October 16, 2002

Meeting of the Commission on the Future of Virginia’s Environment

The October 15, 2002, meeting of the Commission on the Future of Virginia’s Environment, chaired by Senator Bolling, covered the following topics.

1. Department of Environmental Quality’s Report

Director Bob Burnley presented the following:

2001 Waste Report
The annual report of waste management activities in Virginia for the year 2001 is available on DEQ’s web page at http://www.deq.state.va.us/. Highlights include:

• 23.7 million tons of solid waste were managed in 2001
o 15.8 million tons were landfilled
o 2.2 million tons were incinerated
o the remainder was managed through transfer stations

• 4.8 million tons of solid waste were imported from out-of-state, which is an increase of 7.8% over 2000, and an increase of 1% from 1999.

• The statewide recycling rate was 37.8% in 2001.

• The statewide total available landfill capacity is 16.4 years (includes out-of-state waste).
o 18.3 years of municipal solid waste air space
o 8.3 years of CDD air space
o 16.2 years of non-captive industrial waste air space

Barge Regulations
The 1999 prohibition on barge transportation of solid waste was overturned in Federal court. The final barge transport regulations were suspended based on a petition involving Tangier Island, which barges its solid waste off the island for disposal. The Technical Assistance Committee (TAC) was reconvened, and an additional public comment period was held. Final action on the proposed regulation is required from the Waste Board, after which DEQ will hold an additional public comment period. Finalization of the regulation is awaiting the results from the trial scheduled for December 19-20, 2002, regarding the container stacking limit of two.

Regulated Medical Waste Regulations
Amendment 2 of the Regulated Medical Waste Regulations became effective June 19, 2002. A key provision of the new regulation is that generators must properly manage regulated medical waste. To this end, a statewide training program is underway to increase compliance, in conjunction with the hospital association.

House Bill (HB) 1205 Landfill Closures
Of the 36 HB1205 landfills on the prioritization list for closure, seven have already closed, leaving 20 HB1205 sites and 9 combination sites (HB1205/Subtitle D).

Closure Date	# of Sites	Cost to close vs. Funds Set Aside (amount deficient)
2007	8	$4,000,000
2012	15	$7,500,000
2020	6	$3,800,000

State Programmatic General Permit (SPGP) for Wetlands
This new programmatic authority becomes effective November 1, 2002, at which time the Virginia Water Protection (VWP) permit will serve in lieu of Federal wetlands permits. DEQ estimates that about 70% of wetland projects will fall under Virginia’s new SPGP program. DEQ has hired six new permit writers to support the program, bringing the statewide total wetlands staff to 34 full time positions.

2. Wetlands Litigation

John Byram, Assistant Attorney General, discussed the status of on-going wetland litigation in the Tidewater area. A Federal court found that Virginia cannot regulate state wetlands that are not also Federally protected wetlands. Virginia has appealed, and has also obtained a stay of the order pending the appeal, which should be heard this winter.

3. Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)

Alan Pollock of DEQ summarized the status of the TMDL program. The 2002 list of impaired waters, reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has 1,021 impaired waters in Virginia.

4. Tributary Strategies

Jack Frye of the Department of Conservation and Recreation discussed the status of the tributary strategies program, which is part of the Chesapeake Bay initiative.

If you have any questions regarding this Bulletin, please contact us by email or at (804) 355-4520 (Richmond) or (336) 323-0092 (Greensboro).