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2014 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources

Chairman: Phillip P. Puckett

Clerk: Maribeth Turner
Staff: Martin Farber, Scott Meacham
Date of Meeting: February 27, 2014
Time and Place: Thursday, 1/2 hour after adjournment, Senate Room B

H.B. 268 Agricultural operations; local regulation of certain activities, On-Farm Activities Working Group.

Patron: Orrock

Agricultural operations; local regulation of certain activities. Protects certain activities at agricultural operations from local regulation in the absence of substantial impacts on the public welfare and requires localities to take certain factors into account when regulating any of several activities: the conduct of agritourism activities, the sale of agricultural or silvicultural products or related items, the preparation or sale of foods that otherwise comply with state law, and other customary activities. Localities are prohibited from subjecting the listed activities to a special-use permit requirement in the absence of a substantial impact on health, safety, or public welfare, and in most situations localities are prevented from stringently regulating the sound produced by the listed activities. The bill provides that it shall not affect the Right to Farm Act or an entity licensed in accordance with the alcoholic beverage laws or restrict the taxation authority of any locality.

H.B. 461 Coalbed methane gas; release of funds held in escrow or suspense.

Patron: Kilgore

Coalbed methane gas; release of funds held in escrow or suspense. Requires the operator of certain previously pooled coalbed methane gas wells to request, by the beginning of 2015, the release of any funds held in escrow or suspense to the person who possesses a claim through a gas title. A coal claimant may halt such a release of funds by providing evidence that the coal and gas claimants have reached an agreement or that a proceeding against the gas claimant is pending. For a well that is pooled after July 1, 2014, the bill requires the operator to pay royalties directly to the gas claimant unless the coal claimant provides evidence of an agreement or a proceeding within a certain time.

H.B. 650 Boating safety course; persons who possess valid Va. seafood landing license, etc., exempted.

Patron: Ransone

Boating safety course. Exempts from the requirements of the boater safety education course persons who hold various landing and aquaculture licenses and permits from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

H.B. 988 Coyotes; DGIF & VDACS to provide information & promote programs in assisting with control concerns.

Patron: Cline

Coyote control program. Directs the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to promote programs to those seeking assistance with coyote control concerns.

H.B. 991 Hunting and fishing licenses; special licenses for certain nonresident disabled veterans.

Patron: Cline

Hunting and fishing licenses for nonresident disabled veterans. Allows nonresident veterans who are totally and permanently disabled due to a service-connected disability to purchase licenses, valid for life, to hunt or fish at a cost equal to one-quarter the fee for the state nonresident hunting or fishing license. Currently, no discount is given for nonresident disabled veterans.

H.B. 1006 Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP); DCR to utilize storm-based approach in order to derive level.

Patron: Byron

Update of the Probable Maximum Precipitation level. Directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation to utilize a storm-based approach to calculate the Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) for various locations in or affecting Virginia. The method for a storm-based approach shall be completed by December 1, 2015. Owners of impounding structures with inadequate spillway designs who maintain coverage under the conditional certificate are not required to rehabilitate the spillway until the PMP analysis is completed and reviewed by the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board. The bill requires the Board to consider the results of the PMP analysis in its decision of whether to authorize replacement of the current PMP values. The Department of Conservation and Recreation is authorized to expend up to $500,000 in unobligated balances from two funds to finance the analysis.

H.B. 1025 Biofuels Production Incentive Grant Program; eligibility to receive grants.

Patron: Ingram

Biofuels Production Incentive Grant Program. Changes the amount of the grant for biofuels produced in the Commonwealth from $0.10 for each gallon produced and subsequently sold to (i) $0.04 for each gallon sold in calendar year 2014, (ii) $0.03 for each gallon sold in calendar year 2015, and (iii) $0.025 for each gallon sold in calendar year 2016 and during the period January 1, 2017, through June 30, 2017. Each producer applying for a grant for 2015 production of biofuels is required to make a good faith effort to produce such biofuels using feedstock that is not derived from corn or the corn kernel, stalk, or any other part of the plant. No grant will be awarded for biofuels produced in 2016 or thereafter using feedstock derived from corn or the corn kernel, stalk, or any other part of the plant. The bill provides for maximum of $1.5 million in grants to be awarded in each of fiscal years 2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017. The bill changes current law that provides for no grant to be awarded for sales of biofuels made subsequent to December 31, 2016.

H.B. 1089 Zoning; clarifies definition of agricultural products.

Patron: Morris

Zoning; agricultural products. Clarifies the definition of agricultural products.

H.B. 1092 Oyster grounds; condemnation.

Patron: Ransone

Condemnation of oyster grounds. Prohibits localities from exercising the right of eminent domain to condemn privately leased riparian and general oyster planting grounds. These planting grounds are assigned to persons under a lease agreement approved by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. An exception to the condemnation prohibition is made for permitted water-dependent linear wastewater projects where there is no practical alternative.

H.B. 1121 Game and Inland Fisheries, Board of; changes criteria for appointments.

Patron: Scott

Composition of the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries. Changes the criteria for appointments made to the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries. The bill requires the 11 members of the Board, appointed by the Governor, to be citizens of the Commonwealth and knowledgeable of wildlife conservation, hunting, fishing, boating, or habitat. Each of the four regions of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is to be represented by two members, and three members are to be members-at-large, each from a different region. Currently, the Board consists of one member representing each congressional district.

H.B. 1124 Dams; liability of owners or operators of dams.

Patron: Orrock

Liability of owners or operators of dams. Requires the owner of a dam, prior to conveying ownership of the dam or decommissioning the dam to a third party, to notify the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation of the transfer in accordance with the Virginia Impounding Structure Regulations requirements.

H.B. 1168 Wetland and stream mitigation banks; state lands that are used to provide compensatory mitigation.

Patron: Fariss

Wetland and stream mitigation banks. Provides that state lands that are used to provide compensatory mitigation for wetland or stream impacts shall be used only for projects undertaken by a state agency, or a foundation related to a state institution of higher education, on land which the agency or foundation owns.

H.B. 1173 Stormwater management programs; optional for some localities, regulations.

Patron: Hodges

Stormwater management programs; optional for some localities. Requires the Department of Environmental Quality to establish a Virginia Stormwater Management Program (VSMP) for any locality that neither opts to establish its own program nor operates a municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4). The bill defers the VSMP requirement for six months for certain recent MS4 localities. The bill alters the permitting appeals process and allows for an agreement in lieu of a stormwater management plan, and it directs the State Water Control Board to adopt regulations relating to the issuance of permits for parcels in subdivisions, the registration of single-family residences, and the reciprocity given by Virginia for proprietary Best Management Practices established elsewhere. Finally, the bill provides that the consolidation of state post-construction requirements into Virginia's General Permit shall not modify the scope of enforcement of the federal Clean Water Act and exempts from most requirements of the Administrative Process Act those regulations of the State Water Control Board that will be necessary to implement the act. This bill incorporates HB 58, HB 649, and HB 261 and contains an emergency clause.

EMERGENCY