This project is developing the Virginia No Adverse Impact Legal Guide, based specifically on Virginia law, for understanding the legal landscape of risk related to development and to denials of permits in floodplain management. This is crucial as Virginia’s constitutional protections of private property rights differ from those of the U.S. Constitution, and Virginia tort law has features that distinguish it from many states.
This project will catalog references to vertical datums in the Virginia Code, Virginia Administrative Code, and at least one set of representative local government documents, evaluate potential impacts, evaluate how this might affect policy, and make recommendations to address latent policy changes if necessary. This project is funded by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program through a grant to DEQ from NOAA under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act.
This project works with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and Virginia Marine Resources Commission to assess how many intakes of surface water, primarily from industrial sources, are unpermitted under current Virginia law. The project will begin by conducting a literature review of existing Virginia laws and data related to surface water intakes and continue with interviews with state agencies to understand why there are so many instances of unpermitted intakes and what solutions there may be to mitigate the problem.
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