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2012 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources

Chairman: Emmett W. Hanger, Jr.

Clerk: Nick Galvin, Jocelyn Lance
Staff: Martin Farber, Scott Meacham
Date of Meeting: January 19, 2012
Time and Place: Thursday, 2 PM, Senate Room A

S.B. 25 Game and Inland Fisheries, Department of; appointment of Director.

Patron: Stuart

Appointment of Director of Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.  Removes the authority of the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries to appoint the Director of the Department, resulting in the Governor making the appointment.

S.B. 26 Conservation police officers; clarifies authority.

Patron: Stuart

Authority of conservation police officers.  Clarifies that conservation police officers may not stop a person for the purpose of determining compliance with the laws, rules, and regulations of the Commonwealth or its localities without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. The bill also repeals a section of the Code allowing conservation police officers to inspect game and fish for the purposes of enforcing bag and creel limits without first making an arrest.

S.B. 52 Environmental laboratory certification program; exempts certain laboratories.

Patron: Watkins

Exemption from environmental laboratory certification program.  Exempts laboratories from the application of the environmental laboratory certification program when testing to determine soil fertility, animal manure nutrient content, or plant tissue nutrient uptake.

S.B. 77 Nutrient credit certification; regulations.

Patron: Watkins

Regulation of nutrient credit certification.  Directs the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board to adopt regulations governing the certification of certain nutrient credits. Referring to the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), the legislation sets out certain requirements of the regulations, permits the Department of Conservation and Recreation to establish an online registry of certified credits, and allows municipal separate storm sewer systems to acquire and use credits under certain conditions.

S.B. 123 Environmental covenants; compliance with Uniform Environmental Covenants Act not required.

Patron: Watkins

Environmental covenants.  Clarifies that compliance with the Uniform Environmental Covenants Act is not required.

S.B. 126 Forestry, Department of; use of methyl bromide gas fumigation.

Patron: Watkins

Fumigation by Department of Forestry.  Directs the Department of Forestry's forest tree nurseries to continue to use methyl bromide gas fumigation in their pre-seeding land preparation under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's listed usage exemption QPS (Quarantine & Pre-Shipment). The bill also authorizes the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to issue a phytosanitary certificate or a permit verifying that shipments of conifers and hardwood seedlings are free of pests and diseases.

S.B. 128 Governor's Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund; established, report.

Patron: Stanley

Development Fund.  Creates the Governor's Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund. The bill establishes an economic development grant program targeted specifically at agricultural and forestry operations. Grants will be awarded to support localities' efforts to attract value-added or processing facilities using Virginia-grown products. Under the program, localities will apply for grants after having established a relationship with a new or expanding business.

S.B. 143 Mining permit; use of mine voids.

Patron: Puckett

Mining permit, use of mine voids.  Requires an application for a mining permit to identify the owner of the underground space to be used.

S.B. 147 Bear hound training; allows training of dogs to hunt bears to occur during day or night.

Patron: Puckett

Bear hound training.  Allows the training of dogs to hunt bears to occur at night. Currently, the training of dogs to hunt bears is limited to one-half hour before sunrise until four and one-half hours after sunset.

S.B. 151 Hunting on Sundays.

Patron: Puckett

Hunting on Sundays.  Allows a person to hunt or kill any wild bird or wild animal on Sundays.

S.B. 173 Hunting on Sundays.

Patron: Petersen

Hunting on Sundays.  Allows landowners to hunt on their own property on Sundays. Also allows persons who have the written permission of the landowner to hunt on the landowner's property on Sundays.

S.B. 176 Jurisdiction of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Patron: Stuart

Jurisdiction of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.  Removes the jurisdiction to enforce fishing and boating laws in the waters of Back Bay, and the inlets and navigable waters in the Tidewater counties and cities.

S.B. 221 Cottage food production operation; sales directly to consumers only.

Patron: Black

Cottage food production operation; sales directly to consumers only.  Defines the cottage food production operation and establishes requirements for food types, labeling, sales methods, and other elements.  The bill allows cottage food producers to sell products out of their houses or at farmers' markets and prohibits local health departments from regulating cottage food production operations.

S.B. 253 Dam safety; consultation with Department of Emergency Management.

Patron: Reeves

Dam safety; consultation with Department of Emergency Management.  Requires the Soil and Water Conservation Board to consult with the Department of Emergency Management in implementing the dam safety program, and makes clarifying amendments.

S.B. 305 Dangerous dog registry; changes procedure for registering.

Patron: Blevins

Dangerous dog registry.  Changes the procedure by which dangerous dogs are registered in Virginia. The bill requires an animal control officer, instead of the State Veterinarian, to post dangerous dog registration information on the registry website. It removes the requirement that an animal control officer provide a copy of the registration certificate and verification of compliance of the owner with the registration procedures to the State Veterinarian. The owner of an animal found to be a dangerous dog has to obtain a registration certificate from the local animal control officer or treasurer with 45 days. The current law requires the owner to obtain a certificate within 10 days. The fee for the certificate is increased from $50 to $150 and the $100 registration fee due to the State Veterinarian is eliminated. By January 31 of each year, the certificate has to be updated and renewed by the owner at a fee of $85. A portion of the fees collected shall go to the State Veterinarian to maintain the registry.

S.B. 330 Coal mine safety; operator of coal mine to submit map and revisions that show directional changes.

Patron: Carrico

Coal mine safety.  Requires the operator of a coal mine to submit (i) a map of the mine to the Chief of the Division of Mines of the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy before producing coal and (ii) any revisions that show directional changes whenever mining projections deviate more than 600 feet from the approved mine plan. The bill also allows instructors that are certified by the Board of Coal Mining Examiners to determine the fitness of a miner to detect explosive gas before the miner is put in charge of cutting, loading, drilling, continuous miner, or timbering machines.

S.B. 359 Trap, Neuter, and Return programs; permits operation of formal program relating to feral cats.

Patron: Deeds

Trap, Neuter, and Return programs.  Permits the operation of a formal program of trapping, sterilizing, and returning feral cats to their colonies and excludes participants in such a program from the definition of "owner."

S.B. 361 Solid waste landfill; Rockbridge County.

Patron: Deeds

Solid waste landfill; Rockbridge County.  Allows the Rockbridge County landfill to operate for an additional two years or until it reaches maximum capacity, whichever occurs sooner. The landfill is scheduled to be closed by the Department of Environmental Quality on December 31, 2012.

S.B. 407 Erosion & Sediment Control, Stormwater, & Chesapeake Bay Preservation Acts; integration of programs.

Patron: Hanger

Integration of agencies' programs.  Integrates elements of the Erosion and Sediment Control Act, the Stormwater Act, and Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act so that these regulatory programs can be implemented in a consolidated and consistent manner, resulting in greater efficiencies (one-stop shopping) for those being regulated. The bill also eliminates the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Board and places its responsibilities with the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board.

S.B. 464 Hunting on Sundays.

Patron: Northam

Hunting on Sundays.  Allows a person to hunt or kill any wild bird or wild animal on Sundays.

S.B. 512 Hunting on Sundays.

Patron: Wagner

Hunting on Sundays.  Allows any person who has obtained a hunting license to hunt any wild bird or wild animal on Sundays.