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- Subject Index: Since 1995
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2008 SESSION
Chairman: Patricia S. Ticer
Clerk: Hobie Lehman
Staff: Martin Farber, Ellen Porter
Date of Meeting: February 18, 2008
Time and Place: 9:30 AM, Senate Room B
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: Orrock
Commercial dog breeding operations; penalty. Defines a commercial breeder as any person who, during any 12-month period, maintains 30 or more adult female dogs for the primary purpose of the sale of their offspring as companion animals. Commercial breeders will be required to: (i) apply for a business license from their respective locality; (ii) cooperate with inspections by animal control officers to ensure compliance with state and federal animal care laws; (iii) create a fire emergency plan and install fire safety measures; (iv) maintain records of animal sales, purchases, breeding history, and veterinary care; (v) dispose of dead dogs and confined waste in accordance with law; and (vi) maintain no more than 50 dogs over the age of one year at one time. Commercial breeders that violate any of these provisions are guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Pet shops must ensure that their dogs are purchased from dealers or persons that are properly registered and licensed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This bill incorporates HB 691 (Delegate Armstrong) and HB 1232 (Delegate Vanderhye).
Patron: Pogge
Wetlands banks. Authorizes localities to establish and operate single-user wetlands and stream mitigation banks so long as the banks are operated in accordance with state and federal law. These single-user banks may only be used by localities for compensatory mitigation where the locality is the permittee.
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: Griffith
Animal protection and fighting; penalty. Provides that engaging in the fighting of any animals is a Class 1 misdemeanor, while dog fighting remains a Class 6 felony. Possession of any materials intended to enhance the ability of animals to fight, attending an exhibition of animal fighting, or permitting a minor to become involved in animal fighting is a Class 6 felony. Animals that are the subject of such criminal charges may be forfeited to the locality, but the owner may post bond to retain his ownership interest and repossess the animals if the court issues a finding of not guilty. Law-enforcement officers would be permitted to conduct searches at any time upon the issuance of warrants. Currently, such officers may only conduct searches during the day.
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: 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: 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: Landes
Revision of Title 3.1; Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; commodity-related boards; protection of food supplies; domestic animals. Proposed Title 3.2 (Agriculture, Animal Care, and Food) is a revision of existing Title 3.1 (Agriculture, Horticulture and Food) and consists of 65 chapters divided into five subtitles: Subtitle I (General Provisions; Protection and Promotion of Agriculture); Subtitle II (Boards, Councils, Foundations, and Commissions); Subtitle III (Production and Sale of Agricultural Products); Subtitle IV (Food and Drink; Weights and Measures); and Subtitle V (Domestic Animals). Subtitle I addresses the preservation of agricultural lands and the promotion of the agricultural industry. In addition to setting out the duties and responsibilities of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Office of Consumer Affairs, the first chapter includes several new provisions. These sections provide title-wide definitions and the authority to adopt regulations governing the conduct of referenda and replace existing sections throughout the current title. Subtitle II establishes the various commodity-related boards, councils, and foundations formed to promote the agricultural industry in the Commonwealth. It begins with a listing of the special funds associated with these various collegial bodies and the reporting requirements for commodity boards, then sets out all of the commodity boards and prescribes their powers and duties. Subtitle III provides for the production and sale of agricultural products through a system of grading, licensing, certification, and registration. The sections in these chapters have been organized in a similar sequence, with a definitions section placed first, followed by agency administrative responsibilities, licensing or registrations requirements, enforcement provisions and, finally, penalties. Subtitle IV sets standards for consumer protection. These laws: (i) prescribe standards for ensuring the wholesomeness and safety of food products, including proper labeling practices; and (ii) protect the consumer by establishing standards for the instruments and devices used in weighing and measuring commodities. Subtitle V provides for the regulation of domestic animals in the Commonwealth.
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: Merricks
Streamlined permitting process for alternative and renewable energy facilities. Requires the Air Pollution Control Board to develop procedures for the expedited review of applications for the construction of a qualified energy generator. The expedited procedures cap the permit fees at $50 and require processing of an application to be completed within 60 days. A qualified energy generator is a commercial facility located in the Commonwealth with the capacity annually to generate not more than five megawatts of electricity, or its equivalent in fuel, steam, or other form of energy, that is generated or produced from biomass. The measure does not apply to facilities that are subject to a major new source review program required by the federal Clean Air Act.
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.