Title 10.1, Conservation

A. The Department and the State Air Pollution Control Board have the authority to consider the cumulative impact of new and proposed electric generating facilities within the Commonwealth on attainment of the national ambient air quality standards. B. The Department shall enter i…

A. The State Air Pollution Control Board, the State Water Control Board, and the Virginia Waste Management Board, in their discretion, or the Director, in his discretion, may employ mediation as defined in § 8.01-581.21, or a dispute resolution proceeding as defined in § 8.01-576…

A. The Department, with assistance from the Ombudsman for Tribal Consultation designated pursuant to § 2.2-401.01, shall develop policies and procedures, to the extent permitted by law, to ensure an opportunity for meaningful and appropriate written consultation with potentially …

In addition to the authority of the State Air Pollution Control Board, the State Water Control Board, the Virginia Waste Management Board and the Director to bring actions in the courts of the Commonwealth to enforce any law, regulation, case decision or condition of a permit or …

The Department may participate in any carbon market for which submerged aquatic vegetation restoration qualifies as an activity that generates carbon offset credits. Any revenue resulting from the sale of such credits shall be used to implement additional submerged aquatic vegeta…

The conditions, requirements, provisions, contents, powers and duties of any section, article, or chapter of the Code in effect on March 31, 1993, relating to agencies consolidated in this chapter shall apply to the Department of Environmental Quality until superseded by new legi…

A. All state agencies, boards, authorities, and commissions or any branch of the state government shall prepare and submit an environmental impact report to the Department on each major state project. For the purposes of this section, "major state project" means the acquisition o…

The Department of Transportation (VDOT) shall, as part of the environmental review it conducts for a road or highway construction project, include in an environmental impact statement a list of any existing terrestrial or aquatic wildlife corridor identified in the Wildlife Corri…

Within sixty days of the receipt of the environmental impact report by the Department, the Department shall review and make a statement to the Governor commenting on the environmental impact of each major state facility. The statement of the Department shall be available to the G…

The State Comptroller shall not authorize payments of funds from the state treasury for a major state project unless the request is accompanied by the written approval of the Governor after his consideration of the comments of the Department on the environmental impact of the fac…

The Department shall, in conjunction with other state agencies, coordinate the development of objectives, criteria and procedures to ensure the orderly preparation and evaluation of environmental impact reports required by this article. These procedures shall provide for submissi…

All departments, commissions, boards, authorities, agencies, offices and institutions within any branch of the state government shall cooperate with the Department in carrying out the purposes of this article.

A. The Department, with the assistance of the Watershed Planning and Permitting Coordination Task Force, shall undertake such efforts it deems necessary and appropriate to coordinate the watershed-level activities conducted by state and local agencies and authorities and to foste…

A. There is hereby created the Watershed Planning and Permitting Coordination Task Force, which shall be referred to in this article as the Task Force. The Task Force shall be composed of the Directors, or their designees, of the Department of Environmental Quality, the Departmen…

The Task Force may name qualified persons to advisory panels to assist it in carrying out its responsibilities. Panels shall include members representing different areas of interest and expertise in watershed planning and watershed permitting including representatives of local go…

A. The Department, the Task Force and any advisory panels appointed by the Task Force shall be guided by the following definition of watershed planning: "Watershed planning" is the process of studying the environmental and land use features of a watershed to identify those areas …

All agencies of the Commonwealth shall cooperate with the Department and the Task Force and, upon request, assist the Department and the Task Force in the performance of their efforts in coordinating and promoting watershed planning and watershed permitting.

As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Fund" means the Small Business Environmental Compliance Assistance Fund. "Small business" means a business located in Virginia that (i) employs 100 or fewer people and (ii) is a small business concern as d…

A. There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Small Business Environmental Compliance Assistance Fund, hereafter referred to as the "Fund." The Fund shall be comprised of (i) moneys appropriated to the Fund by the General Assembly…

A. Moneys in the Fund shall be used to make loans or to guarantee loans to small businesses for the purchase and installation of environmental pollution control and prevention equipment certified by the Department as meeting the following requirements: 1. The air pollution contro…

The Auditor of Public Accounts shall annually audit the accounts of the Fund when the records of the Department are audited.

