Virginia Code 62.1-44.34:25: Virginia Spill Response Council created; purpose; membership
A. There is hereby created the Virginia Spill Response Council. The purpose of the Council is to (i) improve the Commonwealth’s capability to respond in a timely and coordinated fashion to incidents involving the discharge of oil or hazardous materials which pose a threat to the environment, its living resources, and the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the Commonwealth and (ii) provide an ongoing forum for discussions between agencies which are charged with the prevention of, and response to, oil spills and hazardous materials incidents, and those agencies responsible for the remediation of such incidents.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 62.1-44.34:25
- Board: means the State Water Control Board. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- Council: means the Virginia Spill Response Council. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.34:24
- Department: means the Department of Environmental Quality. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- Director: means the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- Discharge: means spillage, leakage, pumping, pouring, seepage, emitting, dumping, emptying, injecting, escaping, leaching, fire, explosion, or other releases. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.34:24
- Hazardous materials: means substances or materials which may pose unreasonable risks to health, safety, property, or the environment when used, transported, stored, or disposed of, which may include materials which are solid, liquid, or gas. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.34:24
- Member: means a member of the Board. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.3
- Oil: means oil of any kind and in any form including, but not limited to, petroleum, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse, oil mixed with waste, crude oils, and other liquid hydrocarbons regardless of specific gravity. See Virginia Code 62.1-44.34:24
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
B. The Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources and the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, upon the advice of the director of the agency, shall select one representative from each of the following agencies to serve as a member of the Council: Department of Emergency Management, State Water Control Board, Department of Environmental Quality, Virginia Marine Resources Commission, Department of Wildlife Resources, Department of Health, Department of Fire Programs, and the Council on the Environment.
C. The Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources or his designee shall serve as chairman of the Council.
1990, c. 598; 1991, c. 66; 2014, cc. 115, 490; 2020, c. 958; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 401.