Featured Stories
MA Cranberry Grower and Sand Miner Damaging Wetlands and Waterways
BOSTON, Massachusetts, June 23 -- Conservation Law Foundation issued the following news release:
* * *
MA Cranberry Grower and Sand Miner Damaging Wetlands and Waterways
The sand mining operations increase water pollution, elevate flood risk, and cause significant habitat destruction. Photo: iStock
(Boston, MA) - Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has notified A.D. Makepeace Company of its intent to sue for years of unlawful filling and damaging wetlands and streams across Southeastern Massachusetts. Makepeace's sand mining operations violate the Clean Water Act by dumping sand, soil, and debris
... Show Full Article
BOSTON, Massachusetts, June 23 -- Conservation Law Foundation issued the following news release:
* * *
MA Cranberry Grower and Sand Miner Damaging Wetlands and Waterways
The sand mining operations increase water pollution, elevate flood risk, and cause significant habitat destruction. Photo: iStock
(Boston, MA) - Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has notified A.D. Makepeace Company of its intent to sue for years of unlawful filling and damaging wetlands and streams across Southeastern Massachusetts. Makepeace's sand mining operations violate the Clean Water Act by dumping sand, soil, and debrisinto protected waters without required federal permits, increasing water pollution, elevating flood risk, and causing significant habitat destruction.
"For years, Makepeace has strip mined tens of millions of cubic yards of sand across Southeastern Massachusetts systematically destroying wetlands and waterways without accountability," said Heather Govern, CLF vice president for clean air and water. "Because of the threat to downstream communities and ecosystems that depend on clean water and flood protection, CLF is taking action."
The damage, which has been happening for more than a decade and continues today, spans multiple sites including Smith-Hammond and Wankinko bogs in Carver, and White Island and Carverside/Canning bogs in Plymouth. These areas include wetlands and streams that feed into larger waterways and coastal ecosystems. They are also part of a broader landscape with deep Indigenous history and cultural significance, including areas connected to longstanding Indigenous place names and waterways.
The filing calls for Makepeace to restore impacted wetlands, comply with federal permitting requirements, and pay a significant monetary penalty for ongoing violations.
* * *
INFODOC: https://www.clf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/A.D.-Makepeace-NOI.pdf
***
Original text here: https://www.clf.org/newsroom/ma-cranberry-grower-and-sand-miner-damaging-wetlands-and-waterways/
Helmsley Charitable Trust Makes Transformational Grant to Rebuild Weizmann Institute After Missile Strikes
NEW YORK, June 23 -- The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust issued the following news release on June 22, 2026:
* * *
Helmsley Charitable Trust Makes Transformational Grant to Rebuild Weizmann Institute After Missile Strikes
Funding will restore labs, equipment, and research infrastructure at Israel's leading science institute
-
The American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science announced today a $29 million grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to the Weizmann Institute of Science. The funding will support the research institute as it restores
... Show Full Article
NEW YORK, June 23 -- The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust issued the following news release on June 22, 2026:
* * *
Helmsley Charitable Trust Makes Transformational Grant to Rebuild Weizmann Institute After Missile Strikes
Funding will restore labs, equipment, and research infrastructure at Israel's leading science institute
-
The American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science announced today a $29 million grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to the Weizmann Institute of Science. The funding will support the research institute as it restoresits campus in Rehovot, Israel following the catastrophic damage caused by two Iranian missiles that targeted the Weizmann campus on June 15, 2025.
52 research labs, 100 buildings, 5,600 pieces of equipment, and 25,500 biological samples were damaged or destroyed at the Weizmann Institute of Science, one of the world's leading multidisciplinary basic research institutions in the natural and exact sciences, with a long history of investigation and discovery rooted in a mission of advancing science for the benefit of humanity. The restoration and rebuilding effort is already underway but will take years to complete and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust will play a central role in ensuring that Weizmann's world class, life-saving research can move forward without prolonged interruption.
"One of the Weizmann Institute's greatest strengths is the generosity and passion of its supporters," remarked Prof. Alon Chen, President of the Weizmann Institute of Science. "The Helmsley Charitable Trust has been a committed and generous partner to the Institute. This grant comes in response to an unprecedented attack and is instrumental in accelerating our rebuild while helping scientists resume their world-changing work."
