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Tell Your Legislators to Support the EV Rural Infrastructure Fund (HB 324)!
Thank you for supporting greater access to electric vehicle charging stations in Virginia. Please customize the sample email to speak from the heart and to make your comments unique. For example, state your faith and congregation (if you have one), that you are a supporter of Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, and why you personally support this legislation.
MAIN POINTS:
1. Expanding access to electric vehicles (EVs): EV charging infrastructure is more likely to be built in rural and low income areas if the cost of installation isn’t as high. Without a strong public charging network, EV drivers will face challenges driving in rural regions of Virginia.
2. Cost savings for individuals: EVs are economically beneficial for individual drivers as they have a lower cost per mile to operate than gas powered vehicles. As the purchase price of EVs is becoming more affordable, this legislation helps ensure rural residents have the opportunity to take advantage of these savings.
3. Benefits renters and people with long commutes: Publicly available EV charging infrastructure helps drivers choose electric vehicles even if they’re renters or in a living situation that makes it hard to charge vehicles at home or they regularly have to drive long distances to charge.
4. Economic benefits for the community at large: This legislation benefits municipalities and businesses since studies have shown that EV charging stations bring in additional revenue to surrounding businesses. Additionally, installing EV charging stations near tourist attractions in rural and low-income communities will help ensure the region’s localities and businesses are able to benefit from tourism revenue as EV use expands.
Tell Your Legislators to Support the EV Rural Infrastructure Fund (HB 324)!
Thank you for supporting stronger regulations of data centers in our neighborhoods. We have included suggested text for your message to your Supervisor. Please customize what we have drafted to speak from the heart and to make your comments unique. For example, state your faith and congregation (if you have one), that you are a supporter of Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, and that you are a constituent of the Supervisor.
MAIN ASKS:
1. Ask your supervisor to support the following, adopted by the Planning Commission at its June 6th meeting, to strengthen the proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendment (ZOA):
- Require data centers be located at least 1 mile from a metro station entrance. The county should be investing in walkable communities, housing and jobs near transit, not building data centers in these valuable areas. Data centers have few on-site employees and, as such, building them within walking distance of transit undermines the county’s smart growth and transportation goals to support residential, jobs, and mixed-use development near transit.
- Require that noisy and polluting data center equipment be setback at least 500 feet from adjacent residences. We support the amendment by the Planning Commission that generators and HVAC equipment be located away from (not adjacent to) residential, public and commercial uses, in order to reduce air, noise and aesthetic impacts to adjacent properties. We must strengthen protections for all residents, especially the most vulnerable according to the One Fairfax Policy, such as the residents of the Meadows of Chantilly Mobile Home community in the Sully district who are facing an otherwise by-right data center proposed just 50 feet from their community.
- Preserve the provision that clearly states that new rules in the ZOA would apply to submitted, but not yet approved, data center site applications.
2. Ask your supervisor to approve a strengthened requirement that all data center developments be subject to a more thorough Special Exception review, similar to Fauquier County and Loudoun County in areas with high population densities.
3. Ask your supervisor to increase setbacks to at least 500 feet for adjacent residential, parks, public lands, schools and other public amenities.
4. Ask your supervisor for a commitment to expedite the adoption of policies to mitigate the significant carbon, energy and water resource impacts associated with data centers.
Our apologies, but we are unable to locate your legislator(s).
Please contact FACS' Advocacy Director, Bryan Scrafford, at [email protected] so that we can resolve this issue.
Thank you so much!
Your letter has been sent. For any questions about Virginia's General Assembly and local advocacy, please contact FACS' Advocacy Director, Bryan Scrafford, at [email protected].