The
2016 General Assembly Session kicked off last week in Richmond. The James River
Association is working hard to protect our river and watershed, but we need
your help!
Below are our key priorities for this session. Join our Action Network to stay
up-to-date and involved in the coming weeks.
In order to
reach the James River Association’s goals for a fully healthy James River and
fulfill Virginia’s constitutional commitment to protect our waterways, we urge your
support of the following critical actions:
Support Water Quality and Land Conservation Funding
Virginia has made significant investments in water quality and land conservation over the last two decades resulting in major pollution reductions and improvements to local water quality. In order to keep Virginia on track with meeting restoration goals for the James, continued investment is necessary. Therefore, we will be strongly supporting Water Quality and Land Conservation funding.
Support Proper Coal Ash Pond Closure (Senate Bill 537)
The
James River watershed is home to coal ash ponds capable of holding five billion
gallons of coal ash. Each pond in the watershed is bordering the river or one
of its tributaries. Coal ash, which is a waste product of the electricity
generation process, contains toxics such as arsenic, lead and mercury. Simply
capping coal ash ponds in place without a liner, as currently proposed, does
not stop the potential of groundwater contamination or pollution leaking in to
surface waters. Every North Carolina pond that has been tested has been shown
to be contaminating the surrounding groundwater. Despite this track record of
contamination, Virginia’s code does not require lining, capping and long-term
monitoring for these facilities. Senate Bill 537 would require that a liner be
installed which will stop the potential for groundwater contamination and provide
protection to Virginia’s waterways. The
bill also allows power generating companies to recover the costs for the safe
closure of coal ash ponds.
Support Swifter Spill Notification (Senate
Bill 581 & House Bill 977)
Current law requires the
spill of a dangerous substance be reported within 24 hours to the Department of
Environmental Quality. We believe that this timeline leaves our waterways,
citizens and economy at risk. This bill accelerates that timeline to 12 hours which
we believe enhances public notification and better protects us all.
Support Proper Menhaden Management (Senate
Bill 98 & House Bill 150)
Menhaden have been
called "the most important fish in the sea." Menhaden are both filter
feeders and a primary food source for striped bass (rockfish), bluefish,
sharks, ospreys, brown pelicans, and dolphin. Beyond its ecological importance,
the menhaden fishery is very important economically to the Commonwealth,
supporting hundreds of jobs. The menhaden fishery is also the only fishery in
the Commonwealth that is currently managed by the General Assembly – all others
are managed by experienced fishery professionals at the Virginia Marine
Resources Commission (VMRC). We support
this bill because it transfers management
of the menhaden fishery from the General Assembly to the fishery
professionals at the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC).
