Legislators agreed with McAuliffe on changes to Senate Bill 1398, which will now delay the closure of coal ash ponds in the Chesapeake Bay watershed while more study is given to whether its safe to cap ponds in place or if the toxic ash should be trucked to lined landfills. The matter was once hotly debated but Dominion, which owns these ponds, announced ahead of this one-day session that it would back the delay until 2018.