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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.
2015 SESSION
Chairman: Emmett W. Hanger, Jr.
Date of Meeting: January 29, 2015
Time and Place: Thursday, 1/2 hour after adjournment, Senate Room B
Patron: Martin
Trap, Neuter, and Return activity. Permits a person or organization, such as an animal shelter or humane society, to trap and sterilize a feral cat before returning it to the site where it was trapped, or to a suitable alternative site. The bill excludes a participant in such an activity from the definition of "owner" regarding custody of the subject cat; under current law, abandonment of an animal by an owner is a misdemeanor. The bill also exempts a participant from liability to the owner of a feral cat for capturing, sterilizing, releasing, or providing medical care to the cat.
Impact Statements
Patron: Stanley
Companion animal surgical sterilization program; fund; penalty. Establishes a fund to reimburse participating veterinarians for the surgical sterilizations they perform on eligible cats or dogs. The bill provides that a surcharge of $50 per ton of pet food distributed in the Commonwealth be deposited in the fund and such pet food be exempted from the existing litter tax. An animal will be eligible for sterilization under the program if it is a feral or free-roaming cat or is owned by a low-income individual or a releasing agency such as an animal shelter. The bill establishes penalties for providing false information or submitting false payment requests.
Impact Statements
Patron: Stanley
Community cat programs. Allows localities to authorize the operation of community cat programs. In a community cat program, a caregiver who has an outdoor, free-roaming cat sterilized and returns it to the area where it was captured is not considered the legal owner or custodian of the cat. The bill exempts a community cat caregiver from criminal and civil liability for any decisions made or services rendered as part of a community cat program, except for willful and wanton misconduct.
Impact Statements
Patron: McEachin
Department of Environmental Quality; toxic waste site inventory. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality to inventory by July 1, 2016, nonfederally managed toxic waste sites in Virginia and publish the inventory at that time and annually thereafter. The bill also makes technical amendments.
Patron: Watkins
Water Protection and Toxic Chemicals Advisory Committee; established. Establishes the Water Protection and Toxic Chemicals Advisory Committee to make recommendations for the protection of state water resources from toxic chemical contamination. The bill contains a one-year sunset.
Patron: Dance
Industrial hemp production and manufacturing. Allows licensed cultivation of industrial hemp, defining industrial hemp as the plant Cannabis sativa with a concentration of THC no greater than that allowed by federal law. The bill directs the Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt relevant regulations and establishes an industrial hemp research program.
Patron: Stuart
Exemptions from boating safety education requirements. Exempts motorboat operators born prior to July 1, 1972, and who are residents of Virginia, from having to demonstrate compliance with boating safety education requirements before operating a motorboat. The bill removes the current exemption from such requirements for persons renting a boat to operate a motorboat on Virginia waters.
Impact Statements
Patron: McEachin
Department of Environmental Quality; penalties. Raises the civil penalty that may be included with a special order from $10,000 to $25,000. The bill also makes technical amendments.
Impact Statements
Patron: McWaters
Marking oyster planting grounds. Prohibits the use stakes or buoys made of metal or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to mark oyster planting grounds.
Impact Statements
Patron: McWaters
Release of balloons. Prohibits any person, with certain exceptions, from intentionally releasing or causing to be released any balloon into the atmosphere that (i) is inflated with a substance lighter than air and (ii) requires more than five minutes' contact with air or water to degrade. Currently, a person is prohibited from releasing 50 or more nonbiodegradable or nonphotodegradable balloons within a one-hour period. The bill retains the current civil penalty of $5 per prohibited balloon released; however, the proceeds generated from the civil penalty are set to be deposited into the Litter Control and Recycling Fund administered by the Department of Environmental Quality; whereas, the proceeds are currently deposited into the Lifetime Hunting and Fishing Endowment Fund.
Impact Statements
Patron: Stuart
Virginia Vegetation Program. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality to establish the Virginia Vegetation Program, organizing volunteer labor to plant native vegetation on unimproved lands that is managed by the Virginia Department of Transportation or in stormwater management basins that are located on public lands. The bill requires the Department to establish planting criteria, develop an information packet, arrange planting in coordination with volunteers and local officials, and create a list of appropriate planting sites. The bill also addresses potential liability for any injury or damages caused or sustained by program volunteers.
