Governor Warner Announces Largest Water Quality Investment in Virginia's History
Governor Warner Announces Largest Water Quality Investment in Virginia's History
Governor's budget will help fund improvements to meet the nation's most stringent water quality regulations and increase access to clean and safe drinking water
Governor Mark R. Warner today announced his budget will include $242.5 million for drinking water programs and the largest single investment in water quality in state history. Of that, $200 million for the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund will accelerate improvements to 92 wastewater treatment plants in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, helping them meet the new strictest in the nation' water regulations for all five tributaries in the watershed, which were adopted last month after a two-year regulatory process. The funding is estimated to allow upgrades that will reduce nitrogen loads by about 2.6 million pounds per year, almost two-thirds of the state's 2010 Chesapeake Bay Agreement requirement, and will help reduce sewer bills for rate payers in affected communities.
"Getting our state finances back on track has allowed us to make significant progress this year on Chesapeake Bay restoration," said Governor Warner. "We have paired the strictest water quality regulations in the nation with the single largest investment by any state for Bay clean-up, all with a 2010 deadline looming. I applaud members of the General Assembly who have advocated progress on the Bay, and have and will act responsibly to provide for it. The Chesapeake Bay is a national treasure and we will continue to work closely with Congress and our other Bay state partners to make its restoration a reality."
The Governor's budget proposal for water quality and drinking water programs will include the following:
* $200 million for point source' reduction projects at publicly owned sewage treatment plants in all five river basins within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. [The funding is in addition to Virginia's mandatory deposit of $56.6 million from the current budget surplus, 70% of which will be used to reduce nonpoint source' pollution. The nonpoint source funding is the maximum amount of funding that farmers and industry are estimated to be able to efficiently spend at the present time];
* $25 million grants to local governments for point source projects at publicly owned sewage treatment plants located outside of the Chesapeake Bay watershed;
* $7.5 million for combined sewer overflow projects in Richmond and Lynchburg; and
* $10 million for public drinking water projects through the Virginia Department of Health to connect more Virginians, primarily in Southwest Virginia, with clean and safe drinking water. 70,000 more Virginians have already been connected to clean and safe water since Governor Warner took office.
Additionally, Governor Warner will propose $2.9 million in funding over the biennium for the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to monitor the Commonwealth's progress in meeting the 2010 Environmental Protection Agency deadline for the cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
Last month, Governor Warner announced the final adoption of the most protective nutrient reduction regulations in the nation (see news release). The new regulations and comprehensive strategy for the James, York, Potomac, and Rappahannock rivers, and the Eastern Shore tributaries were proposed by Governor Warner in 2003 and adopted in final form by the State Water Control Board this Fall.
Earlier this year, Virginia also enacted an innovative nutrient-trading program to further reduce pollution. The law, which took effect in July, allows small dischargers to buy credits from bigger dischargers to meet their state permit limits for nutrient discharges, rather than having to undergo extensive upgrades for minor improvements in water quality. This will allow scarce resources to be used for upgrades that will make the biggest environmental improvements. The 2005 General Assembly also passed Governor Warner's tough environmental enforcement legislation, allowing quicker action against violators of water and air quality standards.
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/Press_Policy/Releases/2005/Dec05/1213.htm