Gennaro reads DEP testimony on citizen complaint process

And now it's my duty to read the testimony of DEP into the record.

Before I do that, I'm just going to mention that

You know, there were many parties that approached me, approached other entities in the council, and said, don't have the hearing, it's a bad idea.

You know, one bill's new.

in particular, other bills still need work.

I understand that.

But, you know, the way we make bills better is to get input from the public.

Like, that's how this works.

And, you know, we heard the bill in 2024.

And now we're back.

People are not satisfied with the amendments to the bill, which is precisely why we're here.

And, you know, I want to engage in a productive discussion with all stakeholders to make sure that we can figure out a bill that.

Probably it's not going to work for everybody, right?

Because we have two, you know, it's going to be a balance.

But I, in 17 or 18 years of chairing this committee, I don't think I've ever passed a bad bill.

And in my antiquity, I don't plan on starting now.

So I wanted to go forward with the hearing in absence of, you know, DEP, because frankly what I, you know, DEP works for us.

I'm more interested in hearing from members of the public, from stakeholders, everyone who has like, you know,

legitimate concerns and you all do.

You know, I would hope that the testimony is, you know, constructive.

and not heated, although I don't care what people say about me, so have at it.

But, you know, this is my goal, and this is what's going to happen at the end of the day.

So I did, you know, I heard from a lot of people, don't do it, don't do it, you're being set up.

No, no, no, no.

It's just like we're going to go before.

Both sides, three sides, four sides, whatever, and get good testimony on the record and take the

clay that's on the potter's wheel now and make it into something that we can all like.

So that's what we're going to do.

And appreciate everyone being here.

And someone even brought their little bit.

There he is.

There he is back there.

And so, yeah.

Yeah, the youngest environmentalist right there.

What's that?

All right, well, okay, so from now on, no talking during this hearing.

There will be no testimony.

There will be nothing.

We will just sit and meditate, you know, and until the baby's, like, safely asleep.

Okay, here we go.

Testimony of Lisa Garcia, Commissioner, DEP for RVA, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Good afternoon, Chairman Gennaro, members of the Environmental Protection and Waterfronts Committee.

I am Lisa Garcia, Commissioner of DEP.

I'm happy to provide some information about the operation of our citizen complaint program.

However, on the advice of counsel and related litigation, I will not be in attendance at the hearing.

And at this time, I'll not provide comments on Intro 11A or Intro 561A.

Sip of water, that's what it says in here, so I'll follow it.