Environment

signed · Virginia · House of Delegates Apr 8, 2026

HB 1266: Environmental Justice in Permitting Process Guidance Memo; DEQ to publish an updated version.

Department of Environmental Quality; Environmental Justice in the Permitting Process Guidance Memo; cumulative impacts. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality to publish an updated version of the Environmental Justice in the Permitting Process Guidance Memo for public comment. The bill requires the updated memo to consider how to assess the cumulative impacts of the types of permits covered in the guidance memo and outreach strategies to engage communities impacted by any such permit. The bill requires the public comment period process to include two public town halls held no later than July 31, 2026, and requires the Department to respond to the public comments by October 31, 2026. The Department is required to issue the final guidance memo by December 31, 2026.

Topics ✓ EnvironmentSupports EnvironmentRequires public participation plans for permits affecting environmental justice communities, strengthening community input in environmental decision-making.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✗ Voted No ✗ Opposes Environment

signed · Virginia · House of Delegates Apr 8, 2026

HB 1350: Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program; assessment for violations, etc., civil penalties.

Department of Environmental Quality; special orders; Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program; civil penalties. Increases the maximum civil penalty amount that the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality may assess for any special order to a person to comply with certain related laws, regulations, permits, and certifications from $10,000 to $32,500. The bill increases from $1,000 to $32,500 the maximum civil penalty that a locality authorized to administer a Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program is able to collect for any one violation of certain regulations, orders, ordinances, program provisions, conditions of land-disturbance approvals, and provisions of state law. The bill also provides, however, that for a land-disturbing activity that (i) disturbs an area measuring at least 10,000 square feet but less than one acre in an area not designated as a Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area and (ii) is not part of a larger common plan of development or sale that disturbs one or more acres of land, the civil penalty shall not exceed $5,000 for each violation, and a series of violations arising from the same set of facts shall not exceed $50,000.

Topics ✓ EnvironmentSupports EnvironmentIncreases civil penalties for violations of erosion/sediment control regulations, strengthening enforcement of environmental compliance standards.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Environment

signed · Virginia · Senate Apr 6, 2026

SB 89: Powers of service districts; control of invasive plant species.

Powers of service districts; control of invasive plant species. Allows a service district created within a locality to control the spread of any plant that is identified on the list of invasive plant species established by the Department of Conservation and Recreation. This bill is identical to HB 388.

Topics ✓ EnvironmentSupports EnvironmentBill authorizes service districts to control invasive plant species, directly protecting ecosystems and biodiversity from environmental harm per conservation mandates.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Environment

signed · Virginia · House of Delegates Apr 6, 2026

HB 390: Habitat Policy Oversight Committee; established, membership, powers and duties, report.

Marine Resources Commission; Habitat Policy Oversight Committee established; powers and duties. Establishes the Habitat Policy Oversight Committee within the Marine Resources Commission to advise the Commission and the Habitat Management Division of the Commission on policies within their jurisdiction and to support the Commission's coastal resilience efforts. The bill establishes the powers and duties of the Committee, establishes how the members of the Committee are appointed, and provides that the Committee shall have 11 voting members and two ex-officio members. This bill incorporates HB 619.

Topics ✓ EnvironmentSupports EnvironmentEstablishes Habitat Policy Oversight Committee to advise on habitat management and coastal resilience, directly supporting environmental conservation efforts.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Environment

signed · Virginia · House of Delegates Apr 6, 2026

HB 508: Small renewable energy projects; agrivoltaics definition.

Small renewable energy projects; agrivoltaics definition. Provides a definition of "agrivoltaics" for the purposes of small renewable energy projects. This bill incorporates HB 899 and is identical to SB 340.

Topics ✓ EnergySupports EnergyDefines agrivoltaics to co-locate solar energy with agriculture, prioritizing renewable energy integration while sustaining farming - directly advancing renewable energy infrastructure and policy.95% confidence ✓ EnvironmentSupports EnvironmentDefines agrivoltaics to co-locate solar energy with agriculture, promoting renewable energy integration and sustainable land use per bill summary.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✗ Voted No ✗ Opposes Environment

signed · Virginia · Senate Apr 6, 2026

SB 340: Small renewable energy projects; agrivoltaics definition.

An Act to amend and reenact § 10.1-1197.5, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, of the Code of Virginia, relating to small renewable energy projects; agrivoltaics definition.

