As a landowner (and farmer), I see solar as a promising way to generate reliable income while contributing to the state’s energy transition. With the General Assembly’s passage of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, the state obviously set ambitious goals for renewable energy. However, DEQ’s proposed amendments to the Small Renewable (Solar) Energy regulations seems to counter this effort by making it more difficult to site and develop solar projects—particularly the proposed rules listed under 9VAC15-60-55 that automatically find “significant adverse impacts” based on an imprecise map layer. Solar projects take years to develop, and these rules would hamper many that are currently in progress. These regulations should not be adopted, and certainly should not take effect for 3-4 years.