed to each member of the General Assembly. A multitude of the Commonwealth’s environmental issues are being considered and thoroughly discussed throughout the VCN legislative committee.

With so many discussions about energy generation, transmission and consumer usage in Virginia, the environmental community will be seeking proactive solutions through legislation to influence the future of energy-related policies. We anticipate the Briefing Book will highlight energy issues related to:

• Seeking rapid, effective progress towards a sustainable energy future by combating the causes of  global warming;
• Establishing real, ambitious targets for meeting specified percentages of the State’s energy needs through energy efficiency mandates;  including an Energy Efficiency Resource Standard and other means to reduce electricity demand;
• Supplementing state funds with the federal funds for low-income energy assistance and weatherization programs;
• Urging support for a continued moratorium on offshore drilling;
• pursuing a mandatory Renewable Energy Standard;

The topic of land-use is one with which many Virginians actively concerned. As more and more of our State’s ‘green space’ and historical lands are threatened by developments, it is with growing importance that this topic remains on the General Assembly’s agenda. The environmental community will be advocating:

• Maintaining current funding and incentives for State programs such as: Land Preservation Tax Credit, local purchase of development rights program, and the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation;
• Ensuring no action towards mining uranium in Virginia is taken unless reliable, comparative data is offered by its proponents.
• Maintaining the existing profers system to insure that developers pay the costs of local infrastructure related to new development and not passing these costs onto taxpayers.

In an effort to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural lands that enter Virginia’s rivers and eventually empty into the Chesapeake Bay, legislative action is needed to maintain fund allocation the Natural Resources Commitment Fund assisting farmers with technical guidance and the costs of installing Best Management Practices.

As our State’s population grows, the continuing need to assess transportation systems remains a vital issue to circumvent environmental damage and wasteful spending. The Briefing Book will discuss:                      

• Improving the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 to adequately serve the public interest and expanding public scrutiny and participation;
• Shifting the focus of Virginia’s Department of Transportation from new road projects to include an enhanced decision-making process, stronger performance standards in planning and provisions for smart growth and public transportation.

Just as the environmental community has been working to identify legislative opportunities to improve the citizenry’s quality of life and sustaining the health of our State’s environment, other special interests will have an agenda of their own. So although we will be working to move our agenda forward, time will also be spent opposing legislative action that adversely affects the Commonwealth. With an anticipated $2.5 billion deficit in the State budget and this year’s General Assembly session lasting only 45 days, it will be an interesting time at the Capitol.

The 2009 Regular Session convenes on Wednesday, January 14^th, 2009. If you are interested participating in the Chapter’s legislative efforts, please contact Jayme Hill at 804.225.9113 x103.