Upon presentation of appropriate credentials and upon consent of the owner or custodian, the Director or his designee shall have the right to enter at any reasonable time onto any property to inspect, investigate, evaluate, conduct tests or take samples for testing as he reasonab…

Except as otherwise specified in this article, the Department may require every owner or operator of a small renewable energy project to furnish when requested such plans, specifications, and other pertinent information as may be necessary to determine the compliance status of th…

As used in this article: "Agrivoltaics" means the intentional co-location of agricultural production and solar energy generation on the same land that (i) is designed to prioritize and sustain agricultural productivity while simultaneously integrating renewable energy generation,…

A. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 10.1-1186.2:1, the Department shall develop, by regulations to be effective as soon as practicable, but not later than July 1, 2012, a permit by rule or permits by rule if it is determined by the Department that one or more such permits by r…

A. Upon submission of a complete application, the Department, after consultation with other agencies in the Secretariat of Natural and Historic Resources before authorizing the project, shall conduct an assessment of whether the application meets the requirements of the applicabl…

A. If the owner or operator of a small renewable energy project to whom the Department has authorized a permit by rule pursuant to this article is not a utility regulated pursuant to Title 56, then the State Corporation Commission shall not have jurisdiction to review the small r…

A. Any person violating or failing, neglecting, or refusing to obey any provision of this article, any regulation, case decision, or order, or any certification or permit-by-rule condition may be compelled to comply by injunction, mandamus, or other appropriate remedy. B. Without…

"Board or Boards" means the State Air Pollution Control Board, the State Water Control Board, and the Virginia Waste Management Board. "Department" means the Department of Environmental Quality. "Director" means the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality. "Environmen…

The Department may establish programs to recognize facilities and persons that have demonstrated a commitment to enhanced environmental performance and to encourage innovations in environmental protection.

A. The Director shall establish different categories of participation and the criteria and benefits for each category. Such categories shall include, but not be limited to: (i) E2 facilities, (ii) E3 facilities, and (iii) E4 facilities. B. In order to participate as an E2 facilit…

A. The Director shall develop guidelines and procedures for implementation of the program, including procedures for submitting applications, guidelines for annual reports from participating persons or facilities, and procedures for reviewing program implementation. B. Upon review…

A. Participants shall submit annual reports in a format and schedule prescribed by the Director, including information on environmental performance relevant to the program. B. The Department shall submit a report to the Governor and to the members of the House Committee on Agricu…

A. To the extent consistent with federal law and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Air Pollution Control Board, the Waste Management Board, and the State Water Control Board may grant alternative compliance methods to the regulations adopted pursuant to their author…

The Governor's Environmental Excellence Awards shall be awarded each year to recognize participants in the Virginia Environmental Excellence Program that have demonstrated extraordinary leadership, innovation, and commitment to implementation of pollution prevention practices and…

A. For purposes of this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Environmental assessment" means a voluntary evaluation of activities or facilities or of management systems related to such activities or facilities that is designed to identify noncompliance with …

To the extent consistent with requirements imposed by federal law, any person making a voluntary disclosure of information to a state or local regulatory agency regarding a violation of an environmental statute, regulation, permit or administrative order shall be accorded immunit…

As used in this chapter: "Authority" means the Virginia Resources Authority. "Bona fide prospective purchaser" means a person or a tenant of a person who acquires ownership, or proposes to acquire ownership, of real property after the release of hazardous substances occurred. "Br…

It shall be the policy of the Commonwealth to encourage remediation and restoration of brownfields by removing barriers and providing incentives and assistance whenever possible. The Department of Environmental Quality and the Economic Development Partnership and other appropriat…

A. The Virginia Waste Management Board shall promulgate regulations to allow persons who own, operate, have a security interest in or enter into a contract for the purchase of contaminated property to voluntarily remediate releases of hazardous substances, hazardous wastes, solid…

The Director may, consistent with programs developed under the federal acts, provide incentives for the voluntary disclosure of brownfield sites and related information regarding potential or known contamination at that site. To the extent consistent with federal law, any person …

A. The Director may, consistent with programs developed under the federal acts, make a determination to limit the liability of lenders, innocent purchasers or landowners, de minimis contributors or others who have grounds to claim limited responsibility for a containment or clean…

A. Any person not otherwise liable under state law or regulation, who acquires any title, security interest, or any other interest in property located in the Commonwealth listed on the National Priorities List under the jurisdiction of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Co…

A. Any local government or agency of the Commonwealth may apply to the appropriate circuit court for access to an abandoned brownfield site in order to investigate contamination, to abate any hazard caused by the improper management of substances within the jurisdiction of the Bo…

A. There is hereby created and set apart a special, permanent, perpetual and nonreverting fund to be known as the Virginia Brownfields Restoration and Economic Redevelopment Assistance Fund for the purposes of promoting the restoration and redevelopment of brownfield sites and to…

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Activity and use limitations" means restrictions or obligations created under this chapter with respect to real property. "Agency" means the Department of Environmental Quality or any other state or federa…