Gov. Ralph Northam moved Wednesday to strengthen a state agency dealing with the construction of two natural gas pipelines, a cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay and other environmental challenges.
In his sixth executive order since taking office in January, Northam called for a “revitalization” of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
The initiative is threefold: updating and better enforcing regulations, guarding against the rollback of environmental protections under President Donald Trump, and improving transparency at a time when DEQ has come under withering criticism from pipeline opponents.
