January Update

Governor Ralph Northam was sworn in on January 13, 2018. With his swearing in, his administration appointments become effective. As previously reported, Gov. Northam appointed Matt Strickler as his Secretary of Natural Resources. The current Deputy Secretary of Natural Resources, Angela Navarro, has been reappointed. The Governor has also added Ann Jennings, formerly with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, as a second Deputy Secretary of Natural Resources.  

With respect to Transportation, Gov. Northam appointed Shannon Valentine as Secretary of Transportation, with Stephen Brich serving as Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Transportation. Secretary Valentine is a UVA graduate who served in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Lynchburg. She has also served on the Commonwealth Transportation Board and on Gov. McAuliffe’s Transition Council for Transportation Policy. Commissioner Brich comes to VDOT from Kimley-Horn and Associates, with past experience working at VDOT. He comes from the Hampton Roads area. 

An announcement regarding the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality is expected in the coming months. 

 

The 2018 Virginia General Assembly session convened January 10. As 2018 is an even numbered year, this will be a long session (60 days). Crossover will occur on February 14 and the session is set to end on March 10. Given the significant changes in the makeup of the House of Delegates, there will be many changes to the environmental and appropriations committees. Bills will continue to be filed through January 19. In our February update, we will provide an overview of the environmental bills that may affect the asphalt industry.  

There is one bill we wanted to mention now. It affects the issuance of agency guidance documents. Currently, agencies like DEQ and VDOT develop guidance documents internally and post them on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall. At times agencies will seek comment from the affected parties, but often there is no opportunity for public input. HB 297 (Bulova) would change that. This bill brings agency guidance documents into the APA process. For guidance documents with insignificant economic impact (as determined by the agency), the agency must certify that the guidance does not exceed statutory authority or agency regulations, and the guidance is subject to a 30-day public comment period through publication in the Virginia Register. If the public comments raise concerns about whether the document is within the agency’s statutory authority, or if it would have a significant economic impact, then a second 30 day public comment period will take place, in which the agency must respond to the public comments.

For guidance documents with a significant economic impact, the public participation guidelines in the APA would apply.     

As discussed in our last update, the State Air Control Board approved DEQ’s request to hold a public comment period for its proposed regulations creating a CO2 Trading Program, as required by Gov. McAuliffe’s Executive Directive 11. DEQ published the proposed regulations in the Virginia Register on January 8. A public comment period will last through April 9, 2018. Six public hearings will also be held from March 7-19. Public hearing details are available here. The language of the proposed regulations is available here. 

NOTE: A critical question posed in the public notice is whether this regulation should exempt fossil fuel power generating units owned by an individual facility and located at that individual facility that generates electricity and heat from fossil fuel for the primary use of operation of the facility. In other words, the board is seeking feedback on whether the proposal should apply to standalone power plants, or also to power sources at industrial operations. This may be an issue on which VAA may want to comment.

DEQ has convened a technical advisory committee to consider amendment and reissuance of the General VPDES Permit for Construction Stormwater discharges. The first meeting of the TAC will take place on January 19, 2018, at DEQ’s Piedmont Regional Office. VAA members may want to track this process.

 

The Waste Management Board met on January 8, and adopted EPA’s Hazardous Waste Generator Improvement Rule. The federal rule includes significant (and overall helpful) revisions and clarifications to hazardous waste generator requirements. The rule will become effective in Virginia once it is published in the Virginia Register.  

The Hazardous Waste Generator Improvement Rule substantially reorganizes the generator rules to make them more user-friendly to enable improved compliance.  For example, the requirements for different generators now are all located in the same place. The regulations are also meant to increase flexibility for generators to manage waste cost-effectively. For example, the regulations include provisions regarding episodic generation that allow generators who temporarily change their generator category (e.g., from very small quantity generator to large quantity generator) as a result of maintenance work to continue to maintain their regular generator category, rather than being pushed into the higher category. The regulations allow for one episodic generation event (lasting up to 60 days) per year with required notification plus an opportunity to petition for an additional event.  

The regulations also fill in perceived regulatory gaps and clarify certain aspects of the program. The regulations clarify that the hazardous waste determination must be made at the point of generation before dilution or mixing. These containers must now be marked "hazardous waste" and indicate the hazards of the contents of the container (e.g., ignitable, corrosive, toxic, etc.). Generators must also add the RCRA waste code before shipping waste offsite.  

The regulations also allow large quantity generators to consolidate waste from their own very small quantity generator sites for more efficient waste management so long as the waste is under the control of the same person (as defined in the regulations). 

The regulations include a new labeling requirement for hazardous waste accumulated in containers, tanks and containment buildings in order to more effectively communicate risks. 

Finally, the regulations revise the facility closure requirements by consolidating closure requirements to one place in the regulations, requiring large quantity generators to notify EPA when closing a facility and clarifies that closure does not apply to satellite accumulation areas. 

DEQ is making a concerted effort to communicate with affected stakeholders regarding these new regulations. If you have suggestions for ways DEQ can more effectively communicate with the asphalt industry, or for materials that would be helpful, Leslie Romanchik, Hazardous Waste Environmental Manager at DEQ would be happy to hear from you. She can be reached at leslie.romanchik@deq.virginia.gov or (804) 698-4129.  

The Board of Game and Inland Fisheries will next meet on January 17, 2018. No agenda has been posted.

 

The State Air Control Board last met on November 16. 2018 meeting dates have not been set. 

The State Water Control Board last met on December 6-7 and December 11-12. 2018 meeting dates have not been set.  

Effective December 23, 2017, DEQ’s Central Office has relocated to the Bank of America Building, at 1111 East Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219. DEQ staff phone numbers remain the same.

 

DEQ issued a general notice regarding the availability of its Guidance for Citizen Nominations of State Surface Waters for Inclusion in Annual Water Quality Monitoring Plan in late December. While this is not a new guidance document, DEQ published the notice to make the public aware of this document for the January 1 to April 30 window to nominate waters for additional monitoring. Under the State Water Control Law, the public may request that DEQ include specific surface water body segments in its annual Water Quality Monitoring Plan. The guidance document lays out the process for individuals to request additional monitoring. VAA members should be aware of this guidance and the potential for the public to seek additional monitoring downstream from members’ outfalls or in the vicinity of their projects.  

The guidance is available here. 

a) Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) Reporting. Members subject to EPCRA Tier II are reminded that the reporting deadline is March 1. More information is available on DEQ’s EPCRA page. 

b) Clean Air Act Title V Compliance Certification Reporting. VAA members subject to Clean Air Act (CAA) Title V Compliance Certification Reporting are reminded of the upcoming March 1 deadline to submit your facility’s Annual Compliance Certification. More information on this reporting requirement is available from DEQ here.