DEQ - Response to JLARC Study (language only)

Item 407 #10s

Language
Page 266, after line 48, insert:
"G.1.  As a condition of the appropriation in this item, the Department of Environmental Quality shall submit to the Chairmen of the House Appropriations; House Conservation and Natural Resources; Senate Finance; and Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources Committees by November 5, 1997, a report on the Department's implementation of the recommendations contained in the three JLARC studies
Solid Waste Facility Management:  Impact on Minority Communities; Interim Report:  Review of the Department of Environmental Quality;  and Review of the Department of Environmental Quality.  This report shall:  (1) identify each recommendation that has been fully implemented; (2) include a workplan and schedule for completing the recommendations not yet fully implemented; (3) identify the recommendations that do not pertain to the department; and (4) discuss which recommendations the Department does not intend to implement, providing the reasons and justifications for such actions.
2.  In responding to paragraph G.1., the Department shall provide supplemental information, including:  (1) a report identifying the number of sole source contracts that have been let or require payment in fiscal years 1996-1997 and 1997-1998, the dollar value of these contracts, the reasons for justifying the use of sole source contracts, and the deliverables received or expected; (2) a report identifying the changes required in:  (a) the Department's positions and appropriations, (b) state laws and policies, and (c) agency policies, including the use of announced and unannounced inspections,  and regulations to increase the percentage of major permitted air sources inspected annually in Virginia to at least 85 percent and to increase the percentage of major permitted water facilities inspected annually in Virginia to at least 79 percent; and (3) a report identifying state agencies receiving Notice of Violations or similar formal or informal findings of noncompliance with environmental statutes or regulations during the past thirty-six months, and estimating the cost of corrective actions required for each state facility not currently complying with environmental laws and regulations.
3.  In responding to the JLARC recommendations on enforcement issues, the Department shall specifically include in the report authorized in paragraph G.1., the Department's enforcement policy and the provisions highlighting:  (1) written guidance to Department staff on enforcement policy and procedures, including the use of the unilateral penalty authority; (2) the specific conditions in which the Department will not seek civil charges or penalties for permit compliance and enforcement violations and the number of enforcement actions in fiscal year 1996-97 where no civil charges or penalties were assessed, categorized by environmental medium; (3) written policy setting forth actions to be taken in cases in which a permittee is known to be causing serious environmental damage; (4) the number and amount of civil charges or penalties assessed in fiscal year 1996-97, categorized by environmental medium; and (5) a copy of the memorandum of understanding developed by the Department and the Office of the Attorney General governing case referral procedures, the role of each agency in the enforcement process, and the criteria used for distinguishing which types of cases should be referred for legal action.
4.  It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Department of Environmental Quality recover the economic benefit of noncompliance in the negotiation and assessment of civil charges and penalties in every case in which there is an economic benefit from noncompliance, and the economic benefit can be reasonably calculated.  To that end, the Department shall develop a methodology for calculating such economic benefits.  The Department shall provide, by November 5, 1997, a report to the Chairmen of the House Appropriations, House Conservation and Natural Resources, Senate Finance, and Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources Committees, explaining the methodology and policy and economic assumptions used to develop the methodology.
5.  In preparing the reports required under this item, the Department shall cooperate with
the House Appropriations, House Conservation and Natural Resources, Senate Finance, and Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources Committees.  The Committees shall make periodic inquiries on the progress and content of the reports."

Explanation
(This amendment responds to the findings and recommendations of JLARC's recent studies of the Department. The amendment requires the Department to report to the General Assembly by November 5, 1997. The amendment also states the General Assembly's intent that the Department shall recover from permittees who are out of environmental compliance, the economic benefit derived from that status.)