Acting on a promise by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board voted Wednesday to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), an action likely to result in legal challenges.

The board voted 4-1 to approve a proposed regulation allowing Virginia’s exit from the 11-state cap-and-trade program, which it joined after the General Assembly mandated participation in 2020 (SB 1027). After a review of the proposed regulation by the executive branch, it will be published in the Virginia Register of Regulations with a 60-day public comment period.

In January, Youngkin issued an executive order requiring the Department of Environmental Quality to proceed with the withdrawal. The DEQ is required to consider public comments before writing a final regulatory proposal.

“With the board’s decision to proceed to public comment, we are one step closer to exiting RGGI and bringing relief to ratepayers,” said acting Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources Travis Voyles, who presented the proposal.

Youngkin’s four appointees to the air board supported the repeal. Three members named by former Gov. Ralph Northam (D) balked, with one voting “no” and two abstaining, saying it would require legislative approval to withdraw.

In a report in March, the Youngkin administration called RGGI a “direct carbon tax” on residents and businesses,  saying that none of the $300 million the state has received to date is being used to provide rebates to customers. (See Youngkin Report: RGGI a ‘Direct Carbon Tax’ on Va. Ratepayers.)

The air board’s vote was denounced by environmental groups.

“Participation in RGGI is a commonsense policy that reduces air pollution, keeps us on track to meet our climate goals, and provides necessary funding to address the flooding we see today and that we know will get worse in the coming years,” said Victoria Higgins, Virginia director for Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Because of RGGI’s overwhelming public support, Youngkin failed to repeal this popular policy through the legislature. It is appalling that the governor has now turned to using unelected members of a citizen board to enact his extremist agenda. This transparently undemocratic and illegitimate attempt at repeal reveals the lengths to which Youngkin will go to drag Virginia backwards on climate.”

Nate Benforado, a senior attorney in the Southern Environmental Law Center, also questioned the board’s authority.

“The administration continues to march down this repeal path despite the fact it has no such authority to repeal this regulation,” he said. “The law requires Virginia’s participation in RGGI, and the administration must abide by the General Assembly’s decision. But equally troubling is the fact that the administration appears uninterested in listening to its own residents. The public overwhelmingly opposed this action, but the administration is poised to plow through this irresponsible and unlawful repeal, no matter what people say and no matter the harm to Virginia.”