The funding from the Helmsley Charitable Trust will enable the rebuilding and recovery of floors three through seven of the Wolfson Building for Biological Research. Together with the Wolfson Building, the David Lopatie Institute of Comparative Medicine, the Lorry I Lokey Preclinical Research Facility Veterinary Resources, the Sussman Family Building for Environmental Sciences, and the Deloro Building for Advanced and Intelligent Materials anchor the curiosity-driven, collaborative research that has enabled the Institute's remarkable scientific achievements.
"The Weizmann Institute has a global reputation for research that delivers both scientific and medical breakthroughs that benefit all humanity and is essential in advancing knowledge across scientific fields," said Sandor Frankel, a Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. "We are committed to helping to preserve and strengthen this unique center of discovery and learning and helping their scientists, students and staff return to their research. Mankind cannot afford to lose the Weizmann Institute."
Helmsley aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. Since 2010, Helmsley has committed more than $780 million in grants for Israel, including $80.7 million to the Weizmann Institute.
"To see Helmsley embrace Weizmann with this bold and generous grant is inspiring and humbling," reflected Dave Doneson, CEO of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science. "Visionary philanthropies like Helmsley that believe in the power of science to change the world are integral to expediting our recovery efforts while building a better, stronger Weizmann Institute for the future."
Weizmann scientists have spent the last nine months working out of temporary shared lab spaces across the campus. The generous grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust will fund essential laboratory reconstruction, equipment replacement, and infrastructure work, helping to ensure that every lab is fully rebuilt and equipped. This support will enable researchers to return to their critical work in an environment designed for collaboration, curiosity driven research, and bold discoveries -- hallmarks of the Institute's scientific excellence.
* * *
About Weizmann Institute of Science: The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research and graduate institutions. The campus community includes more than 4,000 scientists, students, and staff who study and engage in best-in-class exploratory research in health and medicine, our planet, the physical world, education, and technology. The American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science shares the Institute's devotion to advancing world-changing science, partnering with generous individuals, foundations, and corporations to help Weizmann scientists answer some of the most difficult questions facing humanity. Learn more at WEIZMANNUSA.ORG.
* * *
Original text here: https://helmsleytrust.org/news-and-insights/helmsley-charitable-trust-makes-transformational-grant-to-rebuild-weizmann-institute-after-missile-strikes/
Foundation for Economic Education Issues Commentary: Review of 'New Space Capitalism' by Rainer Zitelmann
DETROIT, Michigan, June 23 -- The Foundation for Economic Education issued the following commentary by Editorial Director Katrina Gulliver:
* * *
Enterprising the Final Frontier
A review of 'New Space Capitalism' by Rainer Zitelmann.
-
In his new book, New Space Capitalism: The Entrepreneurial Path to the Stars, Rainer Zitelmann presents the idea that private enterprise is the best way for space exploration to go forward, pointing out the ways in which public funding, since the days of the Moon landing, has been too uneven (and insufficient) to make the advances possible.
When reaching space
... Show Full Article
DETROIT, Michigan, June 23 -- The Foundation for Economic Education issued the following commentary by Editorial Director Katrina Gulliver:
* * *
Enterprising the Final Frontier
A review of 'New Space Capitalism' by Rainer Zitelmann.
-
In his new book, New Space Capitalism: The Entrepreneurial Path to the Stars, Rainer Zitelmann presents the idea that private enterprise is the best way for space exploration to go forward, pointing out the ways in which public funding, since the days of the Moon landing, has been too uneven (and insufficient) to make the advances possible.
When reaching spaceinitially was a political contest, the spirit was there, but since the end of the Cold War, it has been less of a priority.
Political commitment to space as an enterprise has fluctuated to the point that, as Zitelmann illustrates, for some years American astronauts were having to hitch a ride with the Russians to get to the International Space Station (the NASA engineers of the Cold War Mercury Program would have been appalled). The disasters of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia reduced public enthusiasm for the enterprise, and it was harder to whip up excitement (and funding) for further missions.
But today, billionaires have become more involved, and the prospect of space tourism has also put more money into the enterprise. And this is, in its way, nothing new. In looking back to the earliest days of space as a pursuit, the building blocks, such as the building of big telescopes, were funded by the wealthy--and that it was by no means a natural fate that space exploration would become a government-funded enterprise.
It's easy for us to forget the philanthropists like James Lick, who left money to establish the observatory on Mount Hamilton in California. His bequest was $700,000--in 1874. A sum which, according to Zitelmann, "measured as an equivalent to US GDP, would be approximately $1.8 billion."
In a sense things have come full circle, as private individuals and companies are pushing the boundaries of space exploration and turning it into a range of commercial operations. One of the biggest growth areas is indeed for those who can afford it to go into space themselves. And this could be a huge market.
