HD41 - Safety of Vehicular Crossings on the Norfolk Southern Railway Under Study for Relocation in the Cities of Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Suffolk

  • Published: 1990
  • Author: Department of Waste Management
  • Enabling Authority: House Joint Resolution 422 (Regular Session, 1989)

Executive Summary:
The General Assembly asked the Department of Waste Management to study the relocation of the Norfolk Southern Railway from the Churchland area of the City of Portsmouth to I-664 and the Western Freeway. Specifically, the General Assembly requested that the study of the safety of vehicular crossings be continued. Issues related to the relocation of the railway have been studied previously by the Department of Emergency Services, see House Document No. 35 (1989), and the Department of Transportation, see House Bill No. 1050 (1988).

The Department of Waste Management has regulatory programs governing the following: solid waste management, hazardous waste management, hazardous materials transportation, and infectious waste management. In addition, the Department participates in the federal program to clean up abandoned waste sites -- "Superfund" -- and administers a similar state program to remediate sites that do not qualify for treatment under the federal program. The Department also has programs to encourage waste reduction and recycling, and to prevent littering.

Finally, the Department, through the Virginia Emergency Response Council (VERC), administers the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA), also known as Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA Title III). The VERC is comprised of the heads or designees of the heads of the following state agencies: Department of Waste Management (chair), Department of Emergency Services, Department of Fire Programs, Department of Air Pollution Control, Department of Labor and Industry, Department of Health, Department of State Police, and the State Water Control Board. Staff support is provided by the Department of Waste Management.

SARA Title III requires industries that use or produce certain chemicals to report that use or production to the VERC, to the local emergency planning committee, and to the local fire department. SARA Title III also requires local emergency planning committees to develop local emergency response plans which must then be reviewed by the VERC.