DEQ Asks Virginians How to Best Engage Environmental Justice Communities During Permitting Process

When the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality reviews permits for proposed projects that would impact water, air, or land, the agency must consider whether projects would be in or near environmental justice communities, areas that are low-income or whose residents are mostly people of color who experience a disproportionate rate of environmental harm.

Virginia environmental regulators are seeking the public’s feedback on the best ways to meaningfully engage with EJ communities on projects that directly affect them. (Photo illustration by States Newsroom)

Now, state environmental regulators are seeking the public’s feedback on the best ways to meaningfully engage with EJ communities on projects that directly affect them, an action stemming from a new law that passed this year’s legislative session.

House Bill 1266, sponsored by Del. Kathy Tran, D-Fairfax, directs the department to host two public town halls on how to update regulatory guidance that is due at the end of the year. DEQ hosted the first meeting on Wednesday evening in Richmond.

Environmental justice is defined under the 2020 Virginia Environmental Justice Act as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of every person, regardless of race, color, national origin, income, faith, or disability, regarding the development, implementation, or enforcement of any environmental law, regulation, or policy.”

At Wednesday’s meeting, DEQ representatives said they are considering requiring companies seeking permits to be responsible for engaging the communities that fall under the environmental justice requirements.

The agency representatives also suggested that the culmination of other stressors in the area, when compounded with the project seeking a permit, be part of the updates to how to assess cumulative impacts of a project.

Members of the public said officials’ process should scrutinize the full weight that communities must bear.

“DEQ should consider the cumulative or total burden of pollution and community already carries, for reflecting how people actually live, not how permits are processed,” said Kim Sudderth with Virginia Interfaith Power and Light.

Other members of the public recommended that these new considerations for permits be applied to existing industries seeking permit reissue or extension. The agency should be more transparent about major projects with the potential to pollute the surrounding areas, other residents said.

A Varina pastor who lives near a facility that sterilizes medical equipment, which has been flagged by the EPA as a major contributor to cancer risks in the area, said information about new projects proposed in eastern Henrico, like data centers, is often constrained by nondisclosure agreements.

“Why is it you have to almost be there and be a part of it?” Rev. Ray McKenzie said of nearby Sterilization Services of Virginia and forthcoming digital warehouses. “Then when protests take place, the people protesting are the problem,” McKenzie said. Residents also don’t get proper notice about new plans, he added.

The new law does not require that cumulative impacts on environmental justice communities warrant the department to deny a permit application in those areas. Some community advocates said such a provision would give the regulation “teeth” that would encourage industries to minimize their impacts on the environment.

A few representatives from the industrial business community also spoke at the meeting.

Stacie Gordon with the Virginia Manufacturers Association said that making developers consider impacts from other facilities and environmental concerns unrelated to the permit they are seeking would create uncertainty for industry statewide.

She also said that economic benefits should be included in the consideration, which she suggested could offset environmental harms.

“Maintain objective and transparent evaluation criteria that can improve public confidence while also ensuring consistent permitting decisions,” Gordon told DEQ representatives. “Cumulative impact evaluations should also recognize positive and negative impacts, in addition to any of the environmental consequences associated with permanent actions.”

A draft update to the environmental justice regulations was started in 2023, but was never completed. This latest update will not include those recommendations and will include new public comments.

The next town hall meeting will be in Virginia Beach on July 29. The department will have until Oct. 31 to respond to public comments and must issue the new guidance by the last day of the year.

by Shannon Heckt, Virginia Mercury

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