By Brad Swanson: Virginia’s citizen boards will retain control over pollution emitters for at least another year as a bill to transfer this authority to a state agency has been downgraded to require passage by two consecutive annual legislatures. In the interim between the current session and the next, beginning in Jan. 2021, the bill would require the state Department…
By Bob Burnley: A current bill in the Virginia House would seriously weaken environmental protection by transferring power from citizen boards to a state agency. This is a terrible idea. I should know — I am a former director of that agency. When I served in 2002-2006 as director of the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), I willingly followed…
By Roberta Kellam and Dr. Vivian Thomson: Ed. Note: The authors formerly served on state environmental regulatory boards. Their views are personal. Gov. Northam has failed the citizens of Virginia with his sudden decision to appoint two new members to the State Air Pollution Control Board just as the board is considering a controversial permit for a natural gas pipeline compressor…