Virginia

Andrew C. Cooper
Brendon Pinkard
Dickenstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky LLP
Washington, D.C.

The Virginia legislature has taken several steps to improve upon their brownfields development program. One such initiative is the enactment of Senate Bill 1402, expected to become effective on July 1, 2001. This bill allows the Virginia Resources Authority (VRA) to extend funding to brownfields projects in the form of low interest loans. Either Virginia=s Wastewater Revolving Fund or the VRA Bond Programs have allocated funding for such loans. The objective of Bill 1402 is to facilitate state assistance in the funding of brownfields sites.

Additionally, the Virginia Senate recently passed Senate Bill 1873, which will take effect July 2001. Senate Bill 1873 expands the breadth of the VRP by including in the remediation program those properties owned by local governments. The bill eliminates the registration fees for local governments seeking to remediate their properties. The Bill also establishes the Virginia Voluntary Remediation Fund to provide grants to local governments in order to encourage brownfields remediation. Finally, Bill 1873 authorizes loans to be made to local governments from the Virginia Water Facilities Revolving Fund to remediate contaminated properties in order to reduce ground water contamination.

In addition to Bills 1402 and 1873, the Virginia DEQ is currently in the process of completing a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the U.S. EPA to provide protection from federal liability to participants in the VRP. Currently, participants in the VRP are protected from liability at only the state level. Under the proposed MOA, the U.S. EPA will recognize VRP findings that property has been fully remediated in compliance with state regulatory standards, and offer immunity.