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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2008 SESSION
Chairman: Patricia S. Ticer
Date of Meeting: February 11, 2008
Time and Place: 8:30 AM, Senate Room B
The time has changed. Members will now meet at 8:30AM
Patron: Orrock
Gas chambers. Prohibits the use of gas chambers for euthanizing companion animals. This is emergency legislation. This bill incorporates HB 1289 (Delegate Athey) and HB 40 (Delegate Scott, J.M.).
EMERGENCY
Patron: Ware, R.L.
Hunting; trap identification. Permits hunters to attach an identification number issued by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to traps. Currently, hunters may not set traps without attaching their name and address to the trap.
Patron: Ware, R.L.
Hunting; submerged traps. Authorizes the Board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to adopt regulations that allow certain persons to visit completely submerged, conibear-style, body-gripping traps less frequently than every 24 hours.
Patron: Kilgore
Virginia Resources Authority financing. Authorizes the Virginia Resources Authority to finance energy conservation and energy efficiency projects.
Patron: Morgan
Local animal pounds and shelters; definition. Clarifies that a facility serving as a pound or shelter may operate in either a building or a portion of a building, as designated by the State Veterinarian. This change would allow inspectors to tailor the separate inspection and regulatory standards for shelters and pounds to the respective portion of the facility designated for each purpose.
Patron: Cole
Virginia Water Protection Permit. Exempts landowners whose construction or maintenance of their farm or stock ponds may impact wetlands from having to obtain a Virginia Water Protection Permit.
Patron: Cosgrove
Phosphorus prohibition; dishwashing detergents. Bans the use of phosphorus in detergents for household dishwashing machines. Phosphorus is one of the primary sources of water pollution. The bill contains a delayed effective date of July 1, 2010. This bill incorporates HB 822 (Delegate Morgan) and HB 341 (Delegate Plum).
Patron: Cox
Special fishing permit. Allows the Director of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to permit any organized groups of patients residing in or receiving outpatient treatment from a veterans or military hospital in Virginia, an adjoining state, or the District of Columbia to fish without having to obtain licenses. They would be allowed to fish in any public waters including those stocked with trout. Currently, the Director can allow a group of persons residing in veterans hospitals to fish in state waters without a license but such a privilege does not extend to fishing in waters stocked with trout.
Patron: Plum
Cathode ray tubes; disposal bans. Permits localities to prohibit the disposal of cathode ray tubes in any waste-to-energy or solid waste disposal facility within its jurisdiction, provided the locality has implemented a recycling program that is capable of handling all cathode ray tubes generated within its jurisdiction. Previously the ban only applied to privately operated landfills.
Patron: Bulova
Stormwater ordinance. Authorizes localities classified as MS4 stormwater localities to enact ordinances to enforce stormwater permits. The bill would give these localities the authority to seek civil charges and injunctive relief, and impose civil penalties. Any person who willingly and knowingly violates the ordinance would be subject to a criminal penalty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Patron: Merricks
Scenic river. Designating portions of the North Mayo River and South Mayo River as components of the Virginia Scenic Rivers System.
Patron: Pogge
Chesapeake Bay ordinance appeals. Allows localities subject to the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act to adopt an ordinance that establishes a time limit of at least 30 days for an aggrieved party to appeal a decision of the local board to the circuit court.
Patron: Orrock
Rabies vaccination certificates; public access; duties of local treasurers. Exempts records sent by veterinarians to local treasurers from public access under the Freedom of Information Act when such information is not contained in the animal license or license application. This will allow local treasures to dispose of records sent from veterinarians. This bill incorporates HB 457 (Delegate Merrick).
Patron: May
Virginia Resource Authority; broadband services. Clarifies that the Virginia Resource Authority may be used as a funding mechanism for all projects involving the provision of broadband services, and not just those utilizing wireless broadband technologies.
Patron: Griffith
Dangerous dogs; judicial discretion. Provides a court with the authority not to declare a dog to be a dangerous dog for good cause, based on the evidence before it. Currently, a court is required to declare a dog dangerous if there is any bite, attack, or injury to a person, even if the bite, attack, or injury is accidental or negligible.
Patron: Alexander
Animal welfare standards. Requires that "adequate water" for animals is replenished in a manner that is appropriate for the weather and temperature. Currently, "adequate water" must be replenished at least once every 12 hours.
