CBF Preview General Assembly 2020 · Photo by Krista Schlyer, iLCP. Reducing runoff from urban and...
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Photo by Annette Conniff CBF Preview General Assembly 2020 Photo by Chris Johnson
CBF Preview General Assembly 2020 · Photo by Krista Schlyer, iLCP. Reducing runoff from urban and suburban lands. The General Assembly will need to support the Governors budget of
Ann: Hi everyone. My name is Ann Jurczyk and I’m the director of outreach and advocacy for the Virginia CBF office. We’re delighted you could join us today for the General Assembly preview. This is the second webinar in our monthly “Making Waves” webinar series. We are recording this webinar and it will be posted on our web site later today if you’d like to share it with friends, neighbors, colleagues – anyone who is interested in cleaner water in Virginia. Although this is a one-way conversation – you’ll be able to hear me and our speaker – you are all on mute. But you can ask questions – simply hover your mouse over the top or bottom of your screen (depends on your browser) and you’ll see three options – chat, raise hand and Q&A – if you click on Q&A, type your question in the box and then “submit question” – I’ll be monitoring the questions. If I know we’re going to answer that question in an upcoming slide, I’ll type that in the response…otherwise I’ll ask Peggy so everyone can hear your question and her answer… Our speaker today is Peggy Sanner, the Assistant Director of the Virginia CBF office and our senior attorney. Peggy has been with the Bay Foundation based in our Richmond office and led our legislative efforts for a decade. – it promises to be a very interesting year in part due to the elections and the Governor’s love of the Bay. So without further ado, I’ll turn it over to Peggy to share our legislative agenda.
Photo by Neil Ever Osborne, iLCP
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From brook trout swimming in our mountain streams, shaded by leafy forests…advance slide
Photo by Yuri Huta
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To tidal waters brimming with crabs….advance slide
Photo Copyright Jay Fleming
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To acres of underwater grasses….advance slide
Photo by Bill Portlock
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To crystal clear waters in the main stem of the Bay – this is the New Point Comfort Lighthouse near Mobjack Bay off the tip of the Middle Peninsula – this year’s GA is key to maintaining momentum towards a restored bay by 2025
Photo by Katherine Lloyd
Charting a Course to Success: The Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint
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For more than half a century, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation has led a landmark effort to save the Chesapeake Bay—a national treasure on which the health and wellbeing of nearly 20 million people and 3,000 species of plants and animals depend. Grounded in science and focused on local waterways, we educate tens of thousands of people each year, advocate for better public policy, hold governments and polluters accountable, and perform essential hands-on restoration. The Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint is the culmination of CBF’s fight to establish goals and actions for improving water quality and key health indicators by 2025. The Blueprint addresses the many challenges confronting the Bay, including those affecting the tens of thousands of rivers and streams in the surrounding watershed that feed into it. Pollution to the Bay has been halved in recent years—a milestone achievement made possible by people like you. But climate change is exacerbating the challenges. And polluted runoff, air pollution, and chemical contamination remain formidable threats. The goal of the Blueprint, a restored Bay by 2025, is within sight. Virginia’s final restoration plan for clean water was submitted to EPA in August of this year – it was comprehensive and ambitious. And with the incoming General Assembly and a Governor who grew up on the Eastern shore, we are poised to finish the job and restore the Bay for future generations. Here’s what we need to accomplish in this year’s General Assembly Session to keep VA on track to achieve a restored Bay by 2025.
Governor’s Proposed BudgetProgram Amount
proposedBenefit to water quality
Stormwater Local Assistance Fund(SLAF)
$182M over 2 years
50-50 grant program that enables localities to address stormwater and flooding issues.
Wastewater treatment plant upgrades
$120M over 2 years
Certain and equitable reductions in sewage pollution to local waterways.
Virginia ag cost share program
$90M over 2 years
Support farm conservation projects
Oyster restoration and replenishment
$18M over two years, including $10M capital investment
Restore Virginia’s oyster population and their filtering capacity.
Alexandria combined sewer
$65M Reduces raw sewage from entering Potomac river.
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In addition, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s effectiveness in protecting water and air quality would be significantly strengthened with an agency budget increase to $25 million for the two-year period; Additional funding would create new full-time staff positions to support implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act and the Agricultural Stewardship Act, as well as the expansion of riparian buffers and urban tree canopy All of this is overwhelming positive for water quality. So let’s dive in a little…
Photo by Krista Schlyer, iLCP
Reducing runoff from urban and suburban lands
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The General Assembly will need to support the Governors budget of 182M for the Stormwater Local Assistance fund (SLAF) to assist localities in reducing polluted runoff from hard surfaces such as streets, parking lots, and driveways – the most challenging pollution sources to control. Hard surfaces allow rainwater (and the pet waste, fertilizer, antifreeze, dirt, trash, etc. that are on our streets and sidewalks) to just wash directly into our storm drains – and often right to our local waterways and the Bay.
