HD21 - Report on the Chesapeake Bay and Virginia Waters Clean-up Plan


Executive Summary:
This report is submitted per Chapter 204 of the 2006 Acts of Assembly.

The directive for the construction of this Plan – and its update every six months – resulted from House Bill 1150 (2006), which was sponsored by Delegate L. Scott Lingamfelter of Prince William County and signed into law by Governor Timothy M. Kaine on April 3, 2006.

The law, in short, requires my office to develop a comprehensive plan to address all sources of pollution to Virginia’s waters. This plan to clean our waters must lay out clear objectives, well-developed strategies, predictable time frames, realistic funding needs, commonsense mitigation strategies, and straightforward recommendations to the General Assembly for its consideration.

The need and utility of this legislative directive is clear. At a time when the General Assembly is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in partnership with local governments and the private sector to upgrade sewage treatment plants and deploy agricultural best management practices, we must be certain that we are doing so in a way that spends these dollars wisely, meets commonly understood objectives, and is measurable in terms of water-quality improvement.

This report, therefore, represents a single-source document, where anyone can turn to understand the magnitude of the water-quality challenges before us, what we are doing to address them, how much it is costing, and what accountability measures are being applied.

This report has not been easy to assemble. It has been time-consuming. Assistant Secretary of Natural Resources Jeffrey M. Corbin has coordinated all efforts, and he has been ably supported by very dedicated staff at the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Conservation and Recreation. He also has received valuable input from private sector stakeholders in the environmental and business communities.

We look forward to continuing to work with your committees, other interested legislators, and all Virginia citizens who understand the need for us to do all that is practicable to prevent pollution from entering our Commonwealth’s streams, rivers, lakes, and estuaries.

You may view an electronic version of this document on the Office of the Secretary of Natural Resources’ Web site: http://www.naturalresources.virginia.gov/Initiatives/WaterCleanupPlan.