By RUSTY DENNEN
A slew of conservation bills, including a few being watched closely in the Fredericksburg area, are wending their way through Virginia's legislature.
Topping the list are several measures aimed at cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay and the polluted rivers feeding it.
The Rappahannock River, for example, has a chronic problem in which chemical runoff from farmers' fields, suburban lawns and shopping centers is fouling the bay. In addition, silt from land development and agriculture is clouding the water and stunting or preventing the growth of underwater grasses, scientists say.
"Dealing with those kinds of problems requires long-term funding," said John Tippett, executive director of Friends of the Rappahannock.
Last year, the General Assembly put up a $50 million down payment to upgrade sewage treatment plants and address other water-quality issues. Legislators promised to revisit the issue this session and to look for a permanent source of money.
In December, outgoing Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, put $200 million for that purpose into his budget proposal prior to leaving office. And last month, in a development that heartened supporters, House Republicans said they'd put that amount in next year's spending plan.
Tippett said he's hopeful the momentum will continue.
"This is something a lot of people care about. The legislators are starting to realize it's time to pay back for all the years of neglect," he said.
Still to be decided is where the money for long-term funding will come from, and how much should be earmarked each year. Here are some proposals:
A bill by state Sen. Emmett Hanger Jr., R-Augusta County, provides for $100 million in real-estate recordation taxes collected each year be placed in the Water Improvement Fund.
Sen. Frederick M. Quayle, R-Chesapeake, proposed a $1-a-day lodging fee on hotels and motels, plus $40 million to be derived from recordation taxes.
A bill by Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Woodbridge, would establish the Virginia Chesapeake Bay Clean-up Authority to develop a water-quality improvement plan and oversight on how the money would be spent.
Chuck Epes, spokesman for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said events over the past year have helped to focus attention on the bay's problems.
"There have been no dramatic improvements in water quality, and in many cases, deteriorating conditions--ever-larger dead zones, algal blooms, dead fish in the Shenandoah River. Those are increasingly occurring and getting people's attention," Epes said.
During the summer months, large sections of the bay have so little oxygen they cannot support life. Fish have been dying in large numbers in the Shenandoah, in the mountains near Front Royal, for no apparent reason.
Meanwhile, Virginia and other bay states are under a federal mandate to remove the estuary and thousands of miles of tributaries from a "dirty waters" list by 2010.
Time is running out, Epes said.
"In four more years we're supposed to have made significant progress, and we haven't."
It's estimated that addressing the bay's pollution problems will cost approximately $2.3 billion over the next decade.
The Virginia Sierra Club chapter has focused its attention on a bill by Del. Christopher B. Saxman, R-Augusta, that would follow Environmental Protection Agency guidelines on mercury emissions from power plants. Critics say those guidelines are weak.
Michael Town, director of the Sierra Club chapter, said the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board wants to impose stricter standards, but would be limited by the proposed legislation.
"This would weaken what our Air Board is attempting to do in order to protect our communities and children," he said.
Oil drilling is another concern. Town said the Sierra Club opposes a Lingamfelter bill establishing an energy policy for Virginia that opponents say could lead to oil drilling off the coast.
Town added, "The good news is that there are a lot of bills in the legislature this year dealing with energy efficiency." For example, one bill would promote the use of alternative fuels, while another would offer grants and tax refunds for producing and using clean and efficient energy.
Del. Jack Reid, R-Henrico, and Sen. Patricia Ticer, D-Alexandria, introduced "clean smokestack" legislation that would put coal-fired plants on a schedule to reduce their emissions of mercury, nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide.
To reach RUSTY DENNEN:
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com