State Legislature and General Assembly

Structure and Authority

The Virginia General Assembly is the state's two chamber legislative body, composed of the 100-member House of Delegates and the 40-member Senate. The General Assembly consists of elected representatives from an equal number of member districts across the commonwealth of Virginia.

The Virginia General Assembly is a part-time legislature, meaning that elected members convene for a period of only a few months per year in order to debate and pass legislation: 30 days in odd-numbered years, and 60 days in even years (though members may “pre-file” legislation prior to the session). Because of the short sessions, members scramble to pass a years’ worth of statutes and regulations in only a few weeks.

2015 Virginia State House - Richmond, Virginia 01

As the main lawmaking authority, the VA General Assembly has the power to pass laws, designate funding, and shape regulatory frameworks that affect environmental quality, including issues related to air pollution and industrial activity.

• Statutory authority: passing laws that define regulatory duties, standards, and enforcement mechanisms
• Budget authority: designating funding to agencies (such as DEQ, health departments, monitoring programs, or environmental justice initiatives).
  • Virginia operates under a two-year budget cycle. Each year the Governor prepares the proposed budget bill for introduction by the General Assembly. The bill is initially adopted in even-numbered years and amended in odd-numbered years.
• Mandating agency actions: requiring state agencies to use environmental justice in their decision-making (see EJA, 2020 below), study pollution impacts, set up monitoring, or issue reports.
• Under Virginia’s “Dillon’s Rule,” local governments only have powers granted explicitly by the state, which means state level action is essential for local environmental protections.
  • See also: Norfolk City Council
  • See also: Newport News City Council
  • See also: State Regulations

Addressing Environmental Justice

Environmental Justice Act (2020)

In 2020, the General Assembly passed the Virginia Environmental Justice Act of 2020 (Va. Code § 2.2-234), which requires that all state agencies integrate environmental justice (EJ) considerations into their decision-making.

The Act defines “environmental justice" as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, faith, disability, national origin, or income, regarding the development, implementation, or enforcement of any environmental law, regulation, or policy”

Additionally, it defines meaningful involvement as both “(i) affected and vulnerable community residents have access and opportunities to participate in the full cycle of the decision-making process about a proposed activity that will affect their environment or health and (ii) decision-makers will seek out and consider such participation, allowing the views and perspectives of community residents to shape and influence the decision.”

The Act declares a Commonwealth policy to promote EJ, with a focus on equity for fenceline communities (defined as an “area that contains all or part of a low-income community or community of color and that presents an increased health risk to its residents due to its proximity to a major source of pollution”). It requires that state agencies integrate environmental justice into their decision-making processes, meaning that when agencies consider permits, infrastructure siting, project approvals, contracts, or regulations, they should evaluate how decisions affect EJ communities. Agencies are expected to submit EJ impact reports, analyze disproportionately adverse impacts, and propose mitigation or avoidance measures. The Act also supports data transparency, mapping, and tools to help identify EJ populations and cumulative impacts.

Passage

In the state Senate, the bill was introduced by Senator Ghazala Hashmi (D), from the 15th district (located just south of Richmond) as SB406. In the House of Delegates, Delegate Mark Keam from the 35th district (Northwestern Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley) introduced HB704.

The bill was then signed into law by Governor Ralph Northam on April 22, 2020.

Limitations

While symbolically important, the Act lacks concrete enforcement mechanisms or accountability structures. While symbolically powerful, the 2020 Act lacked strong enforcement or accountability mechanisms:

• It does not establish what must be considered EJ issues, nor require agencies to block or modify actions solely on EJ grounds. The impact reports and assessments are meant to be advisory, not mandatory triggers of action.
• There is no centralized enforcement body or penalty regime linked to non-compliance by agencies. In practice, concerns raised by Black and marginalized communities may be included rhetorically, but without firm teeth to force changes or prevent inequality in implementation.

See also: Institutionalization of Environmental Justice in Virginia

HB 2074 (Omnibus Environmental Justice Bill) (2021)  

• Sponsored by Shelly Simonds (D) from 70th District
• Failed to pass house
• Builds on the Virginia Environmental Justice Act
• Would have authorized agencies when making environmental-related decisions to adopt policies designed to mitigate disproportionately adverse and cumulative environmental impacts on environmental justice communities at the state and local level over the next two years
• Also would have codified the EJ Interagency Working Group, (previously only established via executive order) and authorized air monitoring studies in VA.

SB 1318 (Virginia Environmental Justice Act) (2021)

• Sponsored by Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D - 15th), Sen. Jennifer Boysko (D - 38th), and Sen. Jennifer McClellan (D - 9th)
• Died in committee
• Would have established the Interagency Environmental Justice Working Group as an advisory council in the executive branch of state government (previously only established via executive order) and directed each of the Governor's Secretaries to designate at least one environmental justice coordinator to represent the secretariat as a member of the Working Group. The bill provided that the Working Group shall expire on July 1, 2031.

The Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act (2020)

• Establishes Virginia’s participation in a RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative) and allocates auction revenues for flood preparedness and resilience programs.
• Focuses on greenhouse-gas reduction, allowance auctions, and resiliency funding; they do not specifically regulate coal dust or particulate emissions. However, most of the money from the CFPF grants go to the Hampton Roads region.
• 50% of the revenue from RGGI is to support low-income energy efficiency programs. Because of this, the CFPF is cited as one of the few environmental justice laws in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
• However, in 2023, the State Air Pollution Control Board voted to repeal the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) regulation, as directed by the Governor's Executive Order 9. This left the CFPF with funding only from annual state budget appropriations, as well as any excess money left over from previous years.

