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Virginia lawmakers secured new environmental funding and protections during the 2025 General Assembly session, but officials warned that PFAS contamination, data center growth and federal funding cuts are creating costly challenges for the state and its water systems.
The mix of progress and concern dominated an April 11 meeting of the Potomac Watershed Roundtable at George Mason University’s Potomac Environment Research and Education Center in Lorton. About 45 people attended the gathering, which brings together local governments and other stakeholders from Northumberland County to Loudoun County across the middle and lower Potomac River watershed.
Del. David Bulova, who represents the Fairfax City-area 11th District, summed up the legislative session bluntly: “We just survived.”
Gov. Glenn Youngkin was still considering final action on some legislation, and Bulova said the governor had used his veto authority freely. Despite that uncertainty, lawmakers increased funding for wastewater treatment plant upgrades, stormwater assistance, environmental literacy and state parks. They also funded a study of the cumulative effects of surface-water intakes.
“We felt super good, but the governor was in more of a cutting mood,” Bulova said.
Data Centers and Federal Cuts Raise Alarm
Virginia’s response to data center growth remains unsettled, Bulova said. The state’s tax policies have helped attract the industry, but he argued that officials must reduce its effects and plan for added pressure on the electric grid and environment.
“What we have now is not sustainable,” he said, predicting that the issue will remain prominent in 2026 and beyond.
Bulova also highlighted a measure that has become law requiring retailers to post signs identifying certain invasive plants by 2027.
A more immediate concern is the effect of federal workforce and funding reductions. Bulova chairs a new emergency committee formed to prepare Virginia for recent federal actions, including funding cuts.
He said about 30% of Virginia’s budget relies on federal money in some way. Federal funding accounts for 59% of the state’s health and human services budget, 49% of veterans funding and 22% of natural resources spending.
“We simply need to be prepared,” Bulova said.
PFAS Treatment Could Bring a Steep Price
Youngkin signed a Bulova bill intended to make polluters, rather than water customers, bear costs when a facility releases PFAS into the Occoquan River and Reservoir above limits established by the Environmental Protection Agency.
PFAS—perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances—are a group of more than 10,000 manufactured chemicals designed to resist water, dirt, oil, grease and heat.
Robert Bowcock of California-based Integrated Resource Management said the chemicals have been used since the 1940s and appear in products including nonstick cookware, clothing, carpets, personal-care items, food packaging and firefighting foam. They are also used by the aerospace, automotive, construction and electronics industries.
Bowcock warned that PFAS commonly enter sewage sludge, or biosolids, at wastewater treatment plants. When those materials are placed in landfills, he said, the chemicals can leak into water supplies and eventually return to rivers.
People can encounter PFAS through drinking water, certain foods and fish, consumer products and contaminated air. According to the EPA, exposure at certain levels may be associated with reproductive harm, developmental effects in children, some cancers and weakened immune responses.
Wastewater treatment can remove PFAS through methods such as activated carbon and ion exchange, Bowcock said, but the process is expensive. The EPA has also said home filters may reduce PFAS levels.
The agency established national drinking-water standards for six PFAS chemicals in 2024. Those limits take effect in 2029. Bowcock predicted that some states will regulate more chemicals than the federal government does.
The EPA has not established numeric PFAS limits for biosolids, though it is accepting comments on a draft risk assessment involving some of the chemicals.
Bowcock said the Upper Occoquan Service Authority wastewater treatment plant in Centreville is releasing PFAS at a level of 75 parts per trillion. He described the measurement as concerning but “not catastrophic.”
Fairfax Water Public Affairs Manager Susan Miller said the utility is tracing possible sources and assessing treatment choices.
“As your water utility, we didn’t create PFAS, but it’s our job to ensure your drinking water meets federal standards for PFAS,” Miller said. She added that the 2029 deadline gives the utility time to install new treatment systems.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is monitoring PFAS, with detections recorded across the state.
Other speakers included PEREC Director Dr. Christian Jones, who discussed ecological research in Fairfax County’s Gunston Cove and Hunting Creek, and Rebecca Murphy of the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, who outlined salt-management outreach efforts.