The House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee included $60 million in federal funds next year for the Environmental Protection Agency’s federal-state Bay Program in a bill it reported Wednesday, according to Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger, D-MD, a member of the full committee. Of that total, $10 million would be allocated to grant programs to be spent for on-the-ground restoration projects in the six-state watershed.

Rep. Scott Taylor, who also sits on the House Appropriations Committee, released a statement Wednesday afternoon voicing his support of the program. Taylor said he would also like to see the program receive funding equivalent to the 2017 budget, which is $73 million.

“I am grateful for the support among members of the Appropriations Committee who fought to get the $60 million included for the Chesapeake Bay program, far from the $0 in the President’s budget,” Taylor said in the statement. “The Chesapeake Bay is America’s largest and most significant estuary, a significant economic driver for our region and a national treasure. While I would like to see it returned to the FY17 level of $73 million immediately, this is a strong negotiating position we will use to push for increased funding in the weeks ahead.”

EPA’s proposed budget outlines EPA’s planned program activities for fiscal year 2018 (October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018) and associated resource requirements.

-The President’s 2018 budget for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides $5.655 billion to support the agency’s work to protect human health and the environment.
-The agency’s FY 2018 budget lays out a comprehensive back-to-basics and foundational strategy to maintain core environmental protection with respect to statutory and regulatory obligations. -This budget provides the direction and resources to support the EPA’s return to a focus on its core statutory work and the appropriate federal role in protecting human health and the environment. This can be accomplished by engaging with state, local, and tribal partners to create and implement sensible regulations that also work to enhance economic growth.
-EPA’s budget supports the President’s focus on the nation’s infrastructure. The infrastructure needs of our communities include making improvements to drinking water and waste water systems, as well cleaning up contaminated land.
-The President’s budget aims to reduce redundancies and inefficiencies and prioritize the EPA’s core statutory mission of providing Americans with clean air, land and water as well as ensuring safe chemicals.

RICHMOND, Va. — Dominion Energy is partnering with Denmark’s DONG Energy to build two wind turbines off the coast of Virginia Beach.

Dominion announced Monday the six-megawatt turbines will be built approximately 27 miles off the coast, far enough that they won’t be visible from the shore.

The turbines are expected to power about 3,000 homes and provide operational, weather and environmental experience to open the door to the development of a much larger adjacent site that Dominion says could power half a million homes.

The nation’s first offshore wind farm opened off Rhode Island in December. Dominion says this project could be the second.

The effort has been years in the making, delayed by high cost estimates.

“Virginia is now positioned to be a leader in developing more renewable energy thanks to the Commonwealth’s committed leadership and DONG’s unrivaled expertise in building offshore wind farms,” said Thomas F. Farrell II, Dominion Energy’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a press release. “While we have faced many technological challenges and even more doubters as we advanced this project, we have been steadfast in our commitment to our customers and the communities we serve.”