Patron: Wexton
Discharge of deleterious substance into state waters; notice. Requires any person who unlawfully discharges any deleterious substance into state waters to notify the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) and the coordinator of emergency services of the affected locality within 12 hours. Current law allows such a person 24 hours to give notice and gives the person a choice between notifying the State Water Control Board (the Board), the Director of the Department, or the local emergency services coordinator. The bill also requires the Board or the Department to provide each report of a discharge to local newspapers, television stations, and radio stations within 24 hours of receiving it.
Patron: Wagner
Noxious weeds. Designates golden bamboo as a noxious weed. The bill authorizes a locality to adopt an ordinance to prevent, control, and abate the growth, importation, or spread of golden bamboo.
Impact Statements
Patron: Wagner
Stormwater; municipal separate storm sewer system permittees; dredging. Directs the State Water Control Board (the Board) to establish a procedure for the approval of dredging operations in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed by a locality that is a municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) permittee as a method by which the permittee may meet its pollutant reduction and loading requirements. The bill provides that before the Board is required to establish the procedure, the Chesapeake Bay Program shall first approve the procedure as a creditable practice for pollutant removal under the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Model. The bill also requires that any dredging take place in a navigable waterway within the boundaries of the locality and comply with all applicable laws.
Patron: Wagner
Clean Power Plan; preparation of state implementation plan. Prohibits any state agency or employee from preparing or submitting to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a state implementation plan, or other document with respect to the EPA's Clean Power Plan, unless and until the State Corporation Commission finds that the final version of the Clean Power Plan incorporates amendments or revisions that address 18 criticisms of the proposed version to an extent that makes it unlikely that compliance with the final version will increase electricity rates or reduce the reliability of electric service.
Patron: Wagner
Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan. Directs state agencies to remove the Little Creek watershed from inclusion in the James River Basin for purposes of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan.
Patron: Deeds
Nurseries; labeling of plants treated with pollinator-lethal insecticides. Prohibits the labeling or advertisement of a plant as being beneficial to pollinators if the plant contains a detectable level of a systemic insecticide that is harmful to pollinators. The bill defines "pollinator" as an insect that pollinates flowers.
Patron: Deeds
Conservation easements; private bottomland conveyed by special grant. Clarifies that riverbed property that a court has conclusively determined to be in private ownership may be the subject of a conservation easement. The bill defines "private bottomland," establishes the necessary provisions of a conservation easement in private bottomland, and provides that the owner of the bottomland may receive tax benefits for donating an easement for 10 years or more, rather than in perpetuity as current law requires.
Impact Statements
Patron: Deeds
Submerged beds of rivers or creeks; claims of private ownership; arbitration. Requires that the Department of General Services (the Department) order arbitration to resolve claims of ownership of a submerged bed of an inland river or creek upon the written request of a party claiming ownership and after a preliminary hearing. The bill requires that an arbitrator be appointed by the circuit court from a list of qualified persons maintained by the Department and that the arbitrator make a determination within six months of the Department's order.The costs of the arbitration shall be paid by the claimant, and the Department is required to estimate the cost of the proceeding and give the claimant the option of delaying the arbitration before beginning.
Patron: Hanger
Replacement of tributary strategies. Replaces the tributary strategies for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, which were last prepared in 2003-2004, with the Water Implementation Plans (WIPs) developed pursuant to the Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load (TMDL). The bill authorizes the Secretary of Natural Resources to oversee the development and implementation of the WIPs.
Patron: Stuart
Sanitary districts; boat ramps, shoreline management, and dredging. Authorizes a county governing board to construct and operate boat ramps and facilities systems, beach and shoreline management and restoration systems, and creek and river dredging systems within a county sanitary district. The bill also authorizes the governing board to charge the owner of each parcel of improved real property a flat fee for a shoreline management or dredging system, regardless of whether the owner also owns unimproved land.
