The Environmental Law and Community Engagement Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law, on behalf of its client, the AMMD Pine Grove Project, appreciates this opportunity to submit comments in support of HB1266 (Tran). The AMMD Pine Grove Project is caretaker of the historic Pine Grove School in Cumberland County, Virginia, which opened in 1917. It was built as part of the Tuskegee-Rosenwald Schools initiative, a campaign spearheaded by philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and Tuskegee's Founding Principal, Booker T. Washington. There was an acute need to provide educational opportunities for African American children at a time when Jim Crow oppression barred them from attending most public schools throughout the American South. Thousands of Tuskegee-Rosenwald school buildings were constructed to help serve that need. Yet today, only a few of these buildings remain. Valiant efforts to preserve the historic Pine Grove School today are being led by the Agee, Miller, Mayo, and Dungy families, whose ancestral ties are deeply rooted in the historic Pine Grove School and the community that surrounds it. They founded the AMMD Pine Grove Project, an organization that now includes former Pine Grove students and current community members. As a result of the AMMD Pine Grove Project's efforts, the school has earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places and on the Virginia Landmarks Register. You can learn more about ongoing preservation efforts in the short documentary, "Pine Grove: More Than A School." Unfortunately, these efforts are now threatened by a proposed landfill on property adjacent to the school building on Pinegrove Road. Because of the proposed landfill, the Pine Grove School was included on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of America's Most Endangered Places for 2021. Permitting processes for the landfill remain ongoing. The AMMD Pine Grove Project and neighbors continue to organize and advocate to preserve their history while opposing the landfill. HB1266 would provide an important framework for protecting valuable resources like the Pine Grove School. If this legislation passes, we would look forward to working with DEQ on the adoption of implementing regulations.

The Environmental Law and Community Engagement Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law, on behalf of its client, the AMMD Pine Grove Project, appreciates this opportunity to submit the attached letter in support of HB1266 (Tran).

Hello Delegates, I am writing in opposition of HB1396. This bill had been brought fourth by landowners groups that falsely claim to represent and maximize property owners rights when in fact they are property owners that want to end the tradition of hound hunting. This is proven by these groups comments on their own social media pages. These groups have made claim that only 8 states allow the use of hounds to hunt, a stat quoted by delegates in the subcommittee, that is simply a false statement, currently only 9 states allow hounds to be used to hunt deer but nearly every state allows the utilization of dogs to hunt other game species many not requiring an special license to do so. I ask the delegates to understand that the vast majority of the members of the hound hunting organizations are land owners as well in addition to all of the landowners who lease or allow hound hunting on their land support the tradition of hound hunting. This bill creates a permit allowing the DWR create and issue permits on a may issue criteria with visual permit requirements for hounds and vehicles. If Additional funding is needed to police game laws the bill should be amended to a license just like an archery or muzzleloading license that is a shall issue. Additionally the cost for said license should be reduced and required for all that utilize or partcipate in any type of hunting that utilizes a dog. Dogs are already required to have owner contact info on their collar and their vehicles have state issued license plates therefore marking is not necessary. Lastly the only ones who should be exempt from license purchase are those that utilize dogs to hunt on their own land. This simplifies the requirements and makes it fair for all parties. Basically if big game is harvested and checked in and the use of dogs is checked as a part of big game license registering process they should be required to have a dog hunting license or be exempt as a land owner. I hope that you find this as a reasonable comprise. Additionally there needs to be some sort of recourse for false complaints or accusations. If this bill continues as is it will create more tensions between those who utilize dogs to hunt and those who don't like the use of hunting dogs. False complaints will continue to increase cause additional hunter harassment and tension between hunters and those that oppose it. Thank you for your time. V/R, B. C. Bunch

NAACP considers cumulative impacts as the aggregated long-term consequences of multiple environmental and economic stressors that disproportionately affect frontline communities. This bill is a vital instrument for addressing the historical overburden and systemic disinvestment in these communities, which have resulted in the deterioration of property values, quality of life, public health, and natural resources. By establishing a more comprehensive data-driven framework in the permitting process, this bill seeks to create a critical path to the restoration and revitalization of existing frontline communities while minimizing the potential for further damage. Therefore, we support this bill to consider cumulative impacts of pollution in the permitting process.

One helping of French fries probably won't hurt you, but a helping of French fries every day will have a cumulative impact. For too long, permits have been treated in isolation, as though nothing preceded this particular request and no further requests will be made. The reality is that the same communities suffer the cumulative impacts of many permitted activities that cumulate into a degraded environment. State agencies need to consider the cumulative impact before granting a permit. The public deserves an opportunity to weigh in on proposals. HB1266 provides for this and I urge you to pass this bill.

Dear Chair and Members of the Committee, On behalf of Lynnhaven River NOW, I write in strong support of HB 1266. This bill would require permitting decisions to reflect how pollution is experienced – accumulating across multiple sources and stressors – rather than evaluating each facility in isolation. For communities in Virginia Beach and across Hampton Roads, cumulative impacts are not theoretical. Residents can face overlapping burdens from air emissions, water pollution, contaminated sediments, heavy truck and roadway exposure, and flooding-driven runoff that moves pollutants through connected waterways – ultimately affecting the Lynnhaven River and the Chesapeake Bay. HB 1266 provides a practical, science-based way to ensure that communities already carrying disproportionate burdens are not asked to absorb still more. HB 1266 aligns Virginia’s permitting with the best available science. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have emphasized that cumulative impact assessment helps account for the “totality of exposures” and supports more equitable, health-protective decision-making. Likewise, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has advanced guidance recognizing that permitting has too often failed to reflect the lived reality of overburdened communities facing multiple stressors at once. HB 1266 would move the Commonwealth toward that more realistic and protective approach. HB 1266 strengthens meaningful public participation. The bill requires early, accessible outreach – including multilingual notice within a defined radius, a public hearing, comment periods, and a documented response to community concerns – so engagement is not a box-checking exercise, but a genuine opportunity to shape decisions that affect health and quality of life. Research on cumulative-impact policies underscores that robust procedural protections and authentic engagement are essential to building trust and improving outcomes. HB 1266 supports responsible growth with clearer expectations. By setting a transparent framework – requiring additional mitigation when a project would cause or contribute to adverse cumulative impacts on an environmental justice community – HB 1266 encourages better siting, earlier problem-solving, and fewer downstream conflicts. For these reasons, we respectfully urge you to report HB 1266 and advance it. Sincerely, Lynnhaven River NOW

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Invasives should be pulled or killed by herbicide and not be permitted to be sold in nurseries

Opposed to these bills