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type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags
type title description jurisdiction legislature session identifier citation classification subjects status primary_sponsors version_count action_count vote_count first_action last_action source source_identifier source_url source_hash vintage source_snapshot retrieved_at confidence tags
Bill Comprehensive plan; environmental justice strategy. Comprehensive plan; environmental justice strategy. Requires cities with populations greater than 20,000 and counties with populations greater than 100,000 to consider, beginning July 1, 2026, at the next and all subsequent reviews of the comprehensive plan, adopting an environmental justice strategy. The bill provides that the locality's strategy shall be to identify environmental justice and fenceline communities within the jurisdiction of the local planning commission and identify objectives and policies to reduce health risks, to promote civic engagement, to prioritize improvements and programs that address the needs of environmental justice and fenceline communities, as those terms are defined in the bill, and to establish baseline environmental and health conditions to characterize any disproportionate public health conditions in the identified fenceline communities. This bill is identical to SB 425. us/states/va Virginia General Assembly 2026 HB 256 Virginia HB 256 (2026)
bill
enacted
Shelly A. Simonds
4 29 8 2026-01-09 2026-04-13 openstates ocd-bill/75a6bb41-edc1-4fe4-b789-6a47b92d1459 https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB256 e50a947608a9956928e9e49149e0d4bf1e83e2eb6551c407b3dfdf2b5ad28ea1 2026-07-01 https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump 2026-07-06 reported
legislation
bill
us-va

Virginia HB 256 (2026) — Comprehensive plan; environmental justice strategy.

Comprehensive plan; environmental justice strategy. Requires cities with populations greater than 20,000 and counties with populations greater than 100,000 to consider, beginning July 1, 2026, at the next and all subsequent reviews of the comprehensive plan, adopting an environmental justice strategy. The bill provides that the locality's strategy shall be to identify environmental justice and fenceline communities within the jurisdiction of the local planning commission and identify objectives and policies to reduce health risks, to promote civic engagement, to prioritize improvements and programs that address the needs of environmental justice and fenceline communities, as those terms are defined in the bill, and to establish baseline environmental and health conditions to characterize any disproportionate public health conditions in the identified fenceline communities. This bill is identical to SB 425.

Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

  1. Introduced (filed) — source
  2. Chaptered (committee substitute) — source
  3. Local Government Substitute (committee substitute) — source
  4. Enrolled (enrolled) — source

Votes

  • H VOTE: — 6335 (pass) · lower
  • Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources — 157 (pass) · lower
  • Subcommittee recommends reporting — 73 (pass) · lower
  • Passage R — 2119 (pass) · upper
  • Rereferred from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources — 130 (pass) · upper
  • H VOTE: — 6335 (pass) · lower
  • Reported from Local Government with substitute — 87 (pass) · upper
  • Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — 400 (pass) · upper

Sponsors

  • Shelly A. Simonds — primary (person)
  • Charlie Schmidt — cosponsor (person)
  • Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker — cosponsor (person)
  • Gretchen M. Bulova — cosponsor (person)
  • Irene Shin — cosponsor (person)
  • Jackie H. Glass — cosponsor (person)
  • Marcia S. "Cia" Price — cosponsor (person)
  • Margaret A. Franklin — cosponsor (person)
  • Nadarius E. Clark — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

  • 2026-01-09 Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103226D filing, introduction
  • 2026-01-09 Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources referral-committee
  • 2026-01-19 Assigned HACNR sub: Natural Resources referral-committee
  • 2026-01-21 Subcommittee recommends reporting (7-Y 3-N)
  • 2026-01-28 Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (15-Y 7-N) committee-passage
  • 2026-01-30 Read first time reading-1
  • 2026-02-02 Read second time and engrossed reading-2
  • 2026-02-03 Read third time and passed House (63-Y 35-N 0-A) passage, reading-3
  • 2026-02-04 Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
  • 2026-02-04 Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources referral-committee
  • 2026-02-24 Rereferred from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources to Local Government (13-Y 0-N) referral-committee
  • 2026-03-02 Reported from Local Government with substitute (8-Y 7-N) committee-passage
  • 2026-03-02 Committee substitute printed 26109038D-S1 substitution
  • 2026-03-03 Rules suspended
  • 2026-03-03 Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
  • 2026-03-03 Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
  • 2026-03-04 Read third time reading-3
  • 2026-03-04 Local Government Substitute agreed to
  • 2026-03-04 Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute substitution
  • 2026-03-04 Passed Senate with substitute (21-Y 19-N 0-A) passage
  • 2026-03-06 Senate substitute agreed to by House (63-Y 35-N 0-A) substitution
  • 2026-03-13 Enrolled enrolled
  • 2026-03-13 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB256ER) passage
  • 2026-03-13 Signed by Speaker passage
  • 2026-03-13 Signed by President passage
  • 2026-03-14 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 14, 2026 enrolled, executive-receipt
  • 2026-03-14 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 executive-receipt
  • 2026-04-13 Approved by Governor-Chapter 581 (effective 7/1/2026) executive-signature
  • 2026-04-13 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0581)

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/75a6bb41-edc1-4fe4-b789-6a47b92d1459. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).