Environmental justice; interagency working group. (HB2074)

Introduced By

Del. Shelly Simonds (D-Newport News) with support from 7 copatrons, whose average partisan position is:

Those copatrons are Del. Lashrecse D. Aird (D-Petersburg), Del. Betsy Carr (D-Richmond), Del. Mark Keam (D-Vienna), Del. Kaye Kory (D-Falls Church), Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington), Del. Kathleen Murphy (D-McLean), Del. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Sterling)

Description

Environmental justice; interagency working group. Establishes the Interagency Environmental Justice Working Group as an advisory council in the executive branch of state government to further environmental justice in the Commonwealth and directs each of the Governor's Secretaries to designate at least one environmental justice coordinator to represent the secretariat as a member of the Working Group. The bill directs the Working Group to focus its work during its first year on the environmental justice of current air quality monitoring practices in Virginia and provides that the Working Group shall expire on July 1, 2031. The bill directs each state agency to adopt an agency-specific environmental justice policy that requires an evaluation of the environmental justice consequences of any covered agency action, requires a consideration of the environmental justice consequences or cumulative impacts of the administration of regulations, and contains other features, including public participation plans for residents of environmental justice communities and fenceline communities potentially affected by a covered agency action. Finally, the bill requires each local government adopting or reviewing a comprehensive plan to consider identifying certain environmental justice communities, objectives, and policies. Read the Bill »

Status

04/21/2021: Awaiting a Vote in the Finance and Appropriations Committee

History

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