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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.
2010 SESSION
Chairman: L. Louise Lucas
Clerk: Carol Lynne Shotton
Staff: Rebecca Young, Jeffrey Sharp
Date of Meeting: February 2, 2010
Time and Place: 2:00 p.m., Senate Room B, General Assembly Building
Patron: Lucas
Disposal of solid waste fees; Isle of Wight and Southampton County. Allows Isle of Wight County and Southampton County to levy fees upon each household for disposal of solid waste as long as said fee does not exceed the fees paid by the county to the Southeastern Public Service Authority of Virginia, or its successors or assigns, for disposal of solid waste. Further grants Isle of Wight County and Southampton County the same authority Accomack, Highland, and Wise Counties have regarding such fees.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-2159 of the Code of Virginia, relating to solid waste disposal fees.10101178D
Patron: Lucas
Local government authority to regulate signs. Provides that a zoning ordinance may include provisions for the regulations of signs in the highway rights of way. Localities may also adopt an ordinance in order to control signs within any highway rights of way and to control local enforcement of such signage. If a locality enacts an ordinance to regulate signs and also authorizes volunteers to enforce the provisions of such an ordinance, the volunteer, and any local government employee, will be personally liable to the owner of the signs for any damage that may result from such enforcement. Additionally, the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner may enter into agreements with any locality, instead of just Fairfax County, authorizing local law-enforcement agencies to act as agents of the Commissioner for purposes of this legislation. Finally, this legislation limits the definition of excavation to not include installation of a sign that is installed by pushing metal, plastic or wooden poles in the ground.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 15.2-2286, 33.1-373, 33.1-375.1, 56-265.15, and 56-265.15:1 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 15.2-2286.2, relating to regulation of signs in roadways.10102001D
Patron: Petersen
Clean energy financing. Gives localities the authority to, in order to secure loans for the initial acquisition and installation of clean energy improvements, place liens ranking on parity with liens for unpaid property taxes against any property where such renewable energy systems are being installed. Further allows the locality to bundle the loans for transfer to private lenders in such a manner that would allow the liens to remain in full force to secure the loans.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-958.3 of the Code of Virginia, relating to clean energy programs.10102600D
Patron: Blevins
Aboveground liquid fertilizer storage tanks. Requires localities in which an aboveground liquid fertilizer storage tank (ALFST) with a capacity of 100,000 gallons or more is located to adopt an ordinance that regulates the installation, operation, retrofitting, maintenance, repair, abandonment, and removal of such tanks. The locality is authorized to establish a fee schedule for registration of these tanks. The ordinance would require the owner or operator of the tank to develop a discharge contingency plan that ensures a discharge from any regulated tank will be properly contained, mitigated, and cleaned up. While the bill provides a framework for the ordinance, it allows the locality to enact an ordinance that is more restrictive or more extensive in scope than is required by the Code.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Subtitle II of Title 15.2 a chapter numbered 28.3, consisting of sections numbered 15.2-2834 through 15.2-2848, relating to the regulation by localities of aboveground storage tanks containing liquid fertilizer.10100045D
Patron: Puller
Department of Transportation land use review. Exempts localities and citizens groups from payment of certain Department fees for review of land use proposals. Also, citizen groups are exempted from conducting any required traffic impact analysis that may be required at the time of a comprehensive plan amendment.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-2222.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to fees for Department of Transportation land use review.10103856D
Patron: Quayle
Disposal of solid waste fees; Isle of Wight and Southampton County. Allows Isle of Wight County and Southampton County to levy fees upon each household for disposal of solid waste as long as said fee does not exceed the fees paid by the county to the Southeastern Public Service Authority of Virginia, or its successors or assigns, for disposal of solid waste. Further grants Isle of Wight County and Southampton County the same authority Accomack, Highland, and Wise Counties have regarding such fees.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-2159 of the Code of Virginia, relating to solid waste disposal fees.10103074D
Patron: Locke
