Chief Patron: Habeeb
Voluntary Remediation Program

Item 363 #1h

Language
Page 271, line 10, strike "$23,562,518" and insert "$24,062,518".
Page 271, line 10, strike "$23,562,930" and insert "$24,062,930".
Page 271, line 22, before "It", insert "A."
Page 271, after line 24, insert:
"B.  Out of the amounts appropriated for this item, $500,000 the first year and $500,000 the second year from the general fund is provided to augment resources for the Voluntary Remediation Program."

Explanation
(This amendment provides additional funding to the Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP) operated by the Department of Environmental Quality. The Voluntary Remediation Program encourages site owners to voluntarily address hazardous substance cleanups that might not otherwise take place by providing a streamlined mechanism for site owners or operators to voluntarily address contamination at sites with concurrence from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, which issues a "certification of satisfactory completion of remediation," when the remediation is satisfactorily completed. This certification provides assurance that the remediated site will not later become the subject of a DEQ enforcement action unless new issues are discovered. It is anticipated that the VRP will facilitate the sale and reuse of industrial and commercial properties in the Commonwealth, developing existing commercial properties rather than expanding commercial sites onto pristine lands.)