GOVERNOR'S VETO

Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 1738, which authorizes the State Water Control Board to impose a civil penalty, not to exceed $1,000, upon any person who fails to register and report certain water withdrawal information.

While this legislation has a worthy goal, adding new financial penalties on commercial and agricultural water users is not the right solution.  Regulations are already in place that require water users to report annually.  I will direct the appropriate state agencies to initiate efforts to work with agricultural users and other water users to increase the level of voluntary reporting.

Accordingly, I veto this bill.