Fort Monroe Authority Act. Establishes the Fort Monroe Authority as a public body corporate and as a political subdivision of the Commonwealth to be governed by a 12-member Board of Trustees. As a result of decisions made by the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission, Fort Monroe will cease to be an army base in 2011, and at that time most of the site will revert to the Commonwealth. Among other duties, the Authority shall have the power to oversee the preservation, conservation, protection, and maintenance of the Commonwealth’s real property interests at Fort Monroe and the renewal of Fort Monroe as a vibrant and thriving community.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-6304 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 15.2 a chapter numbered 72, consisting of sections numbered 15.2-7200 through 15.2-7215, and to repeal the first and third enactments of Chapter 707 of the Acts of Assembly of 2007, the first and third enactments of Chapter 740 of the Acts of Assembly of 2007, and § 15.2-6304.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Fort Monroe Authority Act.10102661D
Patron: Hanger
Assisted living facilities; zoning. Expands certain provisions that currently apply to the Counties of Arlington and York statewide. The existing provisions declare that zoning ordinances for all purposes shall consider a residential facility in which no more than eight aged, infirm, or disabled persons reside with one or more resident counselors or other staff persons as residential occupancy by a single family.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-2291 of the Code of Virginia, relating to assisted living facilities and group homes.10103868D
Patron: Hanger
Local restrictions on farm businesses. Provides that local restriction upon activities and events at farm businesses to market and sell their products shall be reasonable and shall take into account the economic impact on the farm business of such restriction and whether such activities and events are usual and customary for farm businesses throughout the Commonwealth. The bill further provides that no local ordinance regulating noise, other than outdoor amplified music, arising from activities and events at farm businesses shall be more restrictive than that in the general noise ordinance.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 15.2-2288.3:01, relating to the local regulation of farm businesses.10102392D
Patron: Puckett
Buchanan County Public Service Authority. Provides that the board of the Buchanan County Public Service Authority shall consist of nine members. This legislation is retroactive to January 1, 1985, and ratifies all actions taken by the Buchanan County Public Service Authority Board since January 1, 1985.
A BILL to allow the Buchanan County Public Service Authority to have a nine-member authority board.10102475D
Patron: Puckett
Local boards of social services; removes membership limit for certain counties. Removes the three-person limit on the number of members serving on a local board of social services in a county operating under the county board form of government.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-412 of the Code of Virginia, relating to local boards of social services appointed by counties operating under the county board form of government.10100807D
Patron: Puckett
Improvements to Route 711. Provides that Buchanan County may enter into an agreement with Pike County, Kentucky, to improve Route 711.
A BILL to authorize certain expenditures of coal and gas road improvement funds by Buchanan County.10102472D
Patron: Puckett
Maintenance of roadways by Buchanan County. Authorizes the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors to maintain roadways within the right-of-way of the Norfolk Southern Railroad Corporation, subject to an agreement with the Corporation.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 6 of Chapter 13 of Title 56 a section numbered 56-412.3, relating to maintenance of certain roadways by Buchanan County.10102479D
Patron: Puckett
Southwest Regional Recreation Authority; civil penalties. Grants localities within the Southwest Regional Recreation Area the authority to allocate civil penalties to the Southwest Regional Recreation Authority. This legislation also clarifies that the civil penalties paid by individuals who violate any of the rules adopted by the board are to be allocated to the Southwest Regional Recreational Authority. The changes further provide that in lieu of the $100 civil penalty, a person who is found to have violated the rules adopted by the board may grant property easements to the Authority.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-6023 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 15.2-6023.1, relating to civil penalties and the Southwest Regional Recreational Authority.10102696D
Patron: Puckett
Southwest Regional Recreation Authority. Grants the board of the Southwest Regional Recreation Authority the power to establish a ranger police division and appoint rangers who may exercise the powers and duties conferred by law upon local police officers.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-6021 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 15.2-6021.1, relating to the powers of Southwest Regional Recreation Authority rangers.10102802D
Patron: Obenshain
