TITLE 3. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL BOARD
Initial Agency Notice
Title of Regulation: 3VAC5-40. Requirements for Product Approval.
Statutory Authority: §§ 4.1-103 and 4.1-111 of the Code of Virginia.
Name of Petitioner: W. R. Moore.
Nature of Petitioner's Request: The petitioner has requested that the board allow the use of growlers, reusable containers for the sale of beer, by gourmet shop licensees. Currently, only persons licensed to sell beer for both on-premises and off-premises consumption may sell beer in growlers, under the provisions of 3VAC5-40-40.
Agency's Plan for Disposition of Request: Following the public comment period, the board will consider amending 3VAC5-40-40 to allow the sale of beer in growlers by gourmet shop licensees.
Public Comment Deadline: October 31, 2011.
Agency Contact: W. Curtis Coleburn, III, Chief Operating Officer, Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, P.O. Box 27491, Richmond, VA 23261, telephone (804) 213-4409, or email curtis.coleburn@abc.virginia.gov.
VA.R. Doc. No. R12-05; Filed September 12, 2011, 10:57 a.m.
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TITLE 9. ENVIRONMENT
STATE AIR POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
Agency Decision
Title of Regulation: None specified.
Statutory Authority: § 10.1-1308 of the Code of Virginia.
Name of Petitioner: Emma Serrels, Alec Loorz, and Victoria Loorz (Kids vs. Global Warming).
Nature of Petitioner's Request: The petitioner is requesting the State Air Pollution Control Board to adopt regulations to:
1. Ensure that carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels peak in the year 2012;
2. Adopt a carbon dioxide emissions reduction plan that, consistent with the best available science, reduces statewide fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions by at least 6.0% annually until at least 2050 and expands Virginia's capacity for carbon sequestration;
3. Establish a statewide greenhouse gas emissions accounting, verification and inventory and issue annual progress reports so that the public has access to accurate data regarding the effectiveness of Virginia's efforts to reduce fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions; and
4. Adopt any necessary policies or regulations to implement the greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan, as detailed in 1 and 2 above.
Agency Decision: Request denied.
Statement of Reason for Decision: The board at its meeting on September 9, 2011, adopted the following motion on a vote of 5 to 2:
That the board denies the Petition for the following reasons:
1. While the board has the legal authority to take the action sought by the petition, the board has undertaken such major regulatory actions in the past only when mandated by federal law or directed to do so by the General Assembly. The board should not change this practice with respect to the petition.
2. There is no Virginia authority supporting the application of the public trust doctrine to the regulation of air pollution.
3. The Commonwealth, through the Attorney General, is challenging the authority of EPA to regulate greenhouse gases. The board, following the lead of the Governor, supports the Attorney General's litigation. Prudence would dictate that to the extent possible any regulatory action of the type sought by the petition await judicial resolution of this matter.
4. On the merits of the petition, while temperature increases and changes in climate are well documented, their causes - as well as the nature and efficacy of any regulatory efforts necessary or appropriate to control or reverse them - are not.
5. Any major regulation of greenhouse gases should be carried out through coordination among the federal government and all the states.
6. For the Commonwealth to act alone on a matter of this nature would place Virginia and its regulated businesses at a disadvantage with respect to those of other states and would thereby jeopardize Virginia jobs and pose a serious threat to the economy of the state.
7. Since any program regulating greenhouse gases would have to be carefully designed by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to be enforceable and to produce the results requested, implementation of the petition will require significant new resources of staff time and money from DEQ. These resources are not currently available and current resources are best used to meet the requirements already in place or on the way.
Agency Contact: Karen Sabasteanski, Department of Environmental Quality, 629 East Main Street, P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218, telephone (804) 698-4426, or email karen.sabasteanski@deq.virginia.gov.
VA.R. Doc. No. R11-47; Filed September 12, 2011, 2:33 p.m.
STATE WATER CONTROL BOARD
Agency Decision
Title of Regulation: 9VAC25-260. Water Quality Standards.
Statutory Authority: § 62.1-44.15 of the Code of Virginia.
Name of Petitioner: National Park Service.
Nature of Petitioner's Request: The petitioner has requested that the State Water Control Board amend the Water Quality Standards to designate Bull Run from the northern end of Manassas National Battlefield Park boundary, at the confluence of Little Bull Run, south to where it crosses Route 66 as a Tier III exceptional state water.
Agency Decision: Request granted.
Statement of Reason for Decision: The petition for rulemaking was granted by the State Water Control Board at its meeting on August 4, 2011, based on the staff presentation and conclusion that the petitioned segment of Bull Run met sufficient eligibility criteria, set forth in the State Water Quality Standards regulation, for consideration as a Tier III exceptional state water.
Agency Contact: David C. Whitehurst, Department of Environmental Quality, 629 East Main Street, P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218, telephone (804) 698-4121, or email david.whitehurst@deq.virginia.gov.
VA.R. Doc. No. R11-42; Filed September 12, 2011, 1:32 p.m.
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TITLE 18. PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING
BOARD OF DENTISTRY
Agency Decision
Title of Regulation: 18VAC60-20. Regulations Governing Dental Practice.
Statutory Authority: § 54.1-2400 and Chapter 27 of Title 54.1 of the Code of Virginia.
Name of Petitioner: Ann Bruhn.
Nature of Petitioner's Request: To amend regulations to permit accredited dental hygiene schools to offer radiation safety course for unlicensed persons to be certified in radiation safety.
Agency Decision: Request granted.
Statement of Reason for Decision: The board is unable to reconsider the elimination of a board approved course and examination because it does not have statutory authority to approve such program. However, the board acted to interpret the "course or examination recognized by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association" to include a "course with examination provided by a dental assisting, dental hygiene or dentistry program accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association." This interpretation will allow CODA-accredited programs to offer a dental radiation course in order to certify persons to place or expose dental x-ray film in dental offices. In addition, the board intends to amend its regulations to clarify the requirements accordingly.
Agency Contact: Elaine J. Yeatts, Agency Regulatory Coordinator, Department of Health Professions, 9960 Mayland Drive, Suite 300, Richmond, VA 23233, telephone (804) 367-4468, or email elaine.yeatts@dhp.virginia.gov.
VA.R. Doc. No. R11-40; Filed September 12, 2011, 4:03 p.m.