Commission Proceedings 



on some sites. Representative Gibson responded to these concerns by offering an 

 amendment to make the exemption expire September 1 , 2001 . He said adding the 

 expiration date would ensure that the exemption would not remain indefinitely in the 

 absence of an altemative notice requirement developed by the working group. After 

 adopting this amendment, the ERC voted to recommend the proposal to the General 

 Assembly. 



Leaking petroleum underground storage tanks - de minimis exemption from reporting 

 Mr. Givens then explained a legislative proposal that would exempt from current 

 reporting requirements releases of petroleum of less than 25 gallons that were cleaned up 

 in less than 24 hours and did not cause a sheen on surface waters. After adopting an 

 amendment from Representative Hackney to limit the exemption to cases in which the 

 release did not occur wdthin 1 00 feet of surface waters, the ERC voted to recommend the 

 proposal to the General Assembly. 



Floodplain management (continued from May 4, 2000) 



Robin W. Smith, Assistant Secretary for Environmental Protection in DENR, presented 

 proposed legislation to set minimum standards for development in the 100-year 

 floodplain and provide incentives to local governments to adopt floodplain development 

 ordinances. Ms. Smith explained that the proposal had been amended to clarify that a 

 prohibition on uses involving hazardous materials in the 100-year floodplain applied only 

 to uses involving large quantities of the materials. She also noted that the new version 

 provided greater flexibility for the use of innovative methods to map the 100-year 

 floodplain. After raising some questions about how voluntary the adoption of floodplain 

 development ordinances would be for local governments, the ERC voted to recommend 

 the proposal to the General Assembly. 



Delegation of authority to local governments (continued from May 4, 2000) 

 Ms. Smith then presented proposed legislation to authorize DENR and various 

 commissions responsible for the protection of the environment to delegate responsibility 

 for the implementation of certain programs to units of local government. Ms. Smith 

 noted that DENR already delegates the implementation of some programs, including 

 sedimentation control, and that the delegation would take place only at the request of 

 local governments. ERC members raised questions about whether the delegation could 

 present a new burden for local governments and expressed concern that some local 

 govenmients may choose to exceed DENR's minimum standards. Several members said 

 the proposal would need to be further refined before it would be ready for enactment. 

 The ERC then voted to recommend the proposal to the General Assembly. 



Legal representation of State employee sued individually for environmental enforcement 

 George F. Givens, Commission Counsel, explained two legislative proposals related to 

 the legal representation of state employees who are sued individually in connection with 

 the enforcement of environmental laws. One proposal would provide that the State 

 would, upon request, provide private counsel for a State employee who is alleged to be 

 personally liable for damages for actions taken in the course of the employee's duties to 

 enforce environmental laws. The other proposal would require the court to award 



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