A bill seeking to broaden the applicability of Water Quality Improvement Fund (WQIF) grants as well as enact new reporting requirements for WQIF and Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF) needs has cleared its latest hurdle, unanimously passing the House Appropriations Committee’s Commerce, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Technology Subcommittee.
HB 1822 (Bulova) authorizes the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to authorize WQIF grants for the design and installation of certain wastewater conveyance infrastructure. Additionally, HB 1822 directs the DEQ to consult with stakeholders annually to estimate the amount of grant funding that local governments will request during the upcoming year from WQIF and SLAF and to submit those estimates to the Governor as part of a biennial funding report and an annual progress report that are required by current law. To read more about HB 1822, please visit the VACo Blog or the January 17 edition of Capitol Contact.
HB 1822 has seen a number of stops on its journey into law. The bill was first passed 9-1 by the House Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee #3 before it was reported from the full Committee 22-0 and rereferred to the House Appropriations Committee. Now, after a 7-0 vote in the House Appropriations Committee’s Commerce, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Technology Subcommittee, HB 1822 will be heard by the full House Appropriations Committee.
It is unclear when HB 1822 will be placed on the agenda as the House Appropriations Committee has cancelled its last two meetings (scheduled January 25 and January 28).
VACo will continue to track this important bill and is prepared to speak in favor of HB 1822 when it is next presented.
VACo Contact: Chris McDonald, Esq.