Claims against counties; timing of decision; appeals. Provides that when a claim is made against a county, the clerk of the county's governing body shall notify the claimant of the date that the claim will be considered. The bill also provides that court action on a claim is not barred if the governing body fails to act on a claim within 90 days of the date it was received. The bill further sets the amount of the bond for appeals of a claim that has been disallowed by the governing body at $25. This bill is a recommendation of the Boyd-Graves Conference.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 15.2-1245, 15.2-1246, and 15.2-1247 of the Code of Virginia, relating to claims against counties; timing of decision; appeals.10100348D
Patron: Petersen
Urban county executive form of government; use of county tax revenue for secondary road improvements. Provides that Fairfax County (described by optional form of county government) may by ordinance for any fiscal year choose to retain its portion of the retail sales and use tax that is otherwise remitted to the Commonwealth for transportation purposes. The director of finance shall have such funds held in escrow by the county for purposes of secondary road improvements.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-826 of the Code of Virginia, relating to urban county executive form of government; use of county tax revenue for secondary road improvements.10100273D
Patron: Vogel
Virginia Infrastructure in Urban Development Areas Loan Fund. Creates the Virginia Infrastructure in Urban Development Areas Loan Fund. The Fund would be administered by the Virginia Resources Authority. Money in the Fund would be used exclusively for the financing of road, small water facility, and wastewater treatment facility projects located or to be located within an urban development area in the Commonwealth and undertaken by a local government. Priority for loans would be given to projects that will serve two or more local governments to encourage regional cooperation.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 15.2 a chapter numbered 24.3, consisting of sections numbered 15.2-2430 through 15.2-2440, relating to creation of the Virginia Infrastructure in Urban Development Areas Loan Fund.10103956D
Patron: Vogel
Urban development areas. Sets certain densities in urban development areas according to the population of the locality that designated the urban development area. The bill also requires that, to the extent possible, certain federal funding and state water and sewer facility and public infrastructure funding be directed to urban development areas or other designated growth areas. The bill mandates that the Commission on Local Government report on localities' compliance with the statute requiring the designation of urban development areas.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-2223.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to urban development areas.10103955D
Patron: Edwards
New River Valley Emergency Communications Regional Authority. Authorizes the Towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg, the County of Montgomery, and Virginia Tech to create the New River Valley Emergency Communications Regional Authority. The purposes of such Authority shall be to develop a consolidated system for the receipt and response of 9-1-1 emergency calls and communications that will improve response-time, quality of service, and coordination of available resources for the citizens of the effected localities.
A BILL to create the New River Valley Emergency Communications Regional Authority.10102925D
Patron: Stuart
Alternative onsite sewage systems. Allows any locality to enact an ordinance prohibiting the use of alternative onsite sewage systems that have been approved by the Virginia Department of Health for use in the particular circumstances and conditions in which the proposed system is to be operating when sewers or sewerage disposal facilities are not available.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-2157 of the Code of Virginia, relating to localities prohibiting the use of alternative onsite sewage systems.10100428D
Patron: Whipple
Local government employee insurance programs. Authorizes any locality to include in group life, accident, and health insurance programs offered to its officers and employees, and to employees of the locality's boards, commissions, agencies, and authorities, any person to whom coverage could be extended under the provision of the Code that sets out who may be covered under a private group accident and sickness insurance policy.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-1517 of the Code of Virginia, relating to group health insurance for employees of local governments.10103705D
Patron: Smith
Charter; Town of Vinton. Amends the charter for the town of Vinton by changing the number of days that vacancies on the council shall be filled from within 30 days of when the vacancy occurs to within 45 days of when the vacancy occurs.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 3.2, as amended, of Chapter 618 of the Acts of Assembly of 1981, which provided a charter for the Town of Vinton, relating to vacancies on the council.10103821D
Patron: Smith
New River Valley Emergency Communications Regional Authority. Authorizes the Towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg, the County of Montgomery, and Virginia Tech to create the New River Valley Emergency Communications Regional Authority. The purposes of such Authority shall be to develop a consolidated system for the receipt and response of 9-1-1 emergency calls and communications that will improve response-time, quality of service, and coordination of available resources for the citizens of the effected localities.