Before. photo credit Center for Watershed Protection
Stormwater Local Assistance Fund
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Kilmarnock used SLAF funds and matching NFWF grant to stabilize a badly eroding stream bank that was sending sediment downstream. This bank was also creating a safety hazard.
After. photo credit Ecosystem Services
Stormwater Local Assistance Fund
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The step pools here slow down runoff (so reducing erosion) and lets pollutants settle out.
Support VA Agricultural Cost Share Program
Photo credit: Bobby Whitescarver
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We are asking legislators to support the Governor’s budget for Virginia’s ag cost-share program which provides financial support for farmers who install conservation practices on their farms – nutrient management plans, no-till, cover crops, riparian buffers, rotational grazing, fencing livestock from streams, and other conservation practices lead to cleaner waterways, improve farmers’ bottom-lines, and improve rural economies. Investment in these practices through funding of the Virginia Agricultural Cost-Share Program is the most cost-efficient way to reduce polluted runoff. The Virginia Cost-Share Program provides funding to farmers to install conservation practices on their farms. Look what happens when cattle are fenced out of streams! Grasses and trees flourish and can help filter runoff and prevent erosion. Cows are not pooping directly into waterways. Herd health improves – which improves farmers’ bottom-lines.
Protecting streams from cattle
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We are asking legislators to support bills that protect stream health by excluding livestock Flexibility and funding required The Virginia Cost-Share Program provides funding to farmers to install conservation practices on their farms. Look what happens when cattle are fenced out of streams! Grasses and trees flourish and can help filter runoff and prevent erosion. Cows are not pooping directly into waterways. Herd health improves – which improves farmers’ bottom-lines.
Photo by Bobby Whitescarver
These practices don’t just help us keep our streams cleaner; they help me be a more efficient farmer.
Scott Buchanan, Triple B Farms in Augusta County
Support VA Agricultural Cost Share Program
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Agriculture is Virginia’s #1 industry but margins are tight. Practices need to be good for farmer profitability as well as for water quality Mr. Buchanan used state cost-share funding to install livestock exclusion fencing and alternative watering sources on his farm in the Shenandoah Valley. (don’t read the quote)
Upgrades to wastewater treatment plants
$120 million over the two-year period to provide certain and equitable reductions in sewage pollution.
Oysters
Governor proposed $18 million for oyster restoration and replenishment, including a first-ever capital investment of $10 million
Photo credit Nick Caloyianis Productions
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Athey Reef on the Lynnhaven River restored by LRNow () (1) Replenishment dollars are used to manage and improve Virginia’s wild oyster harvest. Every $1 spent on oyster replenishment yields $7 in economic benefits in the form of larger oyster harvests and increased jobs for watermen. The current $2 million allocation for oyster replenishment is limiting; at this level of funding, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission can only maintain half of state harvest ground. Why support oyster restoration? Oyster restoration programs create sanctuary oyster reefs closed to harvest. Oysters are one of the most critical filters in the Bay. They reduce sediments and pollutants that harm water quality. Oysters build reef habitat for a myriad of reef-dwelling organisms that support a healthy ecosystem. In addition, these ecological engineers form three-dimensional structures that help protect our shorelines and cost effectively offset the challenges of sea level rise. Wild oyster larvae from restoration reefs populate new areas, boosting a network of oyster communities throughout Virginia.
Photo courtesy of Chesapeake Bay Program
People lost confidence in eating oysters. Now, we’re reaping the rewards of cleaner water.
Chris Ludford, owner of Ludford Brothers Oyster Company, a LynnhavenRiver oyster farm
Support Funding for Oyster Replenishment and Restoration
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Oyster populations are rebounding after decades of overharvesting, pollution, and disease. Virginia can accelerate this recovery by supporting the Governor’s proposed investments of 4 million a year plus $10M in a one time capital improvement project. oyster replenishment to boost wild harvests and to rebuild oyster reefs. Every $1 spent on oyster replenishment yields $7 in economic benefits in the form of larger harvests and increased jobs. Virginia Marine Resources Commission, “Oyster Resource User Fees,” available at http://www.mrc.state.va.us/CRD/Oyster-Resource-User-Fees_07-01-13.shtm Ludford Brother Oyster Company has oysters on the menu of seven top restaurants in Virginia Beach and Norfolk.
Reduce carbon emissions and nitrogen deposition to the Bay.
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)
Trees!Anticipate a variety of bills that seek to preserve and replace more trees during development, enabling local governments to meet their tree canopy and water quality goals.
