For Immediate Release:
Monday, Aug. 19, 2019
Contact:
Lee Francis | Deputy Director
Virginia League of Conservation Voters
(804) 225-1902 | lfrancis@valcv.org
RICHMOND – Today, the Secretary of Natural Resources released his final report in response to Executive Order 6 calling for ways to strengthen and improve the Department of Environmental Quality when it comes to transparency, environmental enforcement, permitting, and environmental justice.
In response to this report, Michael Town, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, offered the following statement:
“This report is definitely progress, but as it makes perfectly clear, there is a lot of work ahead of us to see this vision through and to rebuild and retool DEQ into a stronger, more effective and impactful agency.
Many of the ambitious goals laid out here will require legislative action. This begins first and foremost with restoring funding for DEQ, which has seen its budget, staff size, and enforcement capability shrink significantly in recent years.
We are committed to breaking the current logjam at the General Assembly and electing lawmakers who will let DEQ do its job, put environmental protection and equity first, and hold polluters accountable.”
About us:
The Virginia League of Conservation Voters serves as the political voice of the state’s conservation community, working to make sure Virginia’s elected officials recognize that our natural heritage is an environmental and economic treasure for all. Virginia LCV works with conservation leaders across Virginia and strives for a conservation majority in state government. We secure good public policies on the state level and hold public officials accountable for their positions on environmental issues. For more information, visit www.valcv.org.
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