| 
By: Ann Neil Cosby.
Since May 2009, when President Obama issued Executive Order 13508: Chesapeake Bay Protection Restoration and a new federally mandated cleanup initiative for the Chesapeake Bay was born, it has been unclear what consequences might be imposed by EPA if the states did not meet the new clean up requirements. Now we know.
On December 29, 2009, [...]
By: Ann Neil Cosby.
We knew tighter federal requirements for reducing pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay were on the way, and on Wednesday, Virginia and the other Chesapeake Bay states got their first taste of what federal oversight of Bay restoration might really mean. Each of the impacted states received letters from EPA detailing tighter restrictions on what pollutants [...]
By: Jim Cornwell.
As we’ve told you before, the Department of Conservation and Resources has new restrictive stormwater regulations in the pipeline. Just this past Monday, the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board Meeting approved them for implementation. And then suspended them.
The story is that the DCR wants a little more time for public comment, for which they [...]
By: Ann Neil Cosby.
For twenty years, federal and state regulators, local governments, and citizen interest groups have been struggling with the issue of the declining health of the Chesapeake Bay. Agreements have been made – and broken. Laws have been passed, regulations promulgated, executive orders issued…and to what result? The Bay is apparently no worse off today, but [...]
By: Ann Neil Cosby.
The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is in the process of adopting significant changes to the state’s Stormwater Regulations. These changes will fundamentally alter the way stormwater from construction activities is regulated in Virginia. The changes include new technical criteria limiting the quality and quantity of discharges for new development and for redevelopment. [...]
By: Ann Neil Cosby.
Greetings and welcome to VaEnvironmentalLaw.com, which is intended to promote discussions about issues in environmental law. We hope the blog will be of interest to a wide variety or readers.
We hope that our initial commentaries will be the foundation for others to add their own ideas, opinions, and insights on the Commonwealth’s environment and land [...]