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Tree roots absorb polluted runoff (over 1,300 gallons per day per mature tree) and stabilize soils, reducing erosion. Improve air quality by catching particulate matter and absorbing air pollutants, improving human health outcomes. Reduce urban temperatures and energy costs by shading streets and buildings Increase property values by 5-18% in urban settings Create wildlife habitat for birds and insects. Enhance aesthetics and increase recreational opportunities within communities.
Reducing Single Use PlasticsSB26(Petersen)SB11(Ebbin)
Photo credit: Will Parsons
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Peterson – SB 26 Plastic bags; tax in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Plastic bag tax in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Imposes a five-cent per bag tax on plastic bags provided to customers by certain retailers in localities located wholly within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and directs revenues to be used to support the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan. The bill also allows every retailer that collects the tax to retain one cent of every five cents collected. Ebbin – SB 11 Disposable paper and plastic bags; local taxation per bag when provided to consumers. SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED: Local disposable paper and plastic bag tax. Authorizes any locality to impose a tax of five cents per bag on disposable paper bags or disposable plastic bags provided to consumers by certain retailers, with certain bags being exempt from the tax. The bill allows every retailer that collects the tax to retain one cent of the five-cent tax.bill bans
Transfer Menhaden to Virginia Marine Resources Commission
Science-based fishery management
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Atlantic menhaden support hundreds of jobs in Virginia’s reduction and bait fisheries. This small oily fish is also a diet staple of rockfish, bluefish, osprey, and marine mammals. The Commonwealth must adopt science-based menhaden management strategies prescribed by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to protect both the menhaden fishery and menhaden’s important role in the food chain. On December 17th, the Secretary of Commerce found …. Therefore…
Reaching Out to Your Elected Official
• https://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/
• Let them know you’re a constituent.• Effective means of communication:
• Least effective – form letter or post card.• More effective – personalized email or letter.• Most effective – ask for a meeting! Just ask!
• Invite the elected official to a function or to speak to your organization throughout the year.
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So now you’re wondering what you can do with all the information we’ve presented…the new few slides will describe some strategies you can use to help advance clean water initiatives in the 2020 GA.
• It is all about building relationships• Timing is critical –
• More time to discuss issues before GA starts• Focus your efforts on those making initial decisions
(subcommittees)• Join CBF’s Action Network to receive alerts when bills are coming
up for a vote. • Be succinct and bring something to leave behind• Don’t assume that the elected official knows everything –
provide some quick background• Offer upfront who supports and opposes your issue
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This slide leads to list of committees
SenateAgriculture, Conservation, and
Natural ResourcesCommerce and Labor
Courts of JusticeEducation and Health
FinanceGeneral Laws and Technology
Local GovernmentPrivileges and Elections
Rehabilitative and Social ServicesRules
Transportation
Key Committees for Bay issuesHouse
Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources
Appropriations
Commerce and Labor
Counties, Cities, and Towns
Courts of Justice
Education
Finance
General Laws
Health, Welfare, and Institutions
Militia, Police, and Public Safety
Privileges and Elections
Rules
Science and Technology
Transportation
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Important to contact your representative now – while they have time. You’re a constituent and you care about water quality. House ag – Ken Plum chair House appropriations – Luke Torian Counties, Cities and Towns – Kaye Kory Senate ag – Chap Peterson Senate finance – Janet Howell Local government -
Attend Regional Budget Hearings on January 2nd
• Northern Virginia – George Mason University, Hylton Performing Arts Center, Gregory Family Theatre (10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas, VA 20109). Hearing begins at 10:00 am
• Blacksburg – Virginia Tech, Classroom Building, Room 206 (1455 Perry Street, Blacksburg, VA 24060). Hearing begins at 10:00 am
• Hampton Roads – Old Dominion University, Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (1030 University Blvd., Suffolk, VA 23435). Hearings begin at 12:00 noon.
• Richmond – J. Sargeant Reynolds Parham Road Campus, Workforce and Conference Center (1651 E Parham Rd., Richmond, VA 23228). Hearings begin at 12:00 noon.
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Attend, sign up to comment in support of Governor’s budget – horrible time of year, but lets Finance committee know you care.
Join us in Richmond during Session
Thursday Lobby for Clean Water days:• Jan 23: Eastern Shore/Hampton Roads• Jan 30: Central VA• Feb 6: NoVA and Shenandoah Valley• Feb 13: Eastern Shore/Hampton Roads• Feb 20: Central VA• Feb 27: NoVa/Shenandoah Valley
Bring yourselves, bring a friend to double your impact. Legislators hear from us every day, they need to hear from you! Each region will have a chance to lobby before and after crossover (on Feb 11th). �
Thanks for joining us on the Journey to Clean Water!
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With the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint we are already on the way to fulfilling our vision of clear, clean, thriving waterways. Your help during this GA will help ensure we finish the job.
