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2018 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources

Chairman: Richard H. Stuart

Clerk: Chad Starzer
Staff: Scott Meacham, David Barry
Date of Meeting: February 22, 2018
Time and Place: 1/2 Hour After Adj. Senate Room A, Pocahontas Building
Corrected Date 2/22/2018 & Add HB888

H.B. 346 Watercraft, personal; prohibits operation on lake smaller than 50 acres.

Patron: Stolle

Personal watercraft; operation on public lake smaller than 50 acres; local ordinance. Provides that any locality may, by ordinance, prohibit the operation of a personal watercraft on a public lake measuring less than 50 acres in extent, with a violation constituting a Class 4 misdemeanor.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 29.1-748.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to personal watercraft; lakes smaller than 50 acres.

18105290D

H.B. 532 Industrial hemp; research programs.

Patron: Freitas

Industrial hemp research programs. Authorizes the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services to undertake research through the establishment of (i) a higher education industrial hemp research program, to be managed by institutions of higher education, and (ii) a Virginia industrial hemp research program. The bill classifies all participants in any research program as either growers or processors and replaces the current licensing requirement, which requires a police background check, with a registration requirement.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 3.2-4112 through 3.2-4119 and 54.1-3401, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, of the Code of Virginia; to amend the Code of Virginia by adding sections numbered 3.2-4114.1 and 3.2-4114.2; and to repeal § 3.2-4120 of the Code of Virginia, relating to industrial hemp; research.

18106025D

H.B. 771 Potomac Aquifer recharge monitoring; creates advisory board and laboratory.

Patron: Jones, S.C.

Potomac Aquifer recharge monitoring; advisory board; laboratory established; SWIFT Project. Creates an advisory board and a laboratory to monitor the effects of the Sustainable Water Infrastructure for Tomorrow (SWIFT) Project being undertaken by the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD).

The bill establishes an eight-member advisory board called the Potomac Aquifer Recharge Oversight Committee (the Committee), directing it to ensure that the SWIFT Project is monitored independently. The bill provides that the Committee shall consist of the State Health Commissioner, the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality, the Executive Director of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, the two Co-Directors of the Laboratory, the Director of the Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory, and two Virginia citizens appointed by the Governor, and the bill also provides for two nonvoting members. The Committee is required by the bill to meet at least quarterly during the initial three years of its existence. The bill also authorizes the Committee to appoint a science and technical advisory council and directs the Committee to request funding from HRSD for the first three years of monitoring of the recharge of the aquifer.

The bill also creates the Potomac Aquifer Recharge Monitoring Laboratory (the Laboratory) at Old Dominion University (ODU), placing it under the direction of an ODU faculty member and the co-direction of a faculty member at Virginia Tech. The bill provides that the Laboratory shall monitor the impact of the SWIFT Project on the Potomac Aquifer, manage testing data, and conduct water sampling and analysis.

The bill authorizes both the Commissioner of the Department of Health and the State Water Control Board to issue emergency orders to halt injection or make any change to any facility of the SWIFT Project.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 62.1-44.15, 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 32.1-175.02 and by adding in Title 62.1 a chapter numbered 26, consisting of sections numbered 62.1-271 through 62.1-274, relating to Potomac Aquifer recharge monitoring; laboratory established; SWIFT Project.

18104334D

H.B. 888 Onsite sewage systems; evaluation and design services.

Patron: Orrock

Onsite sewage systems; evaluation and design services. Directs the Department of Health to take steps to eliminate evaluation and design services for onsite sewage systems and private wells provided by the Department. The bill provides specific requirements and a timeline for such elimination.

A BILL to direct the Department of Health to take steps to eliminate evaluation and design services for onsite sewage systems and private wells provided by the Department.

18101594D

H.B. 889 Dogs, tethering of; locality authorized to adopt an ordinance to restrict.

Patron: Orrock

Tethering of dogs; local ordinance. Authorizes the governing body of any locality to adopt an ordinance restricting the tethering of a dog outdoors. The ordinance may limit the maximum number of hours during which the dog may remain tethered but shall not completely prohibit tethering that provides the dog "adequate space" as that phrase is defined in the Code. The bill provides that its provisions shall not repeal, amend, impair, or affect any tethering ordinance adopted prior to July 1, 2018.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 3.2-6538.1, relating to tethering of dogs; local ordinance.

18106867D

H.B. 995 Dogs; licensed hunter may track a wounded bear, turkey, or deer with certain weapon.

Patron: Byron

Tracking wounded bear, deer, or turkey. Allows a licensed hunter to use tracking dogs to find a wounded or dead bear, deer, or turkey. The bill authorizes the hunter to have a weapon in his possession and to use it to humanely kill the tracked animal, including after legal shooting hours. Current law prohibits a hunter from having a weapon in his possession while tracking.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 29.1-516.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to tracking wounded or dead bear, turkey, or deer; possession of weapons authorized.

18106509D

H.B. 1036 Eastern Virginia groundwater management; Department of Environmental Quality to convene a forum.

Patron: Hodges

Eastern Virginia groundwater management; trading work group. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) to convene a work group to assist the Department in carrying out the 2017 recommendation of the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Advisory Committee that an aquifer storage and recovery banking system be developed. The work group shall report its recommendations no later than July 1, 2020.

