RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s attorney general says localities have a say in regulating so-called fracking for natural gas. Attorney General Mark Herring issued the non-binding advisory opinion in response to a query from Sen. Richard H. Stuart, whose 28th District is within the Taylorsville Basin south and east of Fredericksburg. A Dallas energy company has designs on an estimated 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas within the basin. Stuart asked Herring whether a locality can use land-use laws to regulate fracking. In response, Herring said the General Assembly intended to permit localities to prohibit fracking through zoning ordinances and land use regulations. Gregg Buppert is a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. He said the opinion is grounded in “a careful analysis of Virginia law.”