As Zitelmann puts it:
There are over 900 billionaires in the United States today. Their investable wealth dwarfs anything NASA ever dreamed of. Given the right tax and regulatory environment, a number of them will follow Jared Isaacman in traveling into space and investing in space.
Interestingly, he's a little more lukewarm about Martian exploration and travel, at least to the extent that Mars could be a popular tourist destination. Despite Elon Musk's Martian enthusiasm, it presents greater challenges to both tourist enterprises and those looking to exploit potential resources on the planet. In Zitelmann's words:
...I consider large-scale tourism on Mars unlikely, since not only does it take six to nine months to reach the planet, there's also only one launch window every twenty-six months. A tourist would need to commit several years of their life to such a journey, and that's something only a few wealthy retirees would realistically be able to do. Tourists are more likely to travel to the Moon, which would be worth a three-week trip.
Three weeks is definitely more plausible, and with expanding options, trips to the Moon could easily become the next Everest in terms of its popularity with billionaires as a trophy destination. And it is this kind of commercial use where Zitelmann sees the real growth opportunities.
Nor are these developments only benefiting rich space tourists. Elon Musk's satellite Internet service, Starlink, has already proven its worth to consumers around the world, not least the fact it can provide service in adverse situations:
Starlink has also demonstrated its value in disaster response, offering reliable communications for rescue teams during critical incidents such as the 2019/20 Australian wildfires and Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and the Bahamas in October 2025--where terrestrial networks failed.
The kind of technological developments that come from private space tourism and research may yet bring new benefits to the rest of us. However, international law around the exploitation of resources in space may be precisely what holds us back. Zitelmann explains how the Outer Space Treaty may be a limitation:
There is much to suggest that Mars would remain in a similar state to Antarctica... The Antarctic Treaty, which was signed in 1959 and entered into force in 1961, imposes stringent restrictions on the extraction of raw materials and both the acquisition and ownership of land in the region surrounding the South Pole. Article IV of the Antarctic Treaty suspends all existing territorial claims and prohibits new claims or the expansion of existing rights for as long as the treaty is in force. Consequently, no sovereignty claims are recognized, and no state can claim Antarctica as its territory or exercise sovereign rights there.
What happens if and when we get the technology to go further remains to be seen. But private enterprise is likely to be what takes us there.
* * *
Katrina Gulliver is Editorial Director at FEE. She holds a PhD from Cambridge University, and has held faculty positions at universities in Germany, Britain and Australia. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2021. Katrina has written for the Wall St Journal, Reason, The American Conservative, National Review and the New Criterion, among others.
* * *
Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/enterprising-the-final-frontier/
Virginia Budget Deal Fails to Launch Long-Awaited Menhaden Research
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, June 22 -- The Chesapeake Bay Foundation posted the following news release:
* * *
Virginia Budget Deal Fails to Launch Long-Awaited Menhaden Research
*
Repeated delays on science reaffirm need to pause reduction fishery in Chesapeake Bay
House and Senate lawmakers in Virginia announced a deal this weekend on a two-year state budget that once again does not include much-needed funding to study the Chesapeake Bay's menhaden population-bowing to pressure from industry to delay this vital research.
The funding, which had been included in previous House budget proposals
... Show Full Article
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, June 22 -- The Chesapeake Bay Foundation posted the following news release:
* * *
Virginia Budget Deal Fails to Launch Long-Awaited Menhaden Research
*
Repeated delays on science reaffirm need to pause reduction fishery in Chesapeake Bay
House and Senate lawmakers in Virginia announced a deal this weekend on a two-year state budget that once again does not include much-needed funding to study the Chesapeake Bay's menhaden population-bowing to pressure from industry to delay this vital research.
The funding, which had been included in previous House budget proposalsthis year, is critical for understanding the population of menhaden in the Bay and the impacts of industrial factory fishing.
This year marks the third in a row since the state developed a study plan with Omega Protein, conservationists, and academics. Each year industry delay tactics have helped kill the funding, despite broad support from Virginians who want to see this fishery managed with better science.
Recent polling shows that 80 percent of Virginia voters support state funding for a menhaden study, and 79 percent support pausing the fishery in the Bay until research is completed. This research would help show exactly what risks the industrial menhaden fishery poses to the Bay and better inform how many menhaden the Bay ecosystem needs to thrive.
Menhaden are foundational to a healthy Chesapeake Bay. They serve as highly nutritious food to some of the most iconic and important species in the Bay, including striped bass, osprey, red drum, and whales.