Patron: Sherwood
Dam break inundation zones. Provides localities with the authority to address development in dam break inundation zones. The bill directs developers to assist dam owner with required upgrades and requires additional disclosure and notification procedures for dam owners. The bill contains an enactment clause that specifies that the bill's provisions do not affect site plans or subdivisions submitted prior to the effective date of the act.
Patron: Ware, R.L.
Lease of development rights program. Tasks the Office of Farmland Preservation to create a lease of development rights program. Under such program, properties of 20 acres and larger and that are enrolled in "land use" taxation programs, would be eligible to participate in a lease of development rights program whereby the property owner relinquishes "by right" development for at least seven years in exchange for a contractually agreed upon lease amount.
Patron: Johnson
Division name change. Changes the name of the Department of Mine, Minerals and Energy's Division of Mineral Resources to the Division of Geology and Mineral Resources.
Patron: Lohr
Bear hound training season. Allows the training of dogs to hunt bears from one-half hour before sunrise until four and one-half hours after sunset. Currently, the training of dogs to hunt bears is limited to one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset.
Patron: Bell
Bond for abandoned or cruelly treated animals. Allows the court to order the owner of any animal held by a humane investigator or animal control officer for more than 15 days to post a bond with the locality for the amount of the cost of boarding the animal. Currently, the requirement to post bond is pursuant to local ordinance, if any has been passed, and the bond begins to accrue at 30 days rather than 15 days.
Patron: Hugo
Killing of deer over bait; local authority. Allows the Director of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to allow the killing of deer over bait in counties with a special late antlerless season when specifically requested by the governing body of the locality.
Patron: Abbitt
Payment for forest protection. Increases the annual amount a locality pays to the State Forester to provide forest fire protection, detection, prevention, and suppression. Beginning July 1, 2008, the amount localities will pay for such services will increase from the current five cents per acre to seven cents per acre and starting July 1, 2009, the payments will increase to nine cents per acre.
Patron: Abbitt
Environmental impact reports. Requires an environmental impact report be done for any major state construction project that will cost $500,000 or more. The current threshold amount requiring such a report is $100,000.
Patron: Sickles
Weights and measures; certified service technicians. Clarifies that it is permissible to possess for commercial purposes a weight or measure that has been placed into service by a duly certified service technician.
Patron: Phillips
Oil or gas wells; cemeteries. Requires the applicant for a permit for a gathering pipeline, oil or gas well, or coal bed methane well to identify in the permit application any cemetery, as identified on a U.S.G.S. topographic map or located by routine field review, within 100 feet of the permitted activity.
Patron: Lingamfelter
Apprentice hunting license. Authorizes the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to issue an apprentice hunting license. This license would be issued in lieu of the current state resident or nonresident basic hunting license. It is a one-time license that expires two year from the date of purchase and does not require the licensee to complete a hunter education course. The fee for obtaining the license would be $10 for residents and $20 for nonresidents. The purpose of the bill is to extend limited hunting privileges to persons interested in learning about hunting sports.
Patron: Tyler
Sale of trees from state-owned forests. Increases to $50,000 the minimum threshold at which public bidding is required for sales of trees taken from state forests. Currently, the State Forester is required to solicit bids if the underlying value of the trees is greater than from $10,000.
Patron: O'Bannon
Environmental impact reports; highway projects. Requires any county, city, or town to submit an environmental impact report in connection with a highway construction, reconstruction, or improvement project only when such projects estimated to cost more than $1 million. The current threshold amount requiring such a report is $100,000. This bill incorporates HB 1083 (Delegate Suit).
Patron: Morgan
Coastal primary sand dunes. Authorizes additional localities in Tidewater Virginia to adopt coastal primary sand dune ordinances. The bill also includes three additional dune plants in the definition of what constitutes a coastal primary sand dune.
Patron: Landes
Inspection of honey houses; repeal. Repeals the duplicative authority of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to regulate the sanitary conditions in places where honey is stored and manufactured under the beekeeping laws, because such authority is already broadly granted under Article 2, Sanitary Requirements in General, of Chapter 20 of Title 3.1.
