August Environmental Update

The State Water Control Board held a special meeting on July 28 to discuss a proposal of the Chesterfield Economic Development Authority for a Virginia Water Protection Permit.  The Board approved the permit application which permits the filling of 10 acres of wetlands in the Meadowville Technology Park for the construction of a new industrial facility. 

The Board's future meetings are scheduled for September 22-23 and December 12-13.  Board member Joseph Nash’s term expired June 30; the Governor has not appointed his replacement yet.

 

The Air Pollution Control Board’s future meetings are scheduled for September 9 and December 5.  The Governor appointed two new members:  William H. Ferguson of Newport News and Ignacia S. Moreno of McLean.  They replace Mike Overstreet (Abingdon) and Manning Gasch (Richmond area).   

The Waste Management Board met on June 20; additional 2016 meeting dates have not been set. The Governor recently reappointed EJ Scott to the Board, along with Steven Yob (Henrico).  Yob replaces Paul Schmidt (Tidewater).

DEQ has published a few new guidance documents.  First, the Enforcement Division has published an addendum to Chapter 6 of its Civil Enforcement Manual.  The addendum adds new procedures for APA Adversarial Proceedings in response to legislation passed during the 2016 General Assembly Session (HB 462 and SB 207).  The revisions add a requirement that contact information for the DEQ staff person designated to answer questions on behalf of the agency be included in notice letters for informal fact finding proceedings.  The addendum also adds procedural requirements that DEQ and citizen boards must adhere to in responding to requests for reconsideration of formal hearings after a final 

decision from DEQ or a board. The addendum lays out what types of information DEQ may consider in evaluating a petition for rehearing, sets a 30 day written response deadline, and requires DEQ to substantiate the reasons for its denial, modification, or vacating of its prior decision. The new guidance document is available here.

The Water Division recently published new guidance regarding the Virginia Water Protection (VWP) Program General Permit Regulations.  This document provides guidance on the transition from the existing VWP general permits, which expire on Aug. 1, 2016, to the reissued general permits which became effective on Aug. 2, 2016, including guidance on permit cycles, the permit term, and the continuation of already-issued permit coverage. Specifically, the guidance establishes DEQ policy for handling VWP permit applications submitted prior to the new VWP general permit effective date (Aug. 2, 2016) and requires DEQ to process such applications under the prior regulations.  The guidance also clarifies requests for continuations and planned changes.  Such requests will be addressed depending on the date on which they were submitted to DEQ.  The guidance establishes a 10 year permit term for the General Permit, which will expire Aug. 1, 2026. The guidance is available here. 

 

Finally, DEQ published the CEDS Tanks Compliance and Registration User Manual.  DEQ’s Comprehensive Environmental Data System (CEDS) database is a repository for all agency media and program data. CEDS Tanks is DEQ’s Petroleum Storage Tanks Programs tracking database that contains underground storage tank (UST) and aboveground storage tank (AST) registration, facility, owner, inspection, compliance action, and other information.  The Manual provides DEQ staff with tank compliance, registration and data entry guidance for entering new information into the database. The manual is available here. 

Virginia's Regulations Governing the Transportation of Hazardous Materials under 9VAC20-110, incorporate by reference certain federal regulations from Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).  Each year the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) makes several changes to the federal rules regarding the transportation of hazardous materials in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Since Virginia regulations incorporate the federal regulations by reference, DEQ annually updates the date of the federal regulations it is incorporating in 9VAC20-110-110.  DEQ’s regulations now incorporate the federal regulation changes from October 1, 2015.  The new regulations go into effect in Virginia August 24. 

 

 

The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries recently proposed regulatory changes to its endangered and threatened species program to ensure that the regulations reflect the most recent federal species listings.  DGIF is taking written comments on these proposed changes through August 5.  It will also accept oral comments at its August 18 meeting.  

Facilities subject to an Industrial Stormwater VPDES permit were required to submit their second Semi-Annual DMR Submission by July 10th.  If the data in the two DMRs demonstrate the potential exceedance of the loading value in the permit, then a Chesapeake Bay TMDL Action Plan must be submitted to DEQ for approval by September 28, 2016.  Once approved, an annual report on the implementation of that plan must be submitted to DEQ by June 30, 2017.  The goal is to ensure that the permittee achieves the required phosphorus, nitrogen and total suspended solids reductions by June 30, 2024.