Estimates in 2025 from Maine to Florida show that there are far fewer menhaden up and down the East Coast than previously thought. Menhaden catches by small-scale watermen in the Bay have declined significantly in recent years. Osprey chicks are starving to death at unprecedented rates in parts of the Bay where they traditionally rely on menhaden for food. Amid these intensifying warning signs and absent new research, the only commonsense remedy is to pause the industrial menhaden fishery in the Bay.
Existing research focuses on the coastwide menhaden population in the Atlantic Ocean-there is no menhaden-specific science in the Chesapeake Bay estuary, where industrial fishing pressure is heavily concentrated. Additional research is needed to understand exactly why the Bay is flashing red warning signs on menhaden.
Virginia is the only state along the Atlantic coast that still allows industrial menhaden fishing in its state waters. That lone remaining industrial operation-foreign-owned Omega Protein and their fishing partner Ocean Harvesters-extracts over 100 million pounds of menhaden from Chesapeake Bay waters each year.
The Virginia Institute of Marine Science has stated that data on menhaden in the Bay remains "woefully inadequate," and developed a plan for a menhaden study in 2023 together with the industry and other groups.
Chesapeake Bay Foundation Forage Campaign Manager Will Poston issued the following statement:
"No science, no industrial fishing. With one massive industry continuing to empty the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia must pause menhaden reduction fishing in the Bay."
"The menhaden industry has not once offered public support for funding state menhaden research. The continued political pressure from Omega Protein and their McGuireWoods lobbyists to delay science is damning-and should concern everyone who cares about the Bay."
"Meanwhile, Chesapeake Bay watermen are seeing menhaden catches plummet, blue crab fishermen are spending more on bait, and osprey chicks are starving to death."
***
Original text here: https://www.cbf.org/news/virginia-budget-deal-fails-to-launch-long-awaited-menhaden-research/
VICTORY: FIRE, press freedom advocates win settlement over California law prohibiting anyone from sharing lawfully obtained information about sealed arrest records
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, June 22 -- The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression posted the following news release:
* * *
VICTORY: FIRE, press freedom advocates win settlement over California law prohibiting anyone from sharing lawfully obtained information about sealed arrest records
*
SAN FRANCISCO, June 22, 2026 -In a win for press freedom rights and free expression, the city of San Francisco and state of California have agreed to settle a lawsuit over the public's ability to discuss sealed arrest records.
The settlement, entered by the court last week, ensures that journalists
... Show Full Article
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, June 22 -- The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression posted the following news release:
* * *
VICTORY: FIRE, press freedom advocates win settlement over California law prohibiting anyone from sharing lawfully obtained information about sealed arrest records
*
SAN FRANCISCO, June 22, 2026 -In a win for press freedom rights and free expression, the city of San Francisco and state of California have agreed to settle a lawsuit over the public's ability to discuss sealed arrest records.
The settlement, entered by the court last week, ensures that journalistsand advocates who reported on a tech CEO's sealed arrest records will not face monetary civil penalties. But the law -which is so flimsy that state and city officials did not even try to defend it -remains on the books, and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and the First Amendment Coalition are calling on California's legislature to rescind it.
"California had no business passing an unconstitutional law that banned the press and public from reporting on matters of public concern," said FAC Director David Loy. "While the defendants in this case properly declined to defend it, it should be taken off the books to prevent others from weaponizing it in the future."
In the fall of 2024, the San Francisco City Attorney's Office sent three letters demanding that journalist Jack Poulson and Substack remove reporting on a sealed report documenting the arrest of a tech CEO, Maury Blackman. When those efforts stalled, Blackman sued Poulson and Substack in a separate lawsuit, which he is now appealing. (FIRE filed a friend-of-the-court brief in that action.)
The city cited California Penal Code SS 851.92(c), which prohibits anyone from publishing a sealed arrest report or sharing any information "relating to" the report, under threat of a $1,500 civil penalty. This means that anyone who has a copy of a report or simply knows about an arrest -whether they learned of it from a source or were themselves a victim or witness -is legally banned from sharing what they know if a court seals the report.
But while it's one thing to prohibit government employees from sharing sealed information, California's law applies to anyone, including journalists, who lawfully obtains and shares the information. But once someone obtains private or confidential information, it's not confidential anymore -and the Supreme Court has made clear that the First Amendment protects the right to share lawfully obtained information, even if the government (or others) would prefer it be kept quiet.
