HB 256 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Comprehensive plan; environmental justice strategy.

Summary
Comprehensive plan; environmental justice strategy. Requires cities with populations greater than 20,000 and counties with populations greater than 100,000 to consider, beginning July 1, 2026, at the next and all subsequent reviews of the comprehensive plan, adopting an environmental justice strategy. The bill provides that the locality's strategy shall be to identify environmental justice and fenceline communities within the jurisdiction of the local planning commission and identify objectives and policies to reduce health risks, to promote civic engagement, to prioritize improvements and programs that address the needs of environmental justice and fenceline communities, as those terms are defined in the bill, and to establish baseline environmental and health conditions to characterize any disproportionate public health conditions in the identified fenceline communities. This bill is identical to SB 425.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 9, 2026 Signed Apr 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Enrolled Chaptered · 3 edits
MINOR
This bill enacts a new section into the Virginia Code requiring comprehensive plans to consider an environmental justice strategy. The primary change involves updating the effective date and formatting of the statute, while retaining the requirement for larger cities and counties to identify pollution sources and environmental justice communities.
Scope change
The scope of applicability remains unchanged, continuing to apply to cities with populations over 20,000 and counties with populations over 100,000.
TIMELINE

The effective date for the requirement to adopt an environmental justice strategy is set to July 1, 2026, during the next scheduled comprehensive plan review.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting adjustments were made to the section title and cross-references to align with official legislative formatting standards.

SCOPE

The bill is formally enacted as Chapter 581 of the Virginia Acts of Assembly for the 2026 Session.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 3, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 3, 2026

How they voted

390
Passed
Total votes 39
Mar 3, 2026
D Democratic20
20 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican19
19 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
29
Key actions
10
Committee
7
Apr 13, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 581 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 13, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB256ER)
lower
Mar 4, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate with substitute (21-Y 19-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 3, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Mar 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Local Government with substitute (8-Y 7-N)
upper
Feb 24, 2026
Committee
Rereferred from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources to Local Government (13-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 4, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources
upper
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (63-Y 35-N 0-A)
lower
Jan 28, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (15-Y 7-N)
lower
Jan 21, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 3-N)
lower
Jan 19, 2026
Committee
Assigned HACNR sub: Natural Resources
lower
Jan 9, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources
lower
1 primary · 5 co-sponsors

Sponsors