environment | FFXnow

Herndon, Vienna, Clifton would benefit from revisions to plastic bag tax law

Published February 11, 2025 at 2:30PM

A plastic grocery bag (via Christopher Vega on Unsplash)

Its future remains uncertain, but legislation in Richmond could bring the towns of Herndon, Vienna and Clifton more money to spend on environmental and social-service initiatives.

A bill patroned by Del. Marty Martinez (D-29) would allow Virginia towns to get a portion of the plastic bag tax revenue collected by their surrounding county. After passing the House of Delegates on a 52-45 vote on Jan. 23, the measure advanced from a Senate Committee on Local Government on a party-line tally of 8-7 on Monday (Feb. 10).

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Fairfax County board requests report on efforts to combat illegal dumping

By Scott McCaffrey

Published February 7, 2025 at 11:15AM

Garbage along Electronic Drive on Feb. 21, 2022, in Springfield (photo by David Taube)

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors directed County Executive Bryan Hill on Tuesday (Feb. 4) to develop proposals refining how the county government deals with illegal dumping.

The directive was based on a Jan. 15 memorandum from the county’s Environmental Quality Advisory Council (EQAC) that laid out both concerns and possible solutions.

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Fairfax County joins national effort to protect monarch butterflies

By Scott McCaffrey

Published January 28, 2025 at 11:15AM

A monarch butterfly spotted by the W&OD Trail (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County leaders have joined hundreds of municipalities across the nation in pledging to do more to help the monarch butterfly’s survival.

The county’s Board of Supervisors agreed during its Jan. 14 meeting to sign on to the National Wildlife Foundation’s Mayors’ Monarch Pledge Program, which commits local governments to take various actions to stem loss of habitat for pollinators.

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Fairfax environmental council worried about data centers’ impact on local water supply

By Scott McCaffrey

Published January 6, 2025 at 11:45AM

A person fills a glass with tap water (photo by Eric Vance/U.S. EPA)

Northern Virginia’s wary embrace of data centers could have major long-term impacts on both water consumption and wastewater treatment across the region, the Fairfax County Environmental Quality Advisory Council (EQAC) says in its annual report for 2024.

The 134-page document offers a status update and recommendations on environmental issues, including land use, air and water quality, transportation, waste management, climate change and ecological conservation.

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Better data, more hunters needed to manage Fairfax County’s deer population, report says

By Scott McCaffrey

Published January 2, 2025 at 3:30PM

A deer crosses an asphalt trail through Vienna's Wildwood Park (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

A new report says Fairfax County leaders need to work on better determining the county’s deer population, explaining the need for deer management to the public and recruiting volunteers for deer-culling efforts.

Those are some of the suggestions made to the Board of Supervisors by the Fairfax County Environmental Quality Advisory Council (EQAC) in its 134-page annual report for 2024.

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Fairfax County tax reduces plastic bag circulation, raises $6 million

By James Jarvis

Published December 16, 2024 at 2:30PM

A plastic grocery bag (via Christopher Vega on Unsplash)

Fairfax County’s plastic bag tax has pulled in more than $6 million in revenue and taken an estimated 3 million plastic bags out of circulation nearly two years after it was enacted, county officials say.

“There are 3 million fewer plastic bags in circulation in Fairfax County since the bag tax was enacted, which 100% shows the intention is working,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said during an environmental committee meeting last Tuesday (Dec. 10).

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Fairfax leaders to push General Assembly for stricter data center rules

By James Jarvis

Published November 1, 2024 at 9:45AM

Fairfax County Government Center (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Fairfax County supervisors will advocate for data center regulation to be a primary focus of the General Assembly’s 2025 legislative agenda.

Board members expressed support this week for several new recommendations from county staff aimed at granting state agencies and local governments broader authority to regulate data centers, including increased oversight of their environmental impacts.

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Fairfax Water faces huge bill to comply with new EPA chemical removal mandate

By Scott McCaffrey

Published October 31, 2024 at 3:45PM

A person fills a glass with tap water (photo by Eric Vance/U.S. EPA)

Officials at Fairfax Water are bracing for one-time and ongoing costs that could approach a half-billion dollars over the next decade to comply with new federal environmental regulations.

Unless workarounds are found, most of the costs of addressing the looming impact of chemicals known as PFAS will be borne by its customers, the agency’s head told the Board of Supervisors’ Environment Committee on Tuesday (Oct. 29).

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Tree preservation proposals likely lower priority among Fairfax County’s state legislature asks

By Scott McCaffrey

Published October 18, 2024 at 8:15AM

Trees line Colvin Run Road in Great Falls (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

While the environment is generally a priority for Fairfax County, issues related to trees and invasive plants appear likely to take a backseat to other concerns when local elected officials lobby their state counterparts in the General Assembly next year.

At its legislative committee meeting on Tuesday (Oct. 15), the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors reviewed a number of proposals for promoting tree conservation and addressing invasive species from the Fairfax County Tree Commission and Environmental Quality Advisory Council (EQAC).

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Fairfax County bumps back tree-planting season due to warming climate

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 16, 2024 at 2:30PM | Updated September 17, 2024 at 12:10AM

A tree seedling encased in wire (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Bad news for anyone who has already gotten roots in the ground: Fairfax County’s window for planting trees has shifted back following a record-hot summer.

Forest Conservation (FCON) staff in the county’s Department of Land Development Services (LDS) updated its policy this spring to designate Oct. 1 through May 31 as the recommended time frame for planting trees, pushing back the previous start date of Sept. 1 and extending it through the winter.