VACo supports SB 1328 (Hanger), which seeks to tweak the current Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF) program to provide greater assistance to rural communities. The bill passed out of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources Committee on January 24 by a unanimous vote.
SB 1328 authorizes the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to provide SLAF grants to smaller, rural localities that are not regulated under municipal separate storm sewer (MS4) permits for stormwater management. The bill was amended in committee to clarify that the DEQ may award up to 20 percent of SLAF moneys to non-MS4 localities. This was done to ensure that in the future, a different DEQ Director or Secretary of Natural Resources could not totally eliminate SLAF funding to MS4 localities.
SB 1328 will now head to the full Senate, where it will likely be voted on early next week.
You can read more about SB 1328 in our January 22 Capital Contact or on the VACo Blog.
VACo Contact: Chris McDonald, Esq.