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2016 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources

Chairman: Richard H. Stuart

Staff: Martin Farber, Scott Meacham
Date of Meeting: February 25, 2016
Time and Place: Half Hour After Senate Adjourns / SR B

H.B. 118

Patron: Albo

Urban county executive form of government; animal protection police officer. Amends the form of government applicable to Fairfax County by providing that the department of police may include an animal protection police officer who shall have all of the powers of an animal control officer conferred by general law. In addition, the animal protection police officer and his deputies shall have all of the powers vested in law-enforcement officers, provided that they have met the minimum qualifications and have been certified.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 9.1-101, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 15.2-836.1, relating to urban county executive form of government; animal protection police officer.

16105328D

H.B. 136

Patron: Knight

Damaged duck blinds in Virginia Beach. Requires a person who holds a duck blind license for a stationary blind located in the City of Virginia Beach to immediately notify the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (the Department)when his blind has been abandoned, is in a state of disrepair, or does not meet the duck blind standards. The bill provides that any owner of such blind who fails to place a PVC pipe marker with reflecting tape into the water six feet above mean low water at the site of the blind (i) within seven days of discovery of the condition of the blind or (ii) within seven days of notification by the Department of the marking requirement is subject to a civil penalty of up to $100 a day.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 29.1-345.2, relating to damaged stationary duck blinds in the City of Virginia Beach; civil penalty.

16101150D

H.B. 157

Patron: Orrock

Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; guidance documents. Requires that guidance documents developed by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services be approved by the Commissioner of Agriculture. The bill also requires the Department to submit the guidance document to the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. The bill specifies that the guidance document has no force of law and cannot be the basis for denial or approval of the operation of a private animal shelter and requires every approved guidance document to be posted on the Department's website.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 3.2-102 of the Code of Virginia, relating to adoption of guidance documents.

16104780D

H.B. 448

Patron: Cox

Acquisition of nutrient offset credits. Allows a new or expanding facility registered under the Watershed General Permit to acquire nutrient offset credits, on land located in the same tributary as the facility, on which best management practices have been implemented that would achieve reductions greater than those currently required by federal or state law or the Chesapeake Bay TMDL Watershed Implementation Plan. The bill provides that any such acquisition is subject to approval by the State Water Control Board. The bill also enables an applicant under the Watershed General Permit to join the Virginia Nutrient Credit Exchange Association.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 62.1-44.19:15 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Nutrient Credit Exchange Program.

16105252D

H.B. 535

Patron: Bell, Richard P.

Limited liability for beekeepers. Provides that a beekeeper shall not be liable for any personal injury or property damage that occurs in connection with his keeping and maintaining of bees, bee equipment, queen breeding equipment, apiaries, and appliances if he follows best management practices established in regulations adopted by the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The immunity does not extend to intentional tortious conduct or acts of omissions that constitute gross negligence or negligence. The Board is directed to adopt initial regulations to be effective no later than November 1, 2016.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 3.2-4411.1, relating to limited liability for beekeepers.

16104725D

H.B. 584

Patron: Yost

Feeding of deer prohibited. Authorizes a city or town to adopt an ordinance to prohibit the feeding of deer. The penalty for violating the ordinance is a $50 fine. A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 29.1-527.2, relating to the feeding of deer.

16104962D

H.B. 813

Patron: Knight

Offshore waters and submerged lands; Commonwealth jurisdiction to three miles; survey. Updates the description of the offshore waters over which the Commonwealth has jurisdiction. In place of a reference to certain seas claimed in the Virginia Constitution of 1776, the bill provides for jurisdiction over offshore waters for a distance of three geographical miles as determined by metes and bounds surveys. The bill also directs the Secretary of Natural Resources to conduct surveys of the three-mile boundary and to request that the Attorney General file the surveys in the United States Supreme Court.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 1-302 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Commonwealth ownership of offshore waters and submerged lands; survey.

16102836D

H.B. 903

Patron: Stolle

Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency. Designates the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency jointly at Old Dominion University, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and The College of William and Mary to (i) serve, advise, and support the Commonwealth by conducting interdisciplinary studies and investigations and (ii) provide training, technical and nontechnical services, and outreach in the area of recurrent flooding and resilience research to the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions.

