Bill Text: VA HB333 | 2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Environmental Justice, Virginia Council on; meetings and staffing, appointment of members.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2024-04-17 - House sustained Governor's veto [HB333 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HB333-Enrolled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§2.2-2699.10 and 2.2-2699.11 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§2.2-2699.10. Membership; terms; quorum; meetings.
A. The Council shall have a total membership of 27 members that shall consist of 21 nonlegislative citizen members and six ex officio members. Nonlegislative citizen members shall be appointed by the Governor. The Secretaries of Natural and Historic Resources, Commerce and Trade, Agriculture and Forestry, Health and Human Resources, Education, and Transportation, or their designees, including their agency representatives, shall serve ex officio with nonvoting privileges. Nonlegislative citizen members of the Council shall be residents of the Commonwealth and shall include representatives of (i) American Indian tribes, (ii) community-based organizations, (iii) the public health sector, (iv) nongovernmental organizations, (v) civil rights organizations, (vi) institutions of higher education, and (vii) communities impacted by an industrial, governmental, or commercial operation, program, or policy.
Ex officio members of the Council shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office. Appointments to fill vacancies, other than by expiration of a term, shall be for the unexpired terms. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments. After the initial staggering of terms, nonlegislative citizen members shall be appointed for a term of four years.
B. The Council shall elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson annually from among the membership of the Council. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum. The meetings of the Council shall be held at the call of the chairperson or whenever the majority of the members so request.
C. The Council shall meet quarterly and shall establish a meeting schedule on an annual basis. When possible, the location of the meetings shall rotate among different geographic regions, and the Council may travel throughout the Commonwealth to view and record conditions related to human health and the environment within and in close proximity to environmental justice communities. When possible, meetings shall be broadcast on the Internet or via teleconference. Each meeting shall include an in-person public comment component.
The Council may provide for the creation of subcommittees. Any subcommittee meetings shall be scheduled with notification to the full Council.
§2.2-2699.11. Compensation; expenses; staffing.
A. Members of the Council shall receive no compensation for their services but shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as provided in §§2.2-2813 and 2.2-2825. Funding for the costs of expenses of the members shall be provided by the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources.
B. The Office of the Governor and the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources shall provide staff support to the Council. The Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources shall not delegate any staff support requested pursuant to this subsection to any agency, regardless of whether such agency is an agency for which the Secretary is responsible to the Governor pursuant to §2.2-215. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Council, upon request.
2. That any vacancy in the membership of the Virginia Council on Environmental Justice that exists on the effective date of this act, other than a vacancy occurring by the expiration of a term, shall be filled for the unexpired term no later than August 31, 2024.
