Surovell bills would create Justice Commission, ban fracking in eastern Virginia

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State Sen. Scott Surovell announced this week that he is introducing a bill to ban fracking in a large portion of eastern Virginia and another to create the Virginia Justice Commission.

The Justice Commission bill would rename the current Virginia Crime Commission, as well as change its focus and membership structure. In addition to crime and punishment, Surovell (D-36) said that new commission would modernize its approach by focusing on issues like diversion, rehabilitation, preventing firearm violence and fairness in the criminal system.

“For too long, the Crime Commission has been focused on outdated and unproven strategies such as mandatory minimum sentences, over-felonizing behavior, and failing to balance accountability with rehabilitation,” Surovell said in the release. “It is time that the Commission took a broader focus to ensure that while people who commit crimes in Virginia receive accountability and crime victims receive justice, the system also provides for a fair trial and avenues for education, rehabilitation, and re-entry.”

Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) is introducting similiar legistation in the House of Delegates.

Surovell’s fracking bill, SB 106, would prohibit hydraulic fracturing in the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area (EVGMA), which is essentially all areas east of Interstate 95.

“Banning fracking in this region is another step we must take if we want to protect drinking water and the health of our community,” Surovell said in a press release. “Virginia has too much to lose by allowing energy companies to have free rein over our natural resources.”

Both the Friends of the Rappahannock and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters support the measure, Surovell said.

Surovell, whose 36th district includes portions of Fairfax, Prince William and Stafford counties, introduced a similar bill in 2018 that ultimately died in the Virginia Senate Finance Committee.

Surovell’s full press release on the Justice Commission bill:

Mt. Vernon, VA — Senator Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) and Delegate Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) introduced legislation to rename and repurpose the Virginia State Crime Commission.

Under the bill, the former Virginia Crime Commission would be named the Virginia Justice Commission. The legislation also broadens the Commission’s focus from solely crime and punishment, but to also include diversion, rehabilitation, collateral consequences of convictions, firearm violence prevention, equity and fairness in the criminal legal system, and prisoner re-entry. The bill also changes the membership of the commission adding the executive director of the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission, The Superintendent of the State Police, and experts in rehabilitation, reform, and reentry.

Surovell highlighted the importance of repurposing the Commission to better serve Virginians. “For too long, the Crime Commission has been focused on outdated and unproven strategies such as mandatory minimum sentences, over-felonizing behavior, and failing to balance accountability with rehabilitation. It is time that the Commission took a broader focus to ensure that while people who commit crimes in Virginia receive accountability and crime victims receive justice, the system also provides for a fair trial and avenues for education, rehabilitation, and re-entry.”

Hope stressed that the Commission will serve a vital role in policy development. “The Virginia State Justice Commission will be the place the General Assembly turns to for objective and evidence-based research into our criminal justice system. These long overdue changes will modernize and bring the Commission into the 21st century,” Hope said.

Surovell’s full press release on the fracking bill:

Mt. Vernon, VA — Senator Scott A. Surovell introduced SB 106 to ban the extraction of natural gas by the practice of hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, in the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area (EVGMA). The EVGMA was created by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality in 2014 in order to protect the Potomac Acquifer which is effectively all of Virginia east of Interstate 95. It stretches from southeast Virginia Beach, west into Southampton County, up the Virginia coast, along Interstate 95, and ending in eastern Fairfax County. Surovell represents approximately 220,000 people – most of whom reside in the northern part of the EVGMA. The entire aquifer stretches along the tidal plain from New York to South Georgia.

In 2014, a Texas-based energy company began leasing property to drill for natural gas on the Northern Neck and Middle Penninsula. In November 2017, Richmond County became the second locality in the Commonwealth and the first locality within the Taylorsville basin to ban fracking. They were later followed by several other counties between the Potomac and James Rivers.

Surovell highlighted the importance of water quality protection to his constituents. “Banning fracking in this region is another step we must take if we want to protect drinking water and the health of our community. Virginia has too much to lose by allowing energy companies to have free rein over our natural resources,” Surovell said. “The Taylorsville Basin sits below the drinking water supply for 4 million people and we allow anything that would jeopardize access to our drinking water.”

Friends of the Rappahannock Deputy Director Bryan Hoffman applauded the legislation. “Protecting our rivers and streams from potential pollution is absolutely crucial to the health of our environment. Banning fracking in our region is an important preventative step to protect and preserve our environment for future generations,” Hoffman said.

“Fracking has no place in Eastern Virginia, which is home to our state’s largest source of fresh groundwater – just one accident could contaminate an entire drinking water supply,” said Michael Town, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters. “We look forward to working with Senator Surovell and the new Conservation Majority to pass this commonsense ban, and are grateful for his continuing leadership protecting clean water in the Commonwealth.”

Surovell elaborated on his support for renewable energy. Surovell said “Virginia is home to 3 major watersheds. Our decisions have a direct impact on the lives of people beyond the Commonwealth. Limiting the actions of energy corporations will prove our commitment to protecting our environment.”

Surovell introduced a fracking ban in 2018. It was amended to a fracking moratorium and passed the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, but died on a tie vote on the Senate Finance Committee with bipartisan support. This session, Surovell’s bill will be heard in an Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee meeting in the 2020 legislative session which begins January 8. The bill language is below. A map of the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area, provided by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, is attached.