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2018 SESSION
18100094DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 29.1-509 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 29.1-509. Duty of care and liability for damages of landowners to hunters, fishermen, sightseers, etc.
A. For the purpose of this section:
"Fee" means any payment or payments of money to a
landowner for use of the premises or in order to engage in any activity
described in subsections subsection B and or C, but
does not include license fees, insurance fees, handling fees, transaction fees,
administrative fees, rentals or similar fees received by a landowner from
governmental, not-for-profit, or private sources, or payments received
by a landowner for rights of ingress and egress or from incidental sales of
forest products to an individual for his personal use, or any action taken by
another to improve the land or access to the land for the purposes set forth in
subsections B and subsection B or C or remedying damage caused by
such uses.
"Land" or "premises" means real property
or right-of-way, whether rural or urban, waters, boats, private ways, natural
growth, trees, railroad property, railroad right-of-way, utility corridor, and
any building or structure which that might be located on such
real property, waters, boats, private ways, and natural growth.
"Landowner" means the legal title holder, any easement holder, lessee, or occupant, or any other person in control of land or premises, including railroad rights-of-way.
"Low-head dam" means a dam that is built across a
river or stream for the purpose of impounding water where the impoundment, at
normal flow levels, is completely within the banks, and all flow passes
directly over the entire dam structure within the banks, excluding abutments,
to a natural channel downstream.
B. A landowner shall owe no duty of care to keep land or
premises safe for entry or use by others for hunting, fishing, trapping,
camping, participation in water sports, boating, hiking, rock climbing,
sightseeing, hang gliding, skydiving, horseback riding, foxhunting, racing,
bicycle riding, or collecting, gathering, cutting, or removing
firewood,; for any other recreational use,; for any
educational activity; for ingress and egress over such premises to permit
passage to other property used for recreational purposes; or for use of
an easement granted to the Commonwealth or any agency thereof or any
not-for-profit organization granted tax-exempt status under § 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code to permit public passage across such land for access to a
public park, historic site, or other public recreational area. No landowner
shall be required to give any warning of hazardous conditions or uses of, structures
on, or activities on such land or premises to any person entering on the land
or premises for such purposes, except [ with respect to
such hazardous conditions or uses of, structures on, or activities on such land
or premises of which the landowner knows or should know, and ] as
provided in subsection D. The provisions of this subsection apply without
regard to whether or not the landowner has given permission to a
person to use their his land for recreational purposes or to a
person to use his land for the purpose of an educational activity.
C. Any landowner who gives permission, express or implied, to
another person to hunt, fish, launch and retrieve boats, swim, ride, foxhunt,
trap, camp, hike, bicycle, rock climb, hang glide, skydive, sightsee, or
engage in races,; to collect, gather, cut, or remove
forest products upon land or premises for the personal use of such person,
or for the use of; to engage in any educational activity; or to use
an easement or license as set forth in subsection B does not thereby:
1. Impliedly or expressly represent that the premises are safe
for such purposes; or
2. Constitute the person to whom such permission has been granted an invitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is owed; or
3. Assume responsibility for or incur liability for any intentional or negligent acts of such person or any other person, except as provided in subsection D.
D. Nothing contained in this section, except as provided in
subsection E, shall limit the liability of a landowner which that
may otherwise arise or exist by reason of his gross negligence or willful or
malicious failure to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use,
structure, or activity. The provisions of this section shall not limit the
liability of a landowner which that may otherwise arise or exist
when the landowner receives a fee for use of to use the premises
or to engage in any activity described in subsections subsection
B and or C. Nothing contained in this section shall relieve any
sponsor or operator of any sporting event or competition, including
but not limited to a race or triathlon, of the duty to exercise
ordinary care in such events. Nothing contained in this section shall limit the
liability of an owner of a low-head dam who fails to implement safety measures
described in subsection F.
E. For purposes of this section, whenever any landowner has
entered enters into an agreement with, or grants an easement or
license to, the Commonwealth or any agency thereof, any locality, any
not-for-profit organization granted tax-exempt status under § 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code, or any local or regional authority created by law for
public park, historic site, or recreational purposes, concerning the use of, or
access over, his land by the public for any of the purposes enumerated in
subsections subsection B and or C, such landowner
shall be immune from liability to any member of the public arising out of such
member's use of such land for any such purpose, and the government, agency,
locality, not-for-profit organization, or authority with which the agreement is
made shall indemnify and hold the landowner harmless from all liability and be
responsible for providing, or for paying the cost of, all reasonable legal
services required by any person entitled to the benefit of this section as the
result of a claim or suit attempting to impose liability. Any action against
the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof, shall be subject to the provisions
of the Virginia Tort Claims Act (§ 8.01-195.1 et seq.). Any provisions
provision in a lease or other agreement which that purports
to waive the benefits of this section shall be invalid, and any action against
any county, city, town, locality or local or regional authority
shall be subject to the provisions of § 15.2-1809, where applicable.
F. Any owner of a low-head dam may mark the areas above and below the dam and on the banks immediately adjacent to the dam with signs and buoys of a design and content, in accordance with the regulations of the Board, to warn the swimming, fishing, and boating public of the hazards posed by the dam. Any owner of a low-head dam who marks a low-head dam in accordance with this subsection shall be deemed to have met the duty of care for warning the public of the hazards posed by the dam. Any owner of a low-head dam who fails to mark a low-head dam in accordance with this subsection shall be presumed not to have met the duty of care for warning the public of the hazards posed by the dam.