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)
Buy Photo

The boards are trying to toughen environmental regulation in a business-friendly state. The state Chamber of Commerce had come to consider the boards an economic threat. Last summer, Chamber of Commerce President Hugh Keogh asked businesses in the state to contribute $5,000 each to support the effort.

"The bill is designed to provide for greater professionalism and accountability together with a more rational decision-making process," he wrote at that time.

The bill passed easily last year, but by last month, the balance of power had shifted. Last year, the General Assembly was dominated by Republicans; this year, the state Senate is controlled by Democrats. Sen. Patricia S. Ticer (D-Alexandria), new chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, presided over hearings on the bill.

"She was there fighting for us," Pepper said.

Englin also had been strongly opposed to the original bill.

"It's a terrible idea to create an environmental czar, vesting all the authority in one person and stripping the community of the ability to play a role in controversial environmental permitting issues that affect their health and safety," he said. "My experience with that agency is that where they have an opportunity to exercise discretion, they do it in favor of industry, not in favor of environmental quality."

Anderson, of the Chamber of Commerce, disagreed, saying it was "very unjust" to characterize the Department of Environmental Quality in that way.

"The DEQ is not a pushover to industry," he said.

Englin said the final bill ended up being a good piece of environmental legislation.

"It's a good outcome for Alexandria and a good outcome for the state," he said. "It means communities can continue to play a role in controversial environmental permitting decisions that affect them."