A BILL to create the New River Valley Emergency Communications Regional Authority.10100640D
Patron: Barker
Coordination of state and local transportation planning. Provides for coordination of local transportation planning with not only the Virginia Department of Transportation, but the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation as well.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 15.2-2222.1 and 15.2-2223 of the Code of Virginia, relating to coordination of state and local transportation planning.10101490D
Patron: Barker
Local rezoning actions. Provides for more limited review by VDOT when a property being considered for rezoning has already been subject to a VDOT review in connection with development of a local comprehensive plan.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-2222.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Department of Transportation input in certain local rezoning actions.10101493D
Patron: Ticer
Zoning; transfer of development rights. Allows any county with the urban county executive form of government to provide in its zoning ordinances for the dedication of density or other rights to develop real property, as defined by the county, from one or more parcels of property located in the county that are not the subject of a development application to one or more parcels of property located elsewhere in the county that are the subject of a development application. Currently, Fairfax County is the only county with the urban county executive form of government.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 15.2-851.2, relating to zoning powers in counties with an urban county executive form of government.10101785D
Patron: Edwards
Carbon monoxide detectors. Authorizes any locality to enact an ordinance requiring the installation of carbon monoxide alarms in (i) any building containing one or more dwelling units; (ii) any hotel or motel regularly used, offered for, or intended to be used to provide overnight sleeping accommodations; and (iii) any rooming house regularly used, offered for, or intended to be used to provide overnight sleeping accommodations, provided such buildings contain dwelling units that have an attached garage or carport or are serviced by fuel-fired appliances.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-922 of the Code of Virginia, relating to carbon monoxide detectors in certain buildings.10103092D
Patron: Martin
Cutting of weeds and grass. Adds Colonial Heights to the list of localities that may order the cutting of grass and weeds on certain occupied property. The existing portion of the statute that includes all localities applies to vacant property only.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-901 of the Code of Virginia, relating to cutting of grass and weeds.10104003D
Patron: Obenshain
Cash proffers; acceptance by localities. Delays collection or acceptance of a cash proffer by a locality until the completion of the final inspection of the subject property and prior to the time of the issuance of any certificate of occupancy.
A BILL to delay collection or acceptance of a cash proffer by a locality until issuance of a certificate of occupancy.10104133D
Patron: Ticer
Zoning; transfer of development rights. Allows any county with the urban county executive form of government to provide in its zoning ordinances for the dedication of density or other rights to develop real property, as defined by the county, from one or more parcels of property located in the county that are not the subject of a development application to one or more parcels of property located elsewhere in the county that are the subject of a development application. Currently, Fairfax County is the only county with the county manager plan of government.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 8 of Title 15.2, a section numbered 15.2-859, relating to zoning powers in counties with an urban county executive form of government.10103816D
Patron: Martin
Cash proffer guidelines. Provides that no locality shall establish any rate policy or guideline regarding the amount and timing of the payment of cash proffers to such locality unless such rate policy or guideline is established by ordinance.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-2303.3 of the Code of Virginia, relating to cash proffer guidelines.10104006D
Patron: Watkins
Undergrounding of electric transmission lines. Prohibits the State Corporation Commission from approving an agreement between a local governing body and an electric utility for the underground installation of an electric transmission line of at least 150 kilovolts if a feasible overhead alternative exists, unless all localities in which the line passes request that the line be installed underground.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-2404 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the authority of local governing bodies to provide for the underground installation of certain electric transmission lines.10104207D
Patron: Quayle
Regulation of stormwater. Amends current law by removing the requirement that waivers given to federal, state, or local government agencies that develop, redevelop or retrofit outfalls, discharges or property so that there is a permanent reduction in postdevelopment stormwater flow and pollutant loading be full waivers. The amount of the waiver to such agencies shall be equal to the product of the fee that would be charged to the agency multiplied by the percentage of the stormwater runoff captured by the agency’s storm drainage or stormwater control facilities.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-2114 of the Code of Virginia, relating to regulation of stormwater.10104159D
Patron: Vogel
Route 28 transportation improvement district. Allows a county to initiate a change in zoning upon a property within such district in order to bring such property into conformance with the county's current comprehensive plan.
A BILL to amend and reenact § 15.2-4603 of the Code of Virginia, relating to certain transportation improvement districts; zoning.10103948D
Patron: Norment
Private capital lending for local governments and public institutions of higher education. Allows a local government or public institution of higher education to enter into certain conduit lending agreements to finance certain capital projects.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 15.2 a chapter numbered 18.1, consisting of sections numbered 15.2-1815, 15.2-1816, and 15.2-1817, and by adding in Title 23 a chapter numbered 3.4, consisting of sections numbered 23-30.59, 23-30.60, and 23-30.61, relating to conduit lending for state and local governmental entities.10104196D