Patron: Lohr
Poultry testing for avian influenza. Requires the importer of poultry into the Commonwealth to test for avian influenza within a period of time set out by proclamation of the State Veterinarian. Currently, an importer of poultry must test for avian influenza within 10 days before the poultry enters the Commonwealth. This bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Plum
State parks' employee housing. Authorizes the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation to lease private residential properties that are near state parks and then subsequently sublease these properties to state park employees in order to provide security and operational efficiencies for Department properties.
Patron: Saxman
Damage from bears; non-lethal control measures. Authorizes the Director of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to employ non-lethal control measures to control bears that are damaging property. Currently the Director may relocate the bear, but is not explicitly authorized to use other non-lethal control measures such as fencing. Any such measures are permissible only if used within a reasonable period of time.
Patron: Lingamfelter
Erosion and sediment control plan. Allows any person creating and operating stream restoration banks in more than one jurisdiction to file general erosion and sediment control specifications for stream restoration banks annually with the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board.
Patron: Stuart
Application of fertilizers. Requires a commercial applicator of fertilizers to obtain a soil analysis of the property on which he is applying a fertilizer and make that analysis available to the customer at the time the bill is paid. The bill provides a civil penalty of $500 for not providing the customer with the analysis.
Patron: Puckett
Department of Environmental Quality; State Air Pollution Control Board and State Water Control Board. Vests the authority to issue and enforce permits (including general permits), licenses, and certificates related to air and water pollution with the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality. As a result of this change, restrictions on board membership have been lifted to allow broader participation from members affiliated with industry. A process has been established to provide for public hearings when there is substantial public interest in the permit, there are significant legal or factual issues that are both germane to the draft permit and within the Department’s jurisdiction, and the public hearing could provide additional information. After a public hearing, the Director may convene a meeting before the Board when there are significant legal or factual issues that are both germane to the draft permit and within the Department’s jurisdiction, such issues are capable of resolution by the exercise of the Director’s authority, and the Director’s ability to address and resolve those issues would be enhanced by the Board’s participation and advice. The Board may make recommendations to the Director, who may incorporate such conditions into the permit if they: (i) are within the statutory authority of the Department; (ii) were not addressed by the Department in preparing the draft permit; (iii) either provide substantial additional protection to the environment, public health, or natural resources or provide substantially the same level of protection in a more effective or efficient manner; (iv) are consistent with the statutory and regulatory program under which the permit is issued; (v) are technologically and economically feasible; and (vi) do not unfairly or unreasonably burden the applicant with costs or delays that would, in the Director’s judgment, be disproportionate to the benefits reasonably to be expected from them. Additionally, the membership of the State Air Pollution Control Board is increased from five to seven.
Patron: Hanger
Natural resources funding. Provides annual funding for natural resources from (i) 20 percent of the remaining revenues of state recordation taxes that are not currently allocated and (ii) unallocated land preservation tax credits in each calendar year. Of the revenues allocated to natural resources, 17 percent would be used to provide matching grants to local purchase of development rights programs, 16 percent would be distributed to the Virginia Land Conservation Fund, and 67 percent would be distributed to the Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program for agricultural best management practices.
For the moneys allocated to agricultural best management practices, five percent would be distributed to soil and water conservation districts to provide technical assistance for the implementation of agricultural best management practices. The remaining moneys would be used for matching grants for agricultural best management practices, with 60 percent of the moneys used for lands exclusively in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and 40 percent of the moneys used for all other lands in the Commonwealth.
For the moneys allocated to provide matching grants to local purchase of development rights programs, 60 percent of the moneys would be used for grants for local purchase of the development rights programs of counties and cities wholly or partly within the Chesapeake Bay watershed and 40 percent of the moneys would be used for grants for local purchase of the development rights programs of all other counties and cities. In general, for each $1 received, the local purchase of development rights program would be required to provide a $1 match.
Patron: Hanger
Matching grants to local purchase of development rights programs. Provides that in general, local purchase of development rights programs would be required to make a $1 match for each $1 in grants awarded by the Office of Farmland Preservation.
However, if, as of July 1 in the fiscal year, the total “value” of all land in a county or city upon which the real estate tax is imposed does not exceed 70 percent of the total fair market value of all land in the county or city, then for that fiscal year the local purchase of development rights program for the county or city would be required to match each $1 awarded with a match of $0.50. “Value” is defined as the fair market value of land unless the land has been valued under special use value assessment, in which case “value” would mean the use value assessment.