Impact Statements
Patron: Lewis
Nonhuman primates; penalties. Prohibits the acquisition of nonhuman primates and controls the ownership of such primates already in the Commonwealth. The bill prohibits the possession, sale, transfer, or breeding of a primate, defined as any species of the taxonomic order Primates except humans. The bill excepts from the prohibition certain institutions, such as accredited zoos; qualified transporters passing through the Commonwealth; and those in lawful possession of a primate prior to July 1, 2015, as long as they meet certain conditions. The bill authorizes the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries to adopt regulations to carry out the law. Finally, the bill provides a procedure for the seizure of a primate in certain circumstances; provides a private right of action for any resident of a locality where a primate is kept; and authorizes localities to adopt ordinances that are more stringent than the restrictions contained in the bill. The bill provides that a violation of any of its provisions is a Class 1 misdemeanor and that an owner whose reckless control of a primate is the cause of a serious attack on a person also is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Patron: Lewis
Virginia Shoreline Resiliency Fund. Establishes the Fund for the purpose of creating a low-interest loan program to help residents and businesses that are subject to recurrent flooding. Moneys from the Fund may be used to mitigate future flood damage.
Impact Statements
Patron: Alexander
Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission. Expands the purposes for which the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission can distribute funds to include providing proton therapy telemedicine and scientific research performed at one of the Commonwealth's cancer research and treatment centers in Southside or Southwest Virginia for citizens living in the two regions.
Patron: Norment
Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Advisory Committee established. Establishes the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Advisory Committee (the Committee) to assist the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in developing, revising, and implementing a management strategy for ground water in the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area. The bill prohibits the State Water Control Board and the DEQ from taking any actions that require reductions in the volume of permitted ground water withdrawals until the report of the Committee is presented to the State Water Commission. The bill has a sunset date of January 1, 2018.
Patron: Watkins
Clean Power Plan; state implementation plan; General Assembly approval. Requires the Department of Environmental Quality to receive approval from the General Assembly for a state implementation plan to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants prior to submitting the plan to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval. The bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
Patron: Chafin
Coal mine safety; mine rescue teams. Authorizes the Director of the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (the Department) to enter into agreements with mining operations to provide for mine rescue services, removing from certain rescue teams the classification of state-designated mine rescue team. The bill removes some requirements of compensation and monthly training hours for rescue teams; provides that a rescue team may comprise as many members as can work effectively and are approved by the Chief of the Division of Mines of the Department; requires that where two teams are underground, a third team need only be stationed at the mine portal when it is feasible; reduces rescue station inspections from four times per year to once per year; shifts some current responsibilities of the Director to the Chief; and requires that mine-wide tracking systems, electric equipment, and fire sensor systems be maintained. The bill eliminates the requirement that every miner receive copies of the mine rules and the Coal Mine Safety Act and requires that the surface mine foreman ensure that miners are aware of hazardous conditions and that the Act is complied with. The bill contains technical amendments.
Impact Statements
Patron: Hanger
State park master plans; update schedule. Changes the requirement that the Department and Board of Conservation and Recreation review and update the master plan for each state park from once every five years to once every 10 years.
Impact Statements
Patron: Stanley
Definition of private animal shelter. Clarifies that the purpose of a private animal shelter is to find permanent adoptive homes and facilitate other lifesaving outcomes for animals.
Patron: Dance
Fees for testing and monitoring of land application of industrial wastes. Allows localities to adopt ordinances that provide for the testing and monitoring of the land application of industrial wastes. The bill requires the State Water Control Board (the Board) to adopt emergency regulations, requiring persons that land apply industrial wastes to collect a fee from the generator of the industrial wastes and remit the fee to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The fee cannot exceed the direct costs to localities of testing and monitoring the land application of industrial wastes. The bill requires the Board's regulations to include procedures for (i) collection of the fees by DEQ, (ii) deposit of the collected fees into the Sludge Management Fund (the Fund), and (iii) disbursements from the Fund to localities for the testing and monitoring of the industrial wastes.
