On March 30, 2012, Virginia submitted its final Phase II Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) to officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Submission of the Final Plan follows a draft Phase II WIP previously submitted on December 15, 2011.

While social issues may have grabbed the headlines during 2012 Session of the Virginia General Assembly, some significant changes were also made on the environmental front – particularly with regard to stormwater regulation. In fact, once signed into law, these changes will alter the process through which water quality regulations are administered in Virginia at [...]

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.

This month, the Chesapeake Bay Executive Council met in Richmond to discuss, among things, progress being made on efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay. Data released that same day indicates that Virginia is on target to meet interim cleanup goals set in 2009.

On Tuesday, May 24, 2011, the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board unanimously approved the state’s final Stormwater Regulations. The Regulations 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. The changes [...]

Image via Wikipedia Phase II of Virginia’s Watershed Implementation Plan: Where are we now, where are we heading, and how do we get there? Work on Virginia’s Watershed Implementation Plan (“WIP”), specifically, the required implementation of Phase II, has begun…sort of.