According to Falls Church City Councilman David Snyder, an Environmental Clean Air Report from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government shows that while Virginia “is in the middle” compared to other states on clean air issues, and regional cooperation has led to significant progress on air quality,“more progress is still needed.” “A great concern is that the federal government is apparently retrenching,” he wrote. “So, not only could we fail to make progress, but we could actually backslide and have dirtier rather than cleaner air.”

He added, “States and localities continue to do what they can, but we cannot maintain and improve air quality overall without the federal government playing a leading, constructive role.”