Community involvement at DEQ
Resources
A Guide for Effective Public Comments (PDF)
Laws and regulations
Permit overview
Town Hall overview (PDF)
Water quality activities
Become a water quality monitor
Nominate an exceptional waterway
Highlights
DEQ celebrates World Water Monitoring Day with communities
For the past five years, DEQ has been an active member of World Water Monitoring Day, and 2006 saw a record number of activities and participation in Virginia. DEQ helped distribute more than 500 free kits to teachers, citizen volunteer monitoring groups and other participating organizations, and provided 192 kits for distribution. The remaining kits came from donations by the Virginia Water Monitoring Council and the U.S. Geological Survey Virginia Water Science Center.
South Central meets with communities
The South Central Regional Office held several satellite community meetings during 2006. These meetings provided a forum for community members to express specific issues of environmental concern to their local DEQ office. DEQ held the meetings in areas of the South Central region that had low attendance at previous open house community meetings held in Lynchburg.
Other meetings
2004 and 2005
The Department of Environmental Quality works to improve opportunities for Virginians to participate in significant environmental actions. This community involvement initiative has become an integral part of how the agency operates.
DEQ has committed to the following as a part of this effort:
- Involving the public early in significant environmental actions, such as major permits.
- Establishing a strong relationship with environmental and community organizations.
- Developing active participation in consensus building on significant environmental issues.
- Communicating clearly with the public.
The Community Involvement Task Force, which began in 2004, meets periodically to discuss DEQ’s community involvement efforts and to continue to identify how the public can remain active in environmental decision making.
To learn more about environmental activities in your area, see DEQ’s:
Or the Virginia Town Hall website.