CEO - Environmental Consultants and Contractors (ECC), Inc.

As Principal and CEO of ECC, Inc, I have worked with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality in the evaluation of thousands of sites over the past three decades.  Many of these sites entered and completed the DEQ's Voluntary Remediation Program.  Simply stated, this successful Virginia State Environmental Program generates taxes and jobs in the Commonwealth.  Therefore, it is imperative that Governor McDonnell, the Virginia Legislature and the DEQ safeguard, promote and continue to fund the Voluntary Remediation Program.  

Through fiscal year 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency stated that almost $18 of tax revenue was annually generated for every $1 spent in the VRP.  That 7.3 jobs were created for every $100,000 of privately invested funds in VRP projects.  That residential property values increased 2-3% once a nearby VRP site had been assessed or cleaned up.  The value is clear - this program benefits all of Virginia.  

I concur with the comments provided by Mr. James Thornhill regarding the proposed revisions to the Voluntary Remediation  Program.   In addition, DEQ should work together with stakeholders to review these proposed revisions, identify and ease additional regulatory burdens that may exist, create a more stable funding source including additional private fund fees, and ultimately create a stronger, sounder, and more predictable Voluntary Remediation Program.  Such a Program will incentivize businesses and financial institutions to commit to invest in Virginia.  Such a Program will directly economically benefit the citizens of the Commonwealth.