A BILL to designate the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency jointly at Old Dominion University, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and The College of William and Mary.

16104769D

H.B. 1094

Patron: Webert

Commodity boards; member nominations and terms; assessments. Alters the member nomination process and other functions of commodity boards that deal with apples, the beef industry, eggs, the horse industry, potatoes, peanuts, and the sheep industry. The bill removes the 30-day or 90-day deadline for submission of industry nominees for a seat on certain boards, as well as any requirement that there be two or more nominations for each seat. The bill repeals certain board-specific provisions related to appointments and creates in their place general provisions, applicable to a number of boards, which provide for four-year appointments, that a majority of the board constitutes a quorum, for the election of officers, and policies establishing no compensation for attendance at meetings but reimbursement for expenses of board members.

The bill makes specific changes to individual boards, including (i) reducing the size of the Apple Board from nine to six members and adding Campbell County to the list of commercial apple-producing districts; (ii) conforming the Cotton Board assessment of 85 cents per bale to the current rate, as authorized by a 2006 referendum, of 95 cents per bale; and (iii) reducing the size of the Peanut Board from nine to eight members and removing employees of that board from eligibility for payment from the Peanut Fund.

The bill directs the Tax Commissioner, upon request, to provide to the Egg Board copies of reports of the gross volume of products handled by each handler within the industry. The bill also bars the enforcement of certain commodity board laws that are expressly preempted by a federal act or agreement. Finally, the bill suspends until July 1, 2018, the collection of the cattle assessment by the Beef Industry Council (the Council) and directs the Council to survey industry members about the Council's utility and to report its findings to the General Assembly by January 1, 2018.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 3.2-1201, 3.2-1202, 3.2-1205, 3.2-1301, 3.2-1302, 3.2-1304, 3.2-1501, 3.2-1512, 3.2-1601, 3.2-1606, 3.2-1607, 3.2-1700, 3.2-1801, 3.2-1803, 3.2-1901, 3.2-1904, 3.2-1906, and 3.2-2101 of the Code of Virginia; to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 11 of Title 3.2 sections numbered 3.2-1104, 3.2-1105, and 3.2-1106; and to repeal §§ 3.2-1203, 3.2-1207, 3.2-1303, 3.2-1503, 3.2-1602, 3.2-1603, 3.2-1608, 3.2-1609, 3.2-1702, 3.2-1802, 3.2-1902, 3.2-1903, 3.2-2102, and 3.2-2103 of the Code of Virginia, relating to commodity boards.

16103662D

H.B. 1115

Patron: Kory

Zebra mussels; education program. Requires the Director of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to establish a program of education in methods of preventing zebra mussels or other nonindigenous aquatic nuisance species from infesting Virginia waters. The bill requires the program to include cleaning and draining guidelines, designated dry times, and public outreach. The bill allows the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries to deliver the education program through the mandatory boating safety education program.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 29.1-576.1, relating to zebra mussels; education program.

16103666D

H.B. 1127

Patron: Habeeb

Forest fire protection compacts; codification. Codifies the text of the Southeastern Interstate Forest Fire Protection Compact (the SIFFPC) and the Middle Atlantic Interstate Forest Fire Protection Compact, originally incorporated into the Code of Virginia by reference in 1956 and 1966, respectively. In the section that codifies the Southeastern Interstate Forest Fire Protection Compact, the names of state entities in the Commonwealth are updated. The bill also repeals an obsolete section of the 1956 act that originally provided for the appointment of members to a compact advisory committee; the committee no longer exists. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Code Commission.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 10.1-1149 and 10.1-1150 of the Code of Virginia and to repeal § 3 of Chapter 63 of the Acts of Assembly of 1956, relating to forest fire protection compacts.

16100165D

H.B. 1142

Patron: Fariss

Hunting with a slingshot. Allows the hunting of wild birds and wild animals, except deer, bear, elk, and turkey, with a slingshot unless shooting is expressly prohibited.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 29.1-519 of the Code of Virginia, relating to hunting with a slingshot.