Topics ✓ EnergySupports EnergyDefines agrivoltaics to integrate solar energy with agriculture, advancing renewable energy infrastructure through co-location policies.95% confidence ✓ EnvironmentSupports EnvironmentDefines agrivoltaics to co-locate solar energy with agriculture, promoting renewable energy integration while sustaining farmland, directly advancing clean energy adoption and land-use efficiency.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✗ Voted No ✗ Opposes Environment

signed · Virginia · House of Delegates Apr 6, 2026

HB 341: Plastic bag tax; distribution to towns.

Plastic bag tax; distribution to towns. Requires that any town located within a county that has imposed a disposable plastic bag tax receive a distribution of revenues collected by the county based on the local sales tax distribution formula for appropriations to towns. The bill restricts a town's use of such revenues to the same purposes allowable for a county or city.

Topics ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesImposes plastic bag tax and mandates revenue distribution to towns via sales tax formula, creating new local funding source for allowable government purposes.90% confidence ✓ EnvironmentSupports EnvironmentPlastic bag tax reduces single-use plastic pollution, directly advancing environmental protection goals through waste reduction.90% confidence | Rep's Stance ✗ Voted No ✗ Opposes Environment

signed · Virginia · House of Delegates Apr 6, 2026

HB 950: Unmanned aircraft systems; use by public bodies, search warrant required, exceptions.

Use of unmanned aircraft systems by public bodies; search warrant required; exceptions. Adds the Department of Environmental Quality to the list of exceptions to the warrant requirement for the use of an unmanned aircraft system by public bodies for the implementation and civil enforcement of the Virginia Water Resources and Wetlands Protection Program, the Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Act, and erosion and sediment control in localities without a Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Program against a permittee.

Topics ✓ EnvironmentSupports EnvironmentAdds DEQ to exceptions for drone use without warrants to enforce water/wetlands protection and stormwater management laws, strengthening environmental enforcement.95% confidence | Rep's Stance ✗ Voted No ✗ Opposes Environment

signed · Virginia · House of Delegates Apr 6, 2026

HB 109: Noxious weeds; amends definition, commercial viability, phase-out period, report.

Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services; noxious weeds; commercial viability; report. Amends the definition of noxious weed to remove the exclusion for living plants or parts thereof that are commercially viable or commercially propagated in Virginia and removes the requirement that the Noxious Weeds Advisory Committee include in its recommendations to the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services an analysis of the current and potential in-state commercial viability of a plant species. The bill requires a plant that is designated by the Board as a noxious weed and commercially propagated in Virginia to be subject to a phase-out period of two years for grasses, forbs, and vines; four years for shrubs; and seven years for trees. The bill directs the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services to conduct a review of the legislative and regulatory authority of the Board pertaining to the control of noxious weeds and report his findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources by November 1, 2026.

Topics ✓ EnvironmentSupports EnvironmentRemoves exclusion for commercially viable plants from noxious weed definition, strengthening invasive species control to protect ecosystems and natural resources.92% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Environment

signed · Virginia · House of Delegates Apr 6, 2026

HB 88: Highway rights-of-way; invasive species.

Highway rights-of-way; invasive species. Prohibits the Commonwealth Transportation Board (the Board) and Commissioner of Highways from planting or causing or suffering to be planted any invasive plant on the list of invasive plants created by the Department of Conservation and Recreation on the right-of-way of any state highway. Current law prohibits the planting of three listed plants if the governing body of the locality declares such weeds or plants to be injurious and requires the Board to remove such plants. The bill removes such requirement for the Board to remove such plants and requires the Department of Transportation to conduct a review of the processes and resources that are necessary and appropriate to (i) determine the prevalence of invasive plants on the list of invasive plant species created by the Department of Conservation and Recreation and develop options for establishing and implementing a plan to remove or control such plants and manage such plants on an ongoing basis.

Topics ✓ EnvironmentSupports EnvironmentMandates removal of invasive plants on highways and prohibits their planting, directly protecting native ecosystems and biodiversity from invasive species threats.95% confidence ✓ TransportationSupports TransportationMandates removal of invasive plants on highway rights-of-way, maintaining infrastructure safety and functionality per transportation infrastructure standards.85% confidence | Rep's Stance ✓ Voted Yes ✓ Supports Environment