Patron: McWaters
Virginia crab meat label. Makes it a Class 3 misdemeanor for any person to represent or label a container as containing Virginia crab meat unless 100 percent of the crab meat is from crabs taken from or caught in Virginia waters.
Patron: McEachin
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative; Commonwealth Resilience Fund established. Requires the Governor to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative that established a regional CO2 electric power sector cap and trade program and establishes the Commonwealth Resilience Fund, a revolving fund to serve as a consistent revenue stream to assist counties, cities, and towns in the Hampton Roads region with the implementation of adaptation efforts to combat sea level rise and recurrent flooding. The bill also provides economic development assistance for families, businesses, and localities in Southwest Virginia to offset negative economic impacts associated with reduced fossil fuel production.
Patron: Stuart
Vessel operation; probable cause. Prohibits law enforcement officers from stopping, boarding, or inspecting a noncommercial vessel without probable cause to believe that there exists a violation of boating safety regulations adopted by the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Patron: Ruff
Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission; financial viability and feasibility study prior to disbursement; Virginia Tobacco Region Revolving Fund. Renames the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission as the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission (the Commission) and requires it to contract with a manager with respect to Commission loans, grants, and other distributions of money. The bill requires the manager to provide a written report on the financial viability and feasibility of any such distribution and prohibits the Commission from making the distribution until its viability and feasibility have received recommendations from the manager. The bill eliminates future appointments of six nonlegislative citizen members, all tobacco producers, and requires 13 of the remaining 25 Commission members to have experience in particular fields. The bill requires the Commission to adopt policies governing the Tobacco Region Opportunity Fund; to require a dollor-for-dollar match from entities receiving grants; to make no distribution to a tobacco-dependent community solely based on the historical production of tobacco; to require each project to have an accountability matrix, provide a set of quantified outcome expectations and other figures, and demonstrate how it will address low employment levels or other indicators; to develop a strategic plan every two years; and to establish a public database of awards. The bill also establishes the Virginia Tobacco Region Revolving Fund (the Fund), the assets of which are to be used to make loans to local governments for the financing of any project. The bill empowers the Virginia Resources Authority (the Authority) to administer the Fund, pledge assets of the Fund as security for bonds issued to finance a project, sell or collect on loans made from the Fund, and, in accordance with a memorandum of agreement with the Commission, establish the rates and terms of loans. The bill directs the Commission, in conjunction with the Authority, to make an annual report to the General Assembly and the Governor on all loans made from the Fund.
Patron: Wagner
Implementation of Clean Power Plan rule. Prohibits the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) from expending funds to develop or implement a Clean Power State Implementation Plan (Plan) required under Clean Air Act § 111(d) for existing power plants until federal judicial review as to the legality of a final U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule has been fully resolved. The DEQ is also prohibited from expending funds to implement a Plan until that Plan is approved by the Air Pollution Control Board (Board). The Board is prohibited from expending funds to develop or approve a Plan until federal judicial review as to the legality of a final EPA rule has been fully resolved. The Board is also prohibited from regulating or spending funds to implement a Plan until (i) both Senate and House of Delegates committees with jurisdiction over the federal Clean Air Act have, or an advisory committee appointed by these committees has, affirmatively approved the Plan and approved a report submitted by the State Corporation Commission (SCC) on the impact of the affordability and reliability of the Plan on commercial and residential consumers, and (ii) the SCC finds that the Plan will guarantee full compliance with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reliability standards. The SCC is required to cap non-fuel rate increases associated with greenhouse gas regulations at 1.5 percent. The SCC is directed not to allow electric generating units to be retired prior to the end of their engineering lifetime, as proposed in order to comply with a Plan, unless the owners have fully recouped the cost of construction and financing, the replacement generation results in lower costs to consumers, and there is sufficient replacement capacity to meet dispatchable capacity of the unit to be retired. Further, the SCC is directed not to allow an electric generating unit to be retired prior to the end of its engineering lifetime if the unit is necessary to maintain the grid reliability specified by the FERC in its reliability standards. Finally, the SCC is directed to require that existing electric generating units be operated in accordance with their design parameters and in such a manner as to ensure operation consonant with the design life of the unit.