Small victory for environmentalists in Virginia

Environmentalists won a small, tentative victory in Virginia on Saturday when a state House panel voted that a proposal to strip powers from citizen boards "needs more study." Via the Richmond Times Dispatch:

The natural resources committee voted 17-5 to endorse the bill, but with a provision that it must come back for approval in 2008.

"We can seriously debate this over the next year" if the bill passes, said the committee chairman, Del. M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights. He also said the proposal has merit.

The bill removes the authority to issue permits that govern industries' emissions from both the State War, and State Air Pollution Control boards. The power would now be in the hands of the director of the state's environmental agency.

The bill now moves to the full house, and the Senate Conservation committee will take up the "companion bill" tomorrow according to the RTD.