Concerned by the implications of the statute, FIRE and FAC sued in Nov. 2024 to prevent officials from also enforcing the statute against FAC, FAC's Director of Advocacy Ginny LaRoe, and legal commentator Eugene Volokh, who wanted to write about the same report and Blackman's litigation. The lawsuit led the California's attorney general and San Francisco city attorney to agree not to enforce the law against FIRE's clients while the lawsuit was pending.
"Government documents released to members of the public should be able to stay public," Volokh said. "I'm glad that California authorities now recognize our First Amendment right to publish information that we've lawfully obtained."
The reluctance by city and state officials to enforce this law speaks to its shaky legal standing, said FIRE Senior Attorney Adam Steinbaugh. But the provision remains on the books.
"The First Amendment right to publish lawfully obtained information on matters of public concern is a cornerstone of an informed public, and California's lawyers looked at the law and recognized it was indefensible under the First Amendment," Steinbaugh said. "California's legislature should follow their lead by rescinding this provision."
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought -the most essential qualities of liberty. FIRE educates Americans about the importance of these inalienable rights, promotes a culture of respect for these rights, and provides the means to preserve them.
CONTACT:
Katie Stalcup, Communications Campaign Manager, FIRE: 215-717-3473; media@thefire.org
***
Original text here: https://www.thefire.org/news/victory-fire-press-freedom-advocates-win-settlement-over-california-law-prohibiting-anyone
Nemours Orthopedic Surgeon Su Receives Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation Grant to Develop Engineered Cartilage
JACKSONVILLE, Florida, June 22 -- Nemours Foundation posted the following news release:
* * *
Nemours Orthopedic Surgeon Alvin Su Receives Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation Grant to Develop Engineered Cartilage
*
WILMINGTON, Delaware (June 22, 2026) - Nemours Children's Health orthopedic surgeon Alvin Su, MD, PhD, has received a $300,000 Career Development Grant from the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF) to develop engineered cartilage.
The grant will support development of a new type of cartilage as a potential treatment for patients with conditions ranging
... Show Full Article
JACKSONVILLE, Florida, June 22 -- Nemours Foundation posted the following news release:
* * *
Nemours Orthopedic Surgeon Alvin Su Receives Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation Grant to Develop Engineered Cartilage
*
WILMINGTON, Delaware (June 22, 2026) - Nemours Children's Health orthopedic surgeon Alvin Su, MD, PhD, has received a $300,000 Career Development Grant from the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF) to develop engineered cartilage.
The grant will support development of a new type of cartilage as a potential treatment for patients with conditions rangingfrom sports injuries and trauma to congenital issues like bowed legs.
Dr. Su explained that human cartilage does not regenerate once it's damaged, which leads to early arthritis. Presently, the only way to replace cartilage is with cadaver tissue.
"There's a great need for a better option, as cadaver tissue may introduce risks of infection, and it may degrade over time," Dr. Su said.
Dr. Su and his University of Delaware collaborators, Justin Parreno, PhD, MSc, and Xinqiao Jia, PhD, are working to develop an "off-the-shelf" engineered cartilage replacement. Their work draws on their combined expertise in sports medicine and orthopedics, biology, and mechanical engineering, with the goal of developing cartilage that could advance through clinical trials and receive approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"For our pediatric patients, we don't want to see them sitting out of their activities due to arthritis. Our engineered cartilage could help them restore function and return to the activities they love much faster," Dr. Su said.
Dr. Su said his collaboration with colleagues at the University of Delaware embodies the principles of translational scientific research, beginning with basic research and continuing through product development.
"This is a long but promising path, and each result we achieve will be a small but important step into that future," Dr. Su said. "Engineered cartilage could allow patients of all ages to maintain healthy, active lives."
About Nemours Children's Health
Nemours Children's Health is one of the nation's largest multistate pediatric health systems, which includes two freestanding children's hospitals and a network of more than 70 primary and specialty care practices. Nemours Children's seeks to transform the health of children by adopting a holistic health model that utilizes innovative, safe, and high-quality care, while also addressing children's needs well beyond medicine. In producing the highly acclaimed, award-winning pediatric medicine podcast Well Beyond Medicine, Nemours underscores that commitment by featuring the people, programs and partnerships addressing whole child health. Nemours Children's also powers the world's most-visited website with health information written for parents, kids and teens, Nemours KidsHealth.org.
The Nemours Foundation, established through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. duPont, provides pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy, and prevention programs to the children, families and communities it serves. For more information, visit Nemours.org.
