Farmers have more time to reduce pollution

Environmental and agricultural groups reached a compromise over legislation seeking to push back the deadline for farmers to voluntarily implement practices that aim to reduce the amount of polluted runo entering Chesapeake Bay waters.

Bills from Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta, and Del. Michael Webert, R-Fauquier, initially sought to extend the current 2026 deadline to 2030 because of delays related to COVID-19 and supply- chain disruptions, as well as inadequate funding for state farmer assistance programs in prior years.

But following negotiations, Webert, who represents Rappahannock County, and Hanger agreed to an intermediate deadline of 2028 and the addition of speci c reporting requirements to track farmers’ progress in implementing the practices.

Both Hanger and Webert’s bills have garnered bipartisan support as they move out of committee.

“We can do what we’re supposed to do, and the important part is, we’ll know where success is, because we’re going to measure it in an appropriate way,” Hanger said on Jan. 31.

The original 2026 deadline was set following negotiations in the 2020 session that aimed to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution that runs o agricultural elds into waterways as part of Virginia’s e ort to achieve its 2025 Bay cleanup targets.

The 2020 law gave farmers until 2026 to voluntarily adopt practices like installing fencing along streams to prevent livestock from entering them and planting tree bu ers to collect fertilizer runo before it enters waterways. If the state hadn’t shown enough progress toward reducing agricultural pollution at that time, the legislation required the practices to then become mandatory.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency acknowledged last year that the 2025 reduction goals won’t be met.

Several environmental groups, including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, initially opposed the idea of pushing the deadline back four years, arguing that 90% of Virginia’s remaining pollution reductions need to come from the agricultural sector. Additionally, they argued, momentum toward implementing the practices has increased a er a state costshare program received a record level of funding last year.

But the groups agreed to a 2028 deadline a er the addition of metrics to track farmers’ progress toward the goals.

The bill includes a provision that if the legislature doesn’t provide sufficient funding for the cost-share program, the deadline will be extended one year.