See also: Virginia Council on Environmental Justice

Addressing Coal Dust

Virginia’s air pollution rules include specific standards and controls for visible emissions (things you can see in the air, like smoke) and for fugitive dust (dust that escapes into the air from open areas or materials handling).

The State Air Pollution Control Board and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) enforce these regulations. They are the main state tools that can directly address coal dust—since coal dust is a type of fugitive dust—at facilities, mines, storage piles, and during transport.

The broader laws (e.g. Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), and the Virginia Environmental Information and Response (VAEIR) laws) do not set limits for fugitive dust. Control of coal dust happens through the state’s air quality regulations and its air permitting program.

Joint Subcommittee Studying Measures to Reduce Emissions from Coal-Carrying Railroad Car

In response to community activism and public outcry in the early 1990s, the General Assembly formed the Joint Subcommittee Studying Measures to Reduce Emissions from Coal-Carrying Railroad Cars in 1992. The subcommittee is charged with receiving annual reports from Norfolk Southern and other coal transporters, evaluating dust mitigation strategies, and recommending legislative or regulatory changes. Despite long years of reporting, the subcommittee has never yielded binding regulatory power or enforcement authority. Instead, it functions more as a monitoring and advisory body—allowing industry self-reporting to remain central while limiting the capacity for community-driven regulatory change.

Limitations

Over time, the subcommittee’s recommendations have largely avoided binding mandates, often citing economic costs and technological feasibility constraints. Industry influence has played a significant role in shaping them. For example:

• Some proposals for enclosing rail cars or the dumpers were considered too expensive or unsafe (e.g. dust explosion risk). For example, the reports state that enclosure of rotary dumpers was deemed impractical due to equipment design, cost, and combustion risks, and that measured particulate levels are far below the federal standard. 
  • See also: Railcar Covers and Lids
• Efforts to prescribe mandatory dust suppression standards or upgrade railcar designs have largely remained voluntary or suggested rather than required.
• The subcommittee has often deferred to industry testing, self-monitoring, and cost-benefit arguments instead of requiring independent oversight or third-party audits.

Virginia’s Mini-NEPA: Virginia Environmental Impact Report Procedure (VAEIR) (1973)

• Requires state agencies to prepare environmental impact reports for major state projects and to consider environmental impacts (including air quality) during project review.
• The statute allows and encourages citizens and stakeholders to participate in discussions about potential projects and their environmental consequences.
• Reviews are only triggered by select activities, like major construction, land use changes (like zoning modifications), and public infrastructure projects.
• Projects that qualify for categorical exemptions include those that involve minimal land disturbance, routine maintenance, or improvements that are unlikely to alter existing environmental conditions significantly
• Because the law is specifically for major changes, Virginia’s Mini-NEPA is not considered to be an effective way to mitigate coal dust pollution from the coal terminals in Hampton Roads as they exist today. However, if they were ever to make significant renovations, such as installing a wind fence, an environmental review would be required.

Virginia Clean Economy Act (2020)

• The Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) phases out most utility coal-fired generation and accelerates deployment of renewable energy and energy storage, thereby reducing the operational sources of coal handling, combustion and associated particulate releases.
• The law only applies to the two large, investor-owned electric utilities serving Virginians.
  • Appalachian Power Company, which serves about 500,000 people in western Virginia, was ordered to stop using hydrocarbons by 2050.
  • Dominion Energy Virginia is directed under the VCEA to steadily reduce its reliance on coal or natural gas to produce electricity within the state’s boundaries, with the goal of eliminating those fuels by 2045. Coal is starting to be phased out, but Dominion continues to operate a large West Virginia coal plant and a small plant in Wise County. The law does not prevent coal from being transported and exported out of the Port of Virginia, however.
• VCEA also authorized the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board to enter a multistate cap and trade program to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants (RGGI)

HB2267 (Air quality monitoring program for certain communities; DEQ to establish, report.) (2025)

• Sponsored by Bonita G. Anthony (D) from 92nd District (which covers part of Norfolk, including Pier 6 and Lambert’s Point)
• Stalled in committee and did not reach the floor for debate or amendment.
• Aimed at strengthening state monitoring capacity in disproportionately impacted communities and leveraging the Environmental Justice Act framework. It proposed that the DEQ would establish an ongoing air quality monitoring program in fenceline communities, capturing measurements of PM₂.₅, PM₁₀, and potentially other toxic particulates and metals. This bill also specifically mentioned coal dust pollution. A public annual report would include pollution levels, health risk analyses, and community impact assessments.

Documents

• https://rga.lis.virginia.gov/Published/1994/SD58/PDF
• https://www.deq.virginia.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/8624/637557216750470000
• https://ejstatebystate.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Virginia.pdf
• https://web.archive.org/web/20251017234729/https://vcnva.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HB2074-EJ-Omnibus.pdf
• https://www.vcnva.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/SB1318-EJ-Omnibus.pdf
• https://web.archive.org/web/20251017143404/https://www.vcnva.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/HB2074-EJ-Bill.pdf
• https://vcnva.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/HB2074-EJ-Omnibus.pdf
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2015_Virginia_State_House_-_Richmond,_Virginia_01.JPG
• https://web.archive.org/web/20251001021620/https://ceq.doe.gov/docs/laws%2Dregulations/state_information/VA_NEPA_Comparison_9Nov2015.pdf