House OKs spending package
Tight vote reflects GOP dismay as $1.2T bill moves to Senate
WASHINGTON — The House approved a $1.2 trillion package of spending bills Friday just a few hours before funding for some key federal agencies is set to expire, a long overdue action nearly six months into the budget year that will push any threats of a government shutdown to the fall.
The bill passed by a vote of 286-134 and moved to the Senate, where leadership hoped for a final vote later Friday. More than 70% of the money would go to defense.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., brought up the bill under a streamlined process that required two-thirds support for approval. The bill narrowly met that threshold with more Republicans voting against it than voting for it, which could spell difficulties for Johnson in the weeks ahead.
The vote was tight, a reflection of anger among Republicans over the content of the package and the speed with which it was brought to a vote.
Signaling more potential trouble, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., initiated an effort to oust Johnson as the House began the vote but held off on further action until the House returns in two weeks. It’s the same tool that was used last year to remove the last Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy of California.
Greene told reporters that she initiated the process to remove the speaker as a “warning” because his actions were a “betrayal.”
“This was our leverage,” Greene said of the bill. “This is our chance to secure the border, and he didn’t do it. And now this funding bill passed without the majority of the majority.”
While 101 Republicans voted
long line of pointy turbine blades can be seen on the horizon.
“At that distance, the curvature of the Earth will make it difficult to see the turbines clearly from shore,” Jeremy Slayton, a Dominion Energy spokesperson, wrote in an email. “However, the turbines could be more visible at higher elevations and at night due to necessary safety features, such as navigational lighting.”
Two 6-megawatt pilot turbines were installed in 2020. They are 200 feet shorter than the planned 14-megawatt turbines and can been seen from shore on a clear day.
“They are difficult to see, and it may require binoculars to see them,” Slayton wrote. “You can find them by first finding the Chesapeake Lighthouse, which is 12 miles offshore. Then look slightly to the right and the turbines will be another 15 miles farther out.”
The turbine towers will be painted light gray but the photo simulations depict them in white and show roughly 30 more than are planned, Slayton said. Navigational safety lights will activate only when there are airplanes around the turbines, he said.
Dominion will begin work in May to install an additional 174 turbines, which are anticipated to generate enough energy to power up to 660,000 homes. The project will help avoid carbon emissions equivalent of removing one million cars off the road each year, according to the company. It’s scheduled to be completed in 2026.
The City Council did not review the images before approving a viewshed compensation package for historic resources impacted by the wind project, according to Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson and member Worth Remick, who represent districts along Virginia Beach’s coastline.
But members of the city’s planning department and council-appointed historic commission looked at them as they determined which historic sites would be affected, said Sharon Prescott, commission chair.
“Our concern was visual impact on historic resources,” said Prescott. “You’re not going to make the windfarm go away, but you can continue to try to preserve resources.”
Glasco saw them as well. Preservation Virginia prepared its own requests for compensation separate from the city’s.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management determined the construction, installation, operations, and maintenance of the wind turbine project has the potential to adversely affect 23 Virginia Beach historic properties and is subject to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires mitigation funding.
Virginia Beach will receive $290,000 to mitigate “adverse visual effects,” while the lighthouse secured $650,000.
“The amount was determined relative to the agreed upon projects that will be funded,” Mark Reed, the city’s historic preservation planner, wrote in an email. “City staff reviewed the proposed funding and determined it to be sufficient based upon our experience with similar projects.”
The money provided by Dominion Energy will fund maintenance, educational and preservation projects associated with the historic sites. Cultural resource consultants provided funding estimates to BOEM and Dominion Energy.
Dominion Energy officials have publicly shared details about the wind project with the council, but most of those presentations and subsequent discussions centered around city easements needed for transmission cables, not viewshed issues. Reed said the council did not request additional information about the visual effects.
The city’s historic commission has reviewed mitigation for cellular towers with antennas, but past Dominion Energy projects in Virginia Beach haven’t required Section 106 review. That only occurs when there is a federal undertaking, which is the case with the offshore wind farm, Reed said.
Preservation Virginia has previous experience with compensation from Dominion Energy for historic Jamestown when the company built towers and a high-voltage transmission line across the James River. The power company paid $90 million to reduce the impact of the project on environmental resources and historic sites in 2017.
“We put out a number and did some negotiation,” Glasco said about the compensation for the wind project.
The money will be used for renovations to the lighthouse visitors center and educational programs.
The renderings are circulating online. John Knight, a Croatan resident, took a deep dive into Dominion Energy’s environmental impact statement and found them. He shared an image from 17th Street on a Facebook group this week.
“Who in the world wants to go to the beach and look at that!” Knight wrote in the online post.
Remick said he has concerns about the views from sites within his district which includes the North End and the part of the resort area.
Wilson has become a sounding board for Croatan residents, including Knight, who are dealing with noise from construction of the wind energy transmission cables landing near their houses.
When asked if she thought Virginia Beach is receiving enough compensation for the impact of the project, Wilson, who lives in a Oceanfront condominium, said “probably not” — but she still supports it.
“It’s going to be good for economic development,” Wilson said. “It’s good for the environment in the long run.”