Lots of legislation that made it through this year’s General Assembly session touches on environmental issues.
That includes expanding access to solar power, boosting coastal marshes, optimizing the electric grid and protecting water from contaminants.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger still needs to sign all approved bills by April 13 for them to become laws.
Here’s an overview of some of the biggest pending environmental changes.
ENERGY & UTILITIES
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative: Rejoining the regional carbon market, known as RGGI, has been a hot topic at the legislature for years. Virginia lawmakers voted to enter the market in 2020, but Gov. Glenn Youngkin withdrew the state a few years later, prompting a lawsuit. This year, legislators approved a bill to rejoin.
The market is meant to cut climate pollution by requiring power plants to buy allowances for their carbon dioxide emissions. Virginia earned more than $800 million from its participation, which has been doled out for flood preparedness and energy efficiency around the state.
Optimizing the electric grid: One driver of high electricity bills is the cost of building infrastructure to support increased demand such as transmission lines and utility poles. Legislation will require Dominion Energy and regulators to establish “grid utilization” metrics, essentially taking stock of energy infrastructure and how it can be used to the fullest before needing to build more.
The goal is to reduce power bills by eliminating waste in the grid system. The law will make Virginia the first in the nation to pursue the concept, which is gaining traction amid concerns about energy affordability.
"When it comes to the grid, we've got room to wiggle," bill sponsor Del. Destiny LeVere Bolling previously told WHRO News partner Virginia Public Media. "It's not being utilized to its fullest extent in each part of the commonwealth."
Solar energy:
- Virginia is the second U.S. state, after Utah, to approve “balcony solar,” which allows people to use small “plug-in” solar panels on balconies or other building exteriors. The bill prevents utilities from charging fees for these portable solar devices or requiring prior approval, and prevents landlords from prohibiting them. “While they cannot power the household’s entire energy needs, the systems can moderately lower the need for purchasing electricity from the grid, thereby reducing energy costs,” the nonprofit Chesapeake Climate Action Network said in a statement. Balcony solar systems aren’t yet widely available in the U.S., but the more states approve the concept, the larger the market will become, said Matt Kirby, campaign manager with the nonprofit Permit Power. In the future, it could be as easy as “going to a Costco, a Home Depot, buying a panel, bringing it home, plugging it into your outlet and immediately seeing energy savings.”
- Lawmakers have expanded the capacity of shared solar in Virginia, which allows people to subscribe to a small-scale solar project off-site. Community solar has slowly been growing after a pilot program several years ago, but was capped at 350 total megawatts added to the grid. The new legislation will more than double that amount, opening the door for more than a dozen community solar projects that have been on a waitlist.
- New legislation streamlines permitting for rooftop solar to make it easier for people to install home systems. About 15% of such projects in Virginia are canceled because of costly permitting delays, said Kirby with Permit Power. The new law will create a statewide online Smart Solar Permitting Platform. “It's the same day. They'll have their permit, they'll be done with that process, and then the installer will be able to move forward quickly,” he said.
- After failed attempts at previous sessions, a controversial bill to reform the way localities review solar farms is moving to the governor’s desk. It “bans bans” on utility-scale solar projects, requiring local governments to review each application rather than prohibiting them outright. Guidelines for such projects include setback distances and measures to address stormwater runoff. The law would also require local officials to report their decision on large solar farms to state regulators, listing their reason for any denials. Lawmakers say these “solar siting” changes are needed to overcome local community opposition that’s stalling large solar projects. But many localities argue it takes away their control over what happens in their jurisdictions.
- One bill allows local governments to require developers to install a solar panel canopy in certain parking lots.
Storing energy: Legislation expands allowances for battery energy storage projects at commercial solar facilities and increases utilities’ targets for energy storage capacity to meet by 2045 under the Virginia Clean Economy Act. Experts say storing energy for later use is a crucial way to ensure reliable electricity using renewable sources, such as wind and solar, which fluctuate depending on weather conditions.
Energy efficiency to reduce bills: One bill prompts Dominion to create a pilot, modeled after the Energy Efficiency Institute’s Pay As You Save program, to help low-income, elderly and disabled people reduce energy use through strategies such as HVAC upgrades. Another bill similarly establishes an Income-Qualified Energy Efficiency and Weatherization Task Force to help customers access existing energy efficiency programs.
Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank: The new program would finance projects to build clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through loans, grants and tax credits.
Geothermal energy: A bill will require Dominion to get a certain amount of its renewable energy portfolio from geothermal heating and cooling systems, which reduce households’ reliance on the electric grid. Sen. Scott Surovell said on the Senate floor that it’s “designed to jumpstart, turbocharge, our geothermal heating and cooling industry.” These systems “use the constant temperature of the shallow earth” to heat and cool buildings, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
WATER, WETLANDS & WILDLIFE
Beneficial use of dredged material: Legislation expands how officials can use dredged material, the muddy mix scooped from the bottom of waterways during shipping channel maintenance, which was historically dumped, such as at Craney Island in Portsmouth. Current code includes beach nourishment; the new language will add projects such as restoring wetlands and seagrass and stabilizing shorelines. Leaders on Tangier Island, for example, have pushed to get dredged material to help rebuild eroding land.
Marsh migration: An approved bill requires the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan to identify areas where marshes can migrate in the face of sea level rise. Coastal Virginia is expected to lose a majority of its tidal wetlands by the end of this century, largely from development and drowning amid rising waters. Allowing marsh grasses to migrate inland is a key way to preserve them, scientists say.
Preserving wetlands: Another bill requires the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to ensure no net loss of wetland acreage when permitting development or mitigation projects.
Injecting waste underground: Eastern Shore Del. Rob Bloxom successfully pushed a bill to prohibit bioslurry injections in areas with protected groundwater. The legislation was prompted by a Texas company’s attempt to inject chicken waste by drilling deep below the Yorktown-Eastover aquifer system, which is the Shore’s sole source of drinking water. The company withdrew the proposal after strong pushback from residents.
PFAS contamination: Several pieces of legislation target the class of manmade chemicals known as forever chemicals because of their persistence in the environment. One bill requires sewage plants to monitor and report on PFAS in wastewater. Similarly, other bills grant local governments the ability to test for forever chemicals in sewage sludge and require testing for sewage sludge used in fertilizer.
Trees: Legislation expands the authority of local governments to require builders to plant or replace trees during the development process. Old Dominion University’s Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience will also lead a workgroup to review tree canopy laws across the state.
Habitat Policy Oversight Committee: This new body will advise the Virginia Marine Resources Commission on how to best manage natural resources, including considering flood prevention and habitat improvements to “provide a clear, consistent and science-based path to granting permits.”
DATA CENTERS
Water use: A bill will require utilities to regularly report how much water goes to data centers, including breaking down how much is reclaimed, such as from treated wastewater, versus taken from drinking water systems. Data centers often require large amounts of water to cool computer equipment, prompting community concerns.
Air pollution: Legislation requires state officials to deny air permits for diesel-powered generators at data centers unless they meet strict EPA emissions standards.
Preserving energy: One bill prompts the state to explore how data centers can reclaim “waste heat” leftover from the process used to cool the facilities. Some research, including at a data center in Ashburn, shows emerging technology can recover and reuse more than 60% of “waste heat,” which also cuts energy bills for data center operators.
Managing power demand: Legislation directs utilities and regulators to develop a “voluntary demand flexibility program” for high-energy users such as data centers. The goal is to ease stress on the electric grid at peak times by data centers either reducing their demand or offsetting it with reduced demand elsewhere, such as by paying households to get solar panels or energy-efficient systems.
HEALTH & CLIMATE IMPACTS
Protecting workers from heat exhaustion: The General Assembly approved legislation that will require new standards for employers to protect indoor and outdoor workers from dangerous extreme heat, including mandatory rest, water and shade.
Resilient Virginia funding: A bill stipulates that state officials prioritize loans and grants for projects in low-income areas and that use nature-based solutions to reduce flooding.
Environmental justice: A bill from Newport News Del. Shelly Simonds will require large localities to adopt an environmental justice strategy when updating their comprehensive plans. That strategy should “identify objectives and policies to reduce health risks, to promote civic engagement, and to prioritize improvements and programs that address the needs of environmental justice and fenceline communities,” which are disproportionately burdened by industrial facilities and pollution.