***
Original text here: https://nemours.mediaroom.com/AlvinSu
Virginia Budget Deal Shortchanges Clean Water, Conservation Priorities
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, June 21 -- The Chesapeake Bay Foundation posted the following news release:
* * *
Virginia Budget Deal Shortchanges Clean Water, Conservation Priorities
*
Virginia lawmakers in the House and Senate this weekend rolled out a compromise proposal for the biennial budget that starts on July 1, which unfortunately shortchanges clean water and conservation priorities in the first budget that will be enacted under the revised Chesapeake Bay agreement.
Among the most concerning items: steering nearly half of revenues from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a regional
... Show Full Article
ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, June 21 -- The Chesapeake Bay Foundation posted the following news release:
* * *
Virginia Budget Deal Shortchanges Clean Water, Conservation Priorities
*
Virginia lawmakers in the House and Senate this weekend rolled out a compromise proposal for the biennial budget that starts on July 1, which unfortunately shortchanges clean water and conservation priorities in the first budget that will be enacted under the revised Chesapeake Bay agreement.
Among the most concerning items: steering nearly half of revenues from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a regionalcarbon trading program for power plants, away from programs like flood preparedness and energy efficiency efforts for low-income residents to accommodate recent scare tactics from the power industry over utility rates.
The proposal moves toward requiring data centers to use recycled water or other non-wasteful means for cooling-one of the standards the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), and Appalachian Voices had urged lawmakers to develop. Unfortunately, the deal largely fails to tackle the environmental impacts of data centers, which are increasingly threatening the water and air quality in Virginia and consuming massive amounts of energy-helping drive up consumer utility bills.
At the same time, the budget proposal maintains a state sales and use tax break for data centers that cost Virginia about $1.9 billion last year alone and directs a panel to study potential reforms that won't report back to lawmakers until December. The deal also establishes a $1.2 billion fee tied to data center energy consumption.
In one positive, for 2027 the deal also fully funds the Virginia Agricultural Cost-Share Program, which helps farmers install projects that reduce pollution to local waterways.
But overall, negotiators did not include sufficient funding for an array of other clean water and conservation priorities as well.
Those include:
* Wastewater treatment plant funding. The budget deal adds almost $189 million for matching grants for wastewater treatment improvement projects, bringing investments up to $329.5 million for the state share of wastewater treatment plant improvements. This is short of Virginia's own needs assessment to upgrade our wastewater systems. The ongoing modernization of wastewater treatment plants has greatly reduced pollution to the Chesapeake Bay.
* Virginia Conservation Assistance Program. The deal includes $4 million for the Virginia Conservation Assistance Program, which helps private property owners and community groups install nature-based projects that cut stormwater pollution. CBF had pushed to increase funding to at least $8 million over the biennium, as the highly successful program is over-subscribed.
* Menhaden. The proposal does not include $2 million for much-needed research into the menhaden population in Commonwealth waterways that House lawmakers had included in earlier versions. Atlantic menhaden are a critical forage fish in the Bay serving as a food source for a variety of species including striped bass, redfish, humpback whales, and birds like osprey and bald eagles. Their abundance directly affects commercial and recreational fisheries, tourism, and coastal communities.
* Stormwater upgrades. House and Senate lawmakers included $43.5 million for the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund, which provides grants for stormwater design with an eye toward cutting water pollution. CBF had advocated for $50 million.
Chesapeake Bay Foundation Virginia Policy Manager Jay Ford issued the following statement:
"This budget deal fails to meet the moment and will mean dirtier air and water for residents of the Commonwealth."
"We appreciate the investments in clean water resources, but had hoped to see more meaningful solutions addressing the harm to Virginia communities from the unchecked data center boom."
"Virginia's rejoining of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is a step forward. But it's shortsighted to shift almost half of all RGGI proceeds away from vital resilience programs to accommodate scare tactics from the power industry. Before pulling from underfunded programs that protect our communities and permanently lower electricity costs for low-income Virginians, we should look first to hold the industry accountable."
"It's encouraging that data centers could be required to use more environmentally friendly cooling methods, but there must be additional clean energy requirements if Virginia hopes to rein in their negative impacts on our air and water."
"We are also deeply concerned that lawmakers failed to include funding for a much-needed study on the menhaden population in the Chesapeake Bay once again. This research is vital for understanding the flashing warning signs we are seeing for menhaden in the Bay."
***
Original text here: https://www.cbf.org/news/virginia-budget-deal-shortchanges-clean-water-conservation-priorities/
