Bill Text: VA HB333 | 2024 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Environmental Justice, Virginia Council on; meetings and staffing, appointment of members.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2024-04-17 - House sustained Governor's veto [HB333 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HB333-Prefiled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §2.2-2699.10 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§2.2-2699.10. Membership; terms; quorum; meetings.
A. The Council shall have a total membership of 27 members that shall consist of 21 nonlegislative citizen members and six ex officio members. Nonlegislative citizen members shall be appointed by the Governor. The Secretaries of Natural and Historic Resources, Commerce and Trade, Agriculture and Forestry, Health and Human Resources, Education, and Transportation, or their designees, including their agency representatives, shall serve ex officio with nonvoting privileges. Nonlegislative citizen members of the Council shall be residents of the Commonwealth and shall include representatives of (i) American Indian tribes, (ii) community-based organizations, (iii) the public health sector, (iv) nongovernmental organizations, (v) civil rights organizations, (vi) institutions of higher education, and (vii) communities impacted by an industrial, governmental, or commercial operation, program, or policy.
Ex officio members of the Council shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office. Appointments to fill vacancies, other than by expiration of a term, shall be for the unexpired terms and shall be made within 60 days of the vacancy occurring. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments. After the initial staggering of terms, nonlegislative citizen members shall be appointed for a term of four years. Appointments made following the expiration of a term shall be made within 60 days of the expiration of such term.
B. The Council shall elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson annually from among the membership of the Council. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum. The meetings of the Council shall be held at the call of the chairperson or whenever the majority of the members so request.
C. The Council shall meet quarterly and shall establish a meeting schedule on an annual basis. When possible, the location of the meetings shall rotate among different geographic regions. When possible, meetings shall be broadcast on the Internet or via teleconference. Each meeting shall include an in-person public comment component.
The Council may provide for the creation of subcommittees. Any subcommittee meetings shall be scheduled with notification to the full Council.
2. That, notwithstanding any contrary provision of § 2.2-2699.10 of the Code of Virginia, as amended by this act, any vacancy in the membership of the Virginia Council on Environmental Justice that exists on the effective date of this act shall be filled no later than July 31, 2024, and the appointment to fill such vacancy shall be included on the list of appointed persons presented by the Secretary of the Commonwealth to the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Privileges and Elections by August 1, 2024, pursuant to §2.2-406 of the Code of Virginia.
