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2018 SESSION

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18103171D
HOUSE BILL NO. 1036 Offered January 10, 2018 Prefiled January 9, 2018 A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 62.1-256.2, relating to Eastern Virginia groundwater management; annual forum; trading work group. ---------- Patron-- Hodges ---------- Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources ----------

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 62.1-256.2 as follows:

§ 62.1-256.2. Eastern Virginia groundwater management; annual forum.

The Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) shall convene an annual public forum focused on the state of water resources in the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area (the EVGMA). The Department shall convene such forum each June after advertising it for at least 30 days on the Department's website and on the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall. Such forum shall include (i) an overview of the current status of the Potomac Aquifer, based on both model runs and actual monitoring data; (ii) a projection of future needs for withdrawals from the Potomac Aquifer; (iii) an opportunity for discussion of the development of alternative water sources and their effects on water resources in the EVGMA; (iv) any updates to the model used by the Department to assess the status of the Potomac Aquifer; (v) an opportunity for discussion of alternative water sources and development projects, groundwater banking, and trading programs; and (vi) such other topics as the Director of the Department deems relevant.

2. That the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) shall convene a work group comprising (i) the members of the Trading Work Group of the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Advisory Committee (the EVGMAC), established pursuant to Chapters 262 and 613 of the Acts of Assembly of 2015, or their designated alternates or replacements; (ii) any groundwater user interested in purchasing credits; and (iii) representatives from any local governing body currently injecting water into the Potomac Aquifer or considering a project to do so. The work group shall appoint a chairman. The work group shall assist the Department in carrying out the recommendation, made by the EVGMAC, that an aquifer storage and recovery banking system be developed. The work group shall also conduct further study and identify the components of a groundwater trading program. The work group shall report its recommendations, including recommended program components, to the State Water Commission and the Director of the Department no later than July 1, 2019. The report shall also be reviewed at the annual public forum, created pursuant to § 62.1-256.2 of the Code of Virginia, next following its issuance.