General Assembly Action Alert!
The 2021 General Assembly is moving fast and we’ve got another action alert! House Bill 2159, which will ban the intentional release of balloons is going to be heard by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources- Natural Resources Subcommittee tomorrow (1/20). The subcommittee hearing starts at 7 am. Pushing through the ban on intentional balloon releases will be a great way to start the day! The current Virginia law allows for 49 balloons to be released every hour. The 2020 bill to ban all intentional releases failed in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, it is critical we all make our voices head this year!
The General Assembly is all virtual this year, and that makes it much easier to be an active participant- no more rushing to drive to Richmond to make sure your voice is heard! Use this link to provide written comments about why you want intentional balloon releases banned in Virginia. You can also use the same link to sign up to speak during the committee meeting. There are full talking points provided by Christina Trapani of Eco Maniac Company and Mark Swingle of the Virginia Aquarium & Science Center available here! If you want to see comments other people have made, follow this link!
Summary of HB 2159
Release of balloon prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits any individual 13 years of age or older or other person, including a corporation, from intentionally releasing, discarding, or causing to be released or discarded any nonbiodegradable balloon outdoors and provides that any person convicted of such violation is liable for a civil penalty of $25 per balloon, to be paid into the Game Protection Fund. Current law prohibits a person from knowingly releasing 50 or more such balloons within an hour and sets the civil penalty at $5 per balloon, with the proceeds deposited into the Lifetime Hunting and Fishing Endowment Fund.
Conservation Easements:
Although not litter or plastic specific there is another important bill that is supported by the Virginia Conservation Network also being heard in this hearing, and we encourage positive comments for it as well. HB 1760 ensures that courts protect conservation easements when the land is sold to a new owner. This would close the loophole on people taking advantage of conservation easements who then go against everything they stand for. Conservation easements are designed to protect land, and they specifically prohibit development. We once saw a speaker at a conference brag about getting Virginia law changed so she could develop land that had been bought at a reduced price because of a conservation easement. This easement became a full on tourist attraction, rather than a farm designed to protect Virginia’s natural spaces. Protect the Occoquan Watershed has a great write up about conservation easements. You can read talking points here for HB 1760 provided by the Piedmont Environmental Council and the Nature Conservancy on the Virginia Conservation Network website.
