Compromise Preserves Board's Permitting Clout

The Mirant coal-fired power plant in Alexandria provides electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes in the District and Maryland, and also affects Northern Virginia residents because it fouls the air. (By Giuliana Nakashima -- The Washington Post)
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The original bill, proposed by Del. R. Steven Landes (R-Augusta) and backed by state business groups, including the Chamber of Commerce and Mirant, had drawn protests from Alexandria officials and environmental groups statewide.

More than 100 people attended a hearing of the Air Pollution Control Board in Alexandria in January, underscoring their support for the board. A week later, about 120 attended a forum hosted by Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and the Sierra Club. Participants were urged to contact their state legislators to protest the bill.

Alexandria officials had strongly opposed what they viewed as the emasculation of the air pollution board. They said the Department of Environmental Quality had become a captive of industry, particularly of power companies, and they have endorsed the Air Pollution Control Board's actions in scrutinizing a pollution permit sought by Mirant for its Alexandria plant.

"The Department of Environmental Quality has a history of favoring Mirant," said Alexandria Vice Mayor Redella S. "Del" Pepper (D). "The regulators are too close to the regulated."

That view was shared by environmentalists across the state, who deluged elected representatives in both parties with messages opposing the original bill.

"This issue galvanized the conservation community in a way I haven't seen in a long time," said Catharine Gilliam, Virginia program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association.

A similar measure to strip power from the citizen boards passed the General Assembly last year, with support from Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D). Opponents added a clause requiring the measure to win legislative approval again this year to become law, and the new bill was reintroduced with minor word changes to make it easier to pass this year. It appeared to be moving quickly toward passage before the environmentalists and Alexandria residents began lobbying against it.

Under Republican governors, the boards' members tended to be industry officials. But the boards' memberships have changed as a result of appointments by Democratic governors Mark R. Warner and Kaine.

Many board members now hold strong pro-environmental views, including Bruce Buckheit, the Environmental Protection Agency's former head of air pollution enforcement, who resigned from the federal government over his disagreement with actions taken by the Bush administration to weaken environmental enforcement. Buckheit, now retired, serves on the Air Pollution Control Board, as does Vivian Thomson, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia who teaches about environmental politics.

The three boards have not prevented any projects from going forward, but they have delayed some permits and asked questions about potential environmental impacts.

In December 2006, the city of Newport News clashed with the water board over access to the water from a proposed reservoir on the scenic Mattaponi River in King William County. The Mattaponi Indians, descendants of Chief Powhatan, oppose the reservoir, which they say would destroy tribal lands. Fast-growing Newport News said it needed the water. The water board ruled against the city but reversed itself, and the Department of Environmental Quality granted the permit.

Similarly, the Air Pollution Control Board has had several public hearings to scrutinize the operating permit at the Mirant plant in Alexandria.