…of pollution loads that is. Governor McDonnell just announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 3 has awarded Virginia their “Biggest Loser” for ranking first in the region and second in the nation for reducing nitrogen pollution as reported through the Clean Water Act nonpoint source program. This means Virginia has prevented 2.5 million [...]

On May 30, 2012, the EPA forwarded its Evaluation of Virginia’s Final Phase  II Watershed Implementation Plan and 2012-2013 Milestone to Douglas Domenech, Secretary of Natural Resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Virginia’s Phase II Watershed Improvement Plan was submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on March 30, 2012, as discussed here and here. The formal public comment period on the plan will conclude on May 31.

This week, I had the pleasure of attending the 23rd Annual Environment Virginia Symposium, hosted by the VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics. As in years past, the symposium was topical, thought-provoking, and included a wealth of information on a variety of environmental topics.

Last week, Virginia submitted its 2012-2013 Chesapeake Bay Milestones to the Environmental Protection Agency. They will be available shortly on the Virginia Bay TMDL website at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/vabaytmdl/index.shtml. The milestones were required by EPA to gauge the effectiveness of Virginia’s initial efforts in implementing strategies intended to meet the pollution load requirements established for the Chesapeake [...]

It may not have the same bling as five golden rings, but to EPA, Virginia’s draft Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan (“WIP”) should be just what it wanted. In accordance with EPA’s designated schedule, Virginia presented the agency with its Draft Plan on December 15, 2011.