16100628D

H.B. 1231

Patron: Collins

Dogs injuring, chasing, or killing livestock or poultry. Allows the district court to order that any dog that has been found to have injured or killed only poultry be microchipped and either confined securely or transferred to another owner whom the court deems appropriate. Under current law, the court is required to order that such a dog be killed immediately or removed to another state.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 3.2-6552 of the Code of Virginia, relating to dogs chasing livestock.

16105380D

H.B. 1250

Patron: Wilt

Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Act; consolidation of programs; opt-out for certain localities; penalties. Combines existing statutory programs relating to soil erosion and stormwater management, directing the State Water Control Board (the Board) to permit, regulate, and control both erosion and stormwater runoff.

The bill requires any locality that operates a municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) or a Virginia Stormwater Management Program (VSMP) to adopt a Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Program (VESMP) that regulates any land-disturbing activity that disturbs an area of 10,000 square feet or more, or 2,500 square feet or more if in a Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area. A locality that lacks an MS4 and for which the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is currently administering a VSMP is required to (i) adopt such a VESMP, (ii) adopt such a VESMP with DEQ conducting plan review and making recommendations on the compliance of each plan with technical criteria, or (iii) continue to operate a separate Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program (VESCP) that regulates any disturbance of 10,000 square feet or more and, in a Preservation Area, regulates a disturbance of 2,500 square feet or more and meets certain other requirements. Any eligible locality that chooses the third option is to have a VSMP administered on its behalf by the Board for any land-disturbing activity that disturbs one acre or more of land, including an activity that disturbs a smaller area but is part of a larger development that results in a disturbance of one acre or more. Towns are afforded additional options in relation to the counties in which they are located.

The bill directs certain charges or penalties to the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund, which provides matching grants to local governments for stormwater best management practices. Finally, the bill directs DEQ to evaluate fees related to the consolidated Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Program and directs the Board to adopt regulations to carry out the purposes of the bill, delaying the effective date of the bill until the later of July 1, 2017, or 30 days after the adoption of such regulations.

 

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 10.1-2500, 15.2-2403.3, 62.1-44.3, 62.1-44.5, 62.1-44.15, 62.1-44.15:24, 62.1-44.15:25, 62.1-44.15:27, 62.1-44.15:28, 62.1-44.15:29, 62.1-44.15:30, 62.1-44.15:31, 62.1-44.15:33, 62.1-44.15:34, 62.1-44.15:35, 62.1-44.15:37, 62.1-44.15:39, 62.1-44.15:40, 62.1-44.15:41, 62.1-44.15:46, 62.1-44.15:48 through 62.1-44.15:55, 62.1-44.15:57, 62.1-44.15:58, 62.1-44.15:60, 62.1-44.15:62 through 62.1-44.15:65, 62.1-44.15:69, 62.1-44.15:74, 62.1-44.19:22, 62.1-44.22, 62.1-44.23, 62.1-44.25, 62.1-44.26, 62.1-44.29, 62.1-44.31, and 62.1-44.32 of the Code of Virginia; to amend the Code of Virginia by adding sections numbered 62.1-44.15:25.1, 62.1-44.15:27.1, 62.1-44.15:29.1, and 62.1-44.15:51.1; and to repeal §§ 62.1-44.15:26, 62.1-44.15:32, 62.1-44.15:36, 62.1-44.15:38, 62.1-44.15:42 through 62.1-44.15:45, 62.1-44.15:47, 62.1-44.15:56, 62.1-44.15:61, and 62.1-44.15:71 of the Code of Virginia, relating to State Water Control Law, Erosion and Sediment Control Law, and Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act.

16103814D

H.B. 1311

Patron: Edmunds

Killing or trapping of snakes. Authorizes the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to allow the use of snake exclusion devices by public utilities at their transmission or distribution facilities.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 29.1-521 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the killing or trapping of snakes.

16105106D

H.B. 1329

Patron: Fariss

Trespass by hunters using dogs; penalty. Punishes as a Class 3 misdemeanor the intentional release by a person of hunting dogs on the lands of another to hunt without the consent of the landowner. The bill punishes a second or subsequent offense committed within three years as a Class 1 misdemeanor and provides for the revocation of the person's hunting license for a period of one year upon conviction.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 18.2-132.1, relating to trespass by hunters using dogs; penalty.

16104236D