Virginia General Assembly

Structure and Authority

The Virginia General Assembly is the state legislature and consists of the House of Delegates with 100 members and Senate with 40 members. The Virginia General Assembly is a part-time legislature, and elected officials convene for only a few months per year to debate and pass legislation. This period is 30 days in odd-numbered years, for example, 2025, and 60 days in even years. Because the session is so short, members scramble to pass a year's worth of legislation and budgeting in only a few weeks. Although members may pre-file legislation prior to the session start.

The Virginia General Assembly has the authority to pass laws, allocate funding, and shape regulatory frameworks. As part of their budgetary authority, the Virginia General Assembly designates funding to state agencies and programs such as the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VA DEQ). Virginia operates under a two-year budget cycle. The Governor prepares a proposed budget bill for introduction by the Virginia General Assembly. This bill is initially adopted in even-numbered years and amended in odd-numbered years.

The Virginia General Assembly also mandates state agency actions, for example, requiring agencies to consider environmental justice in their decision-making as required by the 2020 Environmental Justice Act and issue reports.

Research for the Virginia General Assembly is conducted by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) and spans program evaluation, policy analysis, and oversight of state agencies.

Environmental Justice

Environmental Justice Act, 2020

In 2020, the Virginia General Assembly passed the Virginia Environmental Justice Act requiring all state agencies to integrate environmental justice considerations into their decision-making. This includes the consideration of permits, infrastructure siting, project approvals, contracts, and other regulatory activities. The Act defines environmental justice as "fair treatment and meaningful involvement of every person, regardless of race, color, national origin, income, faith, or disability, regarding the development, implementation, or enforcement of any environmental law, regulation, or policy." State agencies are expected to submit environmental justice impact reports, analyze disproportionate adverse impacts, and propose mitigation or avoidance measures. The Act also supports data transparency, mapping, and tools to help identify environmental justice populations and cumulative environmental impacts.

The Virginia Environmental Justice Act requires agencies to consider fenceline communities and environmental justice communities, defined as "low-income or communities of color." The Act defines meaningful involvement such that "(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 Virginia Environmental Justice Act was introduced to Virginia General Assembly by House Delegate Mark Keam from the 35^th district, located in Northwestern Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley, as House Bill (HB) 704 and then-Senator and current Lieutenant Governor Ghazala Hashmi from the 15^th district, located just south of Richmond, as Senate Bill (SB) 406.

HB 704 and SB 406: "It is the policy of the Commonwealth to promote environmental justice and ensure that it is carried out throughout the Commonwealth, with a focus on environmental justice communities and fenceline communities."

The Virginia Environmental Justice Act was signed into law by Governor Ralph Northam on April 22, 2020.

Limitations: While symbolically important, the Virginia Environmental Justice Act lacks concrete enforcement mechanisms and accountability structures. The Act does not establish which issues must be considered environmental justice issues nor require state agencies to block or modify their actions on environmental justice grounds. Assessment and impact reports are advisory not mandatory triggers of action. Second, there is no centralized enforcement body or penalty regime linked to non-compliance by state agencies. In practice, concerns of environmental racism may be handled rhetorically without the firm teeth to force changes or prevent inequalities in implementation.

Omnibus Environmental Justice Bill, 2021 (failed)  

The Omnibus Environmental Justice Bill (HB 2074) would have codified the Interagency Environmental Justice Working Group as an advisory council in the executive branch and directed each of the Governor's Secretaries to designate at least one environmental justice coordinator to the Working Group. The Virginia General Assembly had established the Working Group through an amendment to the state budget in 2020.

HB 2027 would have directed the Working Group to focus in its first year on air quality-related environmental justice issues and monitoring practices in Virginia. The Working Group would have expired on July 1, 2031.

HB 2027 would have directed all state agencies to evaluate the environmental justice consequences of their actions and the cumulative impacts of the administration of regulations. HB 2027 would have required agencies to develop public participation plans for residents of environmental justice communities and fenceline communities potentially affected by agency actions.

Finally, HB 2027 would have required local governments, who are adopting or reviewing a comprehensive plan to consider environmental justice communities and issues as part of the planning process.

HB 2074 was sponsored by House Delegate Shelly Simonds from 70^th District located in central and northern Newport News. HB 2074 was passed the Virginia House of Delegates and was revised and passed in the Senate as SB 1318.

SB 1318 was sponsored by Senators Hashmi, Jennifer Boysko (38^th district located in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties), and Jennifer McClellan (4^th district, in and around Richmond). SB 1318 removed the requirement for local governments to consider environmental justice as part of their comprehensive plans, a change that was not approved by the House of Delegates. The House and Senate could not reach a compromise before that year's legislative session ended, and the bill was not passed.

Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act, 2020

The Clean Energy and Community Flood Preparedness Act authorized Virginia's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a multi-state carbon market. The Act allocates auction revenues toward flood preparedness and resilience programs. The Act and RGGI focus on greenhouse gas emissions reduction rather than particulate matter or coal dust specifically.

Because 50% of the revenue from RGGI supports energy efficiency programs for low-income and energy-insecure households, the Act is often cited as one of the few environmental justice laws in Virginia. The energy efficiency program is administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.

In 2023, the State Air Pollution Control Board voted to leave RGGI, as directed by Governor Glenn Youngkin in Executive Order (EO) 9. The Youngkin administration contended that the Virginia General Assembly "authorized but did not mandate" Virginia to join the program.

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 Virginia 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.

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. 
• 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)

HB 2267 (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 VA 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