UUCville Ministry for Earth Legislative Advocacy

The VA General Assembly only meets for 60 days (Jan 10 – Mar 10) so your advocacy is needed NOW!

Here are pending bills of interest organized by topic. You can write to your legislators to ask for their support (some organizations provide ready made messages) and/or you can follow the progress of each bill. You can also phone—that’s even more effective.

Find contact info for your Virginia legislators here: https://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/

Contact Kim and Ellie at environment@uucharlottesville.org with questions. 

Invasive Species Management 

• HB 47/SB306 (Invasive Plant Species) – requires retailers to notify customers which plants are invasive.
• HB528 (Property Owners Association Act) – allows HOA residents flexibility in sustainable management of their property
• HB 1167 (Prohibition on Sale of English ivy) – allows localities to prohibit the sale of English Ivy which kills trees.

For more info, go to Blue Ridge PRISM (Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management):

https://blueridgeprism.org

Solar Energy & Our Tree Canopy

• Prioritizing Affordable Solar on Existing Spaces (HB106, HB108, HB199/SB25, HB367/SB234, SB79): Seven new distributed solar bills have been introduced to build out solar energy on pre-existing infrastructure, decreasing the amount of land needed for larger projects, and creating a more resilient, decentralized grid.
• Tree-mendous Bills to Improve Water Quality & Community Health (HB170, HB309, HB459/SB121) – preserve and improve the tree canopy in order to improve water quality, reduce flooding, provide habitat for wildlife, and mitigate the impacts of climate change in our most vulnerable communities

For more information, go to Virginia Conservation Network: https://vcnva.org

Data Centers & Energy Use

• HB 116 Retail Sales and Use tax; exemption for data centers: Northern Virginia has the biggest set of data centers in the world, and is expected to keep expanding. These data centers use a lot of energy.  So much energy that Dominion Energy is pointing to data centers as an excuse to build out massive new fossil fuel projects. This bill requires data centers to meet certain energy efficiency standards in order to be eligible for the sales and use tax exemption for data center purchases.

For more information, go to CCAN – Chesapeake Climate Action Network: https://chesapeakeclimate.org

Allowing Localities to Deal with Environmental Issues

• Incorporating Community Health in Local Comprehensive Planning (HB 208 SB 595): Municipalities in Virginia are constrained by the Dillon rule from making decisions that could safeguard communities from environmental harm and advance public health. This bill will empower comprehensive planning teams to adopt strategies that address these issues, based on resident input.

For more info, contact Virginia Interfaith Power & Light: https://vaipl.org

https://vaipl.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2024-Fact-Sheet-Healthy-Communities.pdf