VA General Assembly 2025

The Rappahannock River watershed is experiencing a boom in data center project applications and approvals. These projects are vital for our digital lifestyle and can potentially provide localities with financial windfalls but there is a lack of incentives and standards to protect Virginia’s natural resources while allowing for the proper siting of these industrial facilities. Additionally, there is a lack of transparency regarding disclosure of water and power usage.

Budget and Policy Recommendations

• Support for SB899 which authorizes a locality to include in its zoning ordinance provisions for (i) requiring proposed data center developments to submit water use estimates and (ii) considering water use when making rezoning and special use permit decisions related to data center development.  STATUS:  Local Gov’t
• Support for SB923 which prohibits the Department of Environmental Quality from issuing a Virginia Water Protection Permit for a surface water withdrawal if more than five percent of the nonconsumptive volume of such withdrawal will be returned to a different major river basin, as defined in the bill. The bill clarifies that such prohibition does not apply to any lawful withdrawal in existence on July 1, 2025.  STATUS: ACNR
• Support for SB which authorizes DEQ to set up a permitting program to govern Resource Intensive Facilities.  STATUS: TBD

Virginia’s environmental challenges require future generations to be knowledgeable about conservation strategies and environmental issues. Virginia’s environmental literacy is primarily advanced through the Virginia Standards of Learning concepts and community partnerships with the schools. Many school districts in Virginia lack access to necessary curriculum resources, funding, and professional development opportunities. Under-resourced schools often struggle to provide students with effective environmental education programs, including meaningful watershed education experiences (MWEEs), which allow students to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges facing their local watersheds. Increasing access to funding and training can lead to a more engaged and environmentally literate community, ultimately contributing to the well-being of Virginia’s natural resources and residents. Increased and sustained funding is crucial to supporting environmental literacy programs.

Budget and Policy Recommendations

• Support for increasing funds for environmental literacy programming to $1,000,000 in funds (currently $250k) from the Governor’s budget for competitive grants to provide Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEE) to Virginia’s students.

Our Rappahannock River fisheries are important both culturally and economically to the people of the river basin. Virginia’s fisheries managers continue to struggle with managing and rebuilding fish populations, including species such as blue crab, river herring, American shad, striped bass, menhaden, and sturgeon. The growing prevalence of new land uses and the impacts of climate change necessitate prioritizing investment in better understanding the cumulative impacts of these changes on our iconic fisheries.
As localities move toward utilizing surface water to meet future water needs more surface water intake facilities will be installed. These surface water withdrawals kill billions of fish, shellfish, eggs, and larvae each year through impingement (organisms being pinned against mesh screens because of strong withdrawal velocity) or entrainment (organisms that go through a facility’s water system because mesh size is too large). This chronic mortality threat is studied on a case-by-case basis but we lack data on the cumulative effects such withdrawals have on aquatic fauna mortality and water quality.

Budget and Policy Recommendations:

• • • Support for HB1908/SB930 which requires the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) to study the cumulative impacts of surface water intakes on the mortality of aquatic fauna and water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and its major Virginia tributaries. STATUS:
    • Support for budget amendment XXXX  which directs the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) in collaboration with the Marine Resources Commission and certain stakeholders to conduct a three-year study of the ecology, fishery impacts, and economic importance of the Atlantic menhaden population in the waters of the Commonwealth. STATUS: 

• Stormwater runoff from urban and suburban areas is the fastest-growing source of pollution to our water and the main reason many of our urban streams are impaired. This growth is largely caused by the expansion of our built environment and the impervious surfaces — parking lots, roofs, and roads — that carry more polluted runoff to our waterways. With more intense rain- fall events on the horizon as a result of climate change, untreated stormwater may exacerbate dangerous and costly flooding. Virginia’s plan to clean up the Chesapeake Bay calls for strong investments in better stormwater control to protect clean water and frontline communities.

  Agriculture is Virginia’s largest industry by many metrics. It also represents the largest

  source of nutrient and sediment pollution reaching Virginia’s local streams, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay. Fortunately, this source of pollution is declining thanks to increased investments in agricultural best management practices that improve water quality. The Virginia Agricultural Cost Share Program (VACS) funds the implementation of a wide suite of agricultural practices that reduce pollution while enhancing farm productivity. Virginia should follow through on its commitment to fully fund this impactful program.

  Budget & Policy Recommendations:

  • Support for TBD funds per year to the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF)
  • Continued support for the $4 million in funds allocated to the Virginia Conservation Assistance Program (VCAP). This program provides cost-share assistance for smaller-scale residential and commercial projects to reduce stormwater runoff and erosion by utilizing best management practices such as rain gardens, conservation landscaping, and living shorelines. 
  • Support for $TBD million for Virginia Agricultural Cost-Share (VACS) Program as proposed in the Governor’s budget
  • Support for $TBD million in the Water Quality Improvement Fund which funds wastewater treatment upgrades for localities