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2012 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources

Chairman: Emmett W. Hanger, Jr.

Clerk: Nick Galvin, Jocelyn Lance
Staff: Martin Farber, Scott Meacham
Date of Meeting: February 23, 2012
Time and Place: 1/2 hour after adjournment, Senate Room B
MEETING CANCELLED. ALL BILLS ON DOCKET WILL BE HEARD NEXT WEEK.

H.B. 8 Vessel accident; requires passengers 18 years of age or older to report, penalty.

Patron: Edmunds

Reporting of vessel accident; penalty.  Requires any passenger 18 years of age or older who is a passenger in a vessel that is involved in an accident resulting in serious bodily injury or death and in which the operator has (i) failed to stop and render assistance, and (ii) failed to report the accident in accordance with procedures established by the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries to notify, within a reasonable time, a law-enforcement officer, conservation police officer or by the operator or any other person in the vessel, or an officer of the Virginia Marine Police. If such a report is not filed, the passenger is subject to a Class 3 misdemeanor. The bill contains technical amendments.

H.B. 176 Nutrient credit; expansion of exchange program, procedures for certification, etc.

Patron: Knight

Nutrient Trading Act; penalty.  Directs the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board to adopt regulations governing the certification of certain nutrient credits. Referring to Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), the legislation sets out certain requirements of the regulations, directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation to establish an online registry of certified credits, and provides for enforcement and appeals. The bill provides that an operator of a credit-generating facility found to be in violation of the Nutrient Trading Act or any attendant regulations shall be subject to a civil penalty not exceeding $10,000.

H.B. 238 Blue crabs; Marine Resources Commission to manage harvesting in Albemarle and Currituck counties.

Patron: Knight

Management of blue crabs.  Limits the Marine Resources Commission's fisheries management authority in the Albemarle and Currituck watersheds to the recreational and commercial harvesting of blue crab.

H.B. 239 Forestry, Department of; use of methyl bromide gas fumigation.

Patron: Knight

Fumigation by Department of Forestry. Asserts that the Department of Forestry's preferred method of treatment of its forest tree nurseries is methyl bromide gas fumigation in pre-seeding land preparation under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's listed usage exemption QPS (Quarantine & Pre-Shipment). The bill allows the Commissioner to issue inspection certificates to certify that seedling shipments are apparently pest- and disease-free.  This bill is identical to SB 126.

H.B. 302 Environmental laboratory certification program; exempts certain laboratories.

Patron: Scott, E.T.

Laboratory certification.  Exempts laboratories from the application of the environmental laboratory certification program when testing to determine soil fertility, animal manure nutrient content, or plant tissue nutrient uptake. This bill is identical to SB 52.

H.B. 522 Statewide system of trails; use of wheelchairs or other power-driven mobility devices permitted.

Patron: Farrell

Statewide system of trails; wheelchairs or other power-driven mobility devices.  Permits the Department of Conservation and Recreation to allow the use of wheelchairs or other power-driven mobility devices on the statewide system of trails in accordance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

H.B. 710 Coal mining; any coal remaining and any void left remain property of owner of mineral estate.

Patron: Kilgore

Use of mine voids.  Provides that any coal remaining and any void left by the removal of coal remain the property of the owner or lessee of the mineral estate.

H.B. 766 Governor's Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund; established, report.

Patron: Landes

Development Fund.  Creates the Governor's Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund. The bill establishes an economic development grant and loan program targeted specifically at agricultural and forestry operations. Grants and loans will be awarded to support localities efforts to attract value-added or processing facilities using Virginia-grown products. Under the program, localities will apply for grants or loans after having established a relationship with a new or expanding business.

H.B. 855 Nuisance species; definitionto include coyotes and feral swine.

Patron: Yost

Nuisance species; coyotes and feral swine. Adds coyotes and feral swine to the definition of "nuisance species."

H.B. 913 Solid waste management plan, regional or local; making such plans optional.

Patron: Minchew

Solid waste management plan; optional.  Removes the mandate that a governing body develop and implement a regional or local solid waste management plan, making such plans optional. The bill includes technical amendments.

H.B. 932 Voluntary Nutrient Management Plan Program; DCR to develop training and certification program.

Patron: Lingamfelter

Nutrient management.  Provides that the Department of Conservation and Recreation operate a voluntary nutrient management program to assist owners and operators of agricultural land and turf to effectively manage and apply nutrients to their land. In developing the program, the Department is to begin testing the software for assisting owners and operators of agricultural lands and turf by July 1, 2013, and begin full implementation by July 1, 2014. The development of the software may be deferred until funds become available.

H.B. 1113 Biscuit Run; DCR to negotiate land exchange of certain acres in Albemarle County.

Patron: Toscano

Land exchange.  Establishes a procedure that authorizes the Department of Conservation and Recreation to exchange parcels of land it owns for interest in property owned by a private company near Biscuit Run in Charlottesville.

H.B. 1119 Wake surfing; allows persons to engage in recreational activity.

Patron: Wright

Wake surfing.  Allows persons to engage in the recreational activity of wake surfing.

H.B. 1158 Virginia Water Protection Permit; issuance of permit by State Water Control Board.

Patron: Bulova

Virginia Water Protection Permit.  Requires the State Water Control Board to give consideration to any relevant information contained in the state water supply plan when determining whether to issue a Virginia Water Protection Permit. There is a specific exemption for the cooling facilities on Lake Anna.

H.B. 1182 Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Fund; uses.

Patron: Cox, M.K.

Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Fund; uses.  Allows the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Fund to provide grants for scientific research performed at one of the Commonwealth's National Cancer Institute-designated research institutes designed to advance the treatment and prevention of cancers that directly impact the citizens of tobacco-dependent communities throughout the southside and southwest regions of the Commonwealth.

H.B. 1210 Lawn maintenance fertilizer; nitrogen application rates, labeling.

Patron: Lingamfelter

Slowly available nitrogen.  Requires that beginning July 1, 2014, lawn maintenance fertilizer list on its directions for use its nitrogen application rates. If such fertilizer does not list on its directions for use nitrogen application rates that are consistent with rates recommended in the Virginia Nutrient Management Standards and Criteria, it cannot be registered, sold, distributed, or used in Virginia. The bill also requires the Department of Conservation and Recreation to adopt fast-track regulations to incorporate the application rates recommended by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

H.B. 1218 Stream mitigation banks; established.

Patron: Morefield

Stream mitigation banks.  Combines the Tennessee River Basin and the Big Sandy River Basin into one river watershed for the purpose of establishing and operating a stream mitigation bank within the watershed.