Bills to Support - 2026 General Assembly Session

If you agree with Don’t Spread On Me that these bills are worth supporting, please show your support by submitting written comments and/or providing testimony to the committees or subcommittees they are assigned to. You can provide testimony either virtually or in-person. Instructions and helpful info below!

This page will be updated frequently, as the status of a bill changes and new bills are added.

How to Support a Bill

Below is a prioritized list of bills, plus fact sheets and instructions on how to submit your comments and testimony.

Bookmark the House Committee meeting schedule page to keep up with where a bill is, as its status will change frequently. When a bill is in a House committee or subcommittee, you may contribute via email; via in-person testimony; and via the SPEAK platform, online comments or virtual testimony.

For bills in Senate Committees, you can email them, testify virtually, or testify in person. Senate committee schedule is HERE.

Bill #1: HB1072 (Del. Amy Laufer) Local authority to test and monitor the land application of sewage sludge within its political boundaries.

This bill clarifies that local governments with a testing and monitoring program may test for PFAS and other toxic contaminants. DSOM worked closely with our partners at Potomac Riverkeeper Network to support Del. Laufer in patroning this bill.

Read the text of the bill here: HB1072 (Hint: click the “Highlight Proposed Changes” button on the upper left.)

To write comments in support of the bill, use the info in this FACT SHEET and these SAMPLE COMMENTS.

If you have any personal experience with the land application of sewage sludge, please include your story, too.

STATUS 01.25.26:
Referred to House Committee on Agriculture Chesapeake and Natural Resources
STATUS 01.31.26
Referred to Chesapeake subcommittee.

To Testify virtually or in person, keep an eye on the subcommittee schedule and agendas HERE. HB1072 is not on the docket for Feb 02 meeting, but may be docketed for Feb 09 meeting, 4pm.

When submitting written comments, please use both the SPEAK portal and also email all committee members.

Submit Comments via Email

Make your Subject line: “HB1072 - Local authority to test and monitor the land application of sewage sludge within its political boundaries”

Compose a respectful greeting: “Dear Mr. Chairman and Honorable Committee Members,”

Email addresses of Committee members and staff are in the accordion menu below. Copy and paste all the committee members emails into the “To” field, write your comments, and Send!

Submit Written Comments Using “SPEAK”

SPEAK is an online portal that allows you to post comments straight into the public record. Your comments are transmitted to committee members and posted online for anyone to view.

Formatting Notes:

Comments submitted to SPEAK are limited to 3500 characters. Formatting and hyperlinks are not preserved. Paragraphs are lumped into one block of text. Attachments are allowed as pdf’s, not to exceed 4MB.

House Committee meetings provide the opportunity for citizen participation in several different ways.

Bill #2: HB348 (Del. Ellen McLaughlin) Residential Well Water Testing and Treatment Program and Fund; established.

This bill establishes a fund ($3 million annually) to help low-income, rural residents get their well water tested for PFAS and, if water is found contaminated, to also help pay for an appropriate residential filtration system. This bill helps alleviate the inherent environmental inequity rural residents face. Residents of urban areas on municipal water systems are benefitting from testing and remediation at their water treatment plants, but users of well water have no such support to keep their drinking water free of PFAS.

Read the text of the bill here: HB348 (Hint: click the “Highlight Proposed Changes” button on the upper left.)

To write comments in support of the bill, use the info in this FACT SHEET created by our partner Wild Virginia.

If you have any personal experience with the land application of sewage sludge, please include your story, too.

STATUS 01.26.26:
Referred to Chesapeake Subcommittee from House Committee on Agriculture Chesapeake and Natural Resources. Subcommittee sent it on to Appropriations Committee, but it has to go through the full House Committee on Agriculture Chesapeake and Natural Resources, first, to get to Appropriations.
STATUS 01.28.26: Bill has been unanimously recommended to House Appropriations Committee. Assigned to Health and Human Resources Subcommittee.

When submitting written comments, please use both the SPEAK portal and also email all committee members.

Submit Comments via Email

Make your Subject line: “HB348 Residential Well Water Testing and Treatment Program and Fund; established.”

Compose a respectful greeting: “Dear Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee,”

Email addresses of Committee members and staff are in the accordion menu below. Copy and paste all the committee members emails into the “To” field, write your comments, and Send!

Submit Written Comments Using “SPEAK”

SPEAK is an online portal that allows you to post comments straight into the public record. Your comments are transmitted to committee members and posted online for anyone to view.

Formatting Notes:

Comments submitted to SPEAK are limited to 3500 characters. Formatting and hyperlinks are not preserved. Paragraphs are lumped into one block of text. Attachments are allowed as pdf’s, not to exceed 4MB.

Bill #3: SB386 (Sen. Richard Stuart) Sewage sludge; perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances testing requirements, civil penalty.

This bill requires that any VPA permit holder (that means the sludge spreader, like Synagro) must provide to a property owner a statement affirming their sludge does not have a trace of PFAS in it before they can spread it on that person’s land. It also establishes a civil penalty of $5,000 for each time the permit holder does not comply. If the farmer is the permit holder himself, and spreading it on his lands, then he is exempt from these provisions.

Senator Stuart may have introduced this bill just to “make a point,” knowing that the Farm Bureau and the sludge industry would kill it. But the point is: This bill is exactly what we need. It would force testing and transparency that DEQ has refused to do, so far. Since finding a trace of PFAS in any load of sewage sludge is almost a certainty, it would also act as a de facto moratorium on spreading it.

This bill is useful because it’s an opportunity to show that there is citizen support for exactly this kind of measure.

Read the text of the bill here: SB386 (Hint: click the “Highlight Proposed Changes” button on the upper left.)

Use information from our Articles and Webinars page to help you write your comments. If you have any personal experience with the land application of sewage sludge, please include your story, too.

STATUS 01.26.26:
Referred to Water Usage Subcommittee from Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation, and Natural Resources
STATUS 01.30.26

On the docket for 02.03.26 at 8:00am.

Submit Comments via Email

Make your Subject line: “SB386 (Sen. Richard Stuart) Sewage sludge; perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances testing requirements, civil penalty.”

Compose a respectful greeting: “Dear Mr. Chairman and Honorable Committee Members,”

Email addresses of the Subcommittee members and staff are in the accordion menu below. Copy and paste all the committee members emails into the “To” field, write your comments, and Send!

Testify Virtually or In Person

If you can get to Richmond, the Water Usage Subcommittee meeting is Tuesday, January 27, 2026
8:00 AM, Senate Room C (311), General Assembly Building

To testify virtually, follow the link and instructions in the accordion menu below.