Hazardous substances; Hazardous Substance Facility Response Plans, civil penalties.
Summary
Hazardous substances; hazardous substance facility response plans; civil penalties. Requires any person that is required to submit a facility response plan under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean Water Act Hazardous Substance Facility Response Plans to submit evidence of an EPA-approved facility response plan to the Department of Environmental Quality within a certain time period and to comply with such plan. The bill provides certain requirements for reporting, recordkeeping, and inspection and authorizes the Department to initiate a civil action to obtain certain equitable relief for violations of the bill's provisions. The bill imposes civil penalties for any person that negligently, willfully, or knowingly (i) discharges or causes to discharge a hazardous substance from a facility or (ii) fails to implement or comply with an EPA-approved facility response plan. Finally, the bill requires the Department to develop guidance to implement the provisions of the bill.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Mar 2025
Signed into Law
Mar 2025
Introduced Jan 8, 2025
Signed Mar 21, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
Enrolled
→
Chaptered
·
4 edits
MODERATE
The bill text was converted from an enrolled version to a chaptered version, adding official chapter number 279, approval date (March 21, 2025), and page formatting. The substantive legislative content regarding hazardous substance facility response plans, reporting requirements, recordkeeping, and civil penalties remains unchanged.
Scope change
No substantive scope change; the bill's applicability to facilities requiring EPA-approved response plans under the Clean Water Act remains the same.
TECHNICAL
Added chapter number 279 and approval date March 21, 2025 to indicate official enactment status
Added page numbering and formatting consistent with chaptered legislation
Removed session header formatting differences between enrolled and chaptered versions
REQUIREMENT
All substantive policy provisions including definitions, reporting requirements, recordkeeping rules, and civil penalties remain identical
Floor votes · Senate Feb 19, 2025 · House of Delegates Feb 4, 2025
How they voted
40–0
Passed
Total votes 40
Feb 19, 2025
D
Democratic21
100% Yea
R
Republican19
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
30
Key actions
12
Committee
7
Mar 21, 2025
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 279 (Effective 07/01/25)
executive
Mar 10, 2025
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2516ER)
lower
Feb 20, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 19, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day
upper
Feb 17, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 11, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 5, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources
upper
Feb 4, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed House (99-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 4, 2025
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (97-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 29, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 27, 2025
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (9-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 24, 2025
Committee
Assigned ACNR sub: Chesapeake
lower
Jan 8, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor
Sponsors
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