A BILL to direct the Department of Environmental Quality to convene a forum; Eastern Virginia groundwater management.

18106760D

H.B. 1096 Dredged material siting; fast-track permitting program.

Patron: Hodges

Dredged material siting; fast-track permitting program. Directs the Marine Resources Commission to develop a fast-track regulatory permitting program for the selection and use of appropriate sites for the disposal of dredged material, to be effective no later than July 1, 2019.

A BILL to direct the Marine Resources Commission to adopt regulations; disposal of dredged material; fast-track permit.

18106411D

H.B. 1151 Nonresident youth fishing license; exemption.

Patron: Gooditis

Nonresident youth fishing license; exemption. Authorizes a nonresident under age 16 to fish without a fishing license when accompanied by a person possessing a valid license to fish in Virginia. Current law allows a resident under age 16 or a nonresident under age 12 to fish without a license.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 29.1-301 and 29.1-408 of the Code of Virginia, relating to nonresident youth fishing license; exemption.

18101521D

H.B. 1206 Va. Pollutant Discharge Elimination System; notice of application.

Patron: Cline

State Water Control Board; Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System; abbreviated newspaper notice. Authorizes the newspaper publication, if the permit applicant so elects, of an abbreviated public notice of certain Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits, each with a link to the public notice on the website of the Department of Environmental Quality. Current law requires the publication of such notice in a newspaper once a week for two successive weeks.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 62.1-44.16 of the Code of Virginia, relating to discharge of industrial wastes; notice of application.

18106769D

H.B. 1328 Hunting; disabled hunter exempt from local tree stand requirement.

Patron: Edmunds

Hunting; disabled hunter exempt from local tree stand requirement. Exempts certain disabled hunters from any local ordinance requiring hunting from an elevated platform or tree stand.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 29.1-528.2, relating to local tree stand ordinance; disabled hunter exempt.

18102904D

H.B. 1393 Airbow hunting; authorized to hunt deer & small game when hunter is licensed to hunt w/bow & arrow.

Patron: Knight

Arrowgun hunting; license. Authorizes the use of an arrowgun, a pneumatic-powered air gun, for hunting and allows certain disabled hunters to obtain an archery license for hunting with an arrowgun.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 15.2-916, 15.2-1209, 18.2-285, 18.2-286, 29.1-306, 29.1-307, 29.1-519, 29.1-521, 29.1-521.2, 29.1-524, 29.1-525, and 29.1-549 of the Code of Virginia, relating to arrowgun hunting; license.

18107035D

H.B. 1404 Snakehead fish; certified restaurants and retail markets.

Patron: Ransone

Snakehead fish; certified restaurants and retail markets. Authorizes a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan certified restaurant or retail market to purchase from an HACCP certified dealer or sell processed snakehead fish of the family Channidae.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 29.1-574 of the Code of Virginia, relating to snakehead fish; certified restaurants and retail markets.

18103974D

H.B. 1414 Bear; increases special license fee.

Patron: Edmunds

Special license to hunt bear, deer, and turkey; fee. Directs the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries to create a special license for hunting bear, deer, and turkey, to cost $23 for a resident age 16 or older and $150 for a nonresident age 16 or older. Current law provides for a license for hunting deer and turkey, at a cost of $12 and $60, respectively, and a separate license for hunting bear, at a cost of $25 for residents and $150 for nonresidents.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 29.1-305 of the Code of Virginia, relating to special license to hunt bear, deer, and turkey; fee.

18107000D

H.B. 1475 Sewerage systems; state adoption of federal criteria.

Patron: Poindexter

Sewerage systems; state adoption of federal criteria. Directs the State Water Control Board (the Board) not to adopt certain U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) freshwater ammonia water quality criteria (the Criteria) unless the Board includes in such adoption a phased implementation program consistent with the federal Clean Water Act that includes consideration of infrastructure needs of the local community and several other factors. The bill also directs the Department of Environmental Quality to (i) identify any other states that have adopted the Criteria as of July 1, 2018; (ii) identify those procedures for the implementation of the Criteria that will minimize the impact of such implementation on Virginia sewerage systems while complying with the Clean Water Act; and (iii) report its findings to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources, the Senate Finance Committee, and the House Appropriations Committee by November 1, 2018. The bill provides that the inclusion of the implementation program in the Board's current regulatory action shall not require reproposal of the current action.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 62.1-44.15:1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to sewerage systems; state adoption of federal criteria.

18106880D

H.B. 1479 Equine liability; execution of waiver.

Patron: Freitas

Equine liability; execution of waiver. Provides that the execution of a waiver by a duly authorized representative of a parent or guardian of a minor participant in equine activities shall constitute the knowing execution of such a waiver by a parent or guardian. The bill contains technical amendments.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 3.2-6202 of the Code of Virginia, relating to equine activity liability; waiver.

18104932D

H.B. 1521 Reformulated gasoline program; exemption in portion of Hopewell located west of Interstate 295.

Patron: Ingram

Reformulated gasoline program; exemption; portion of Hopewell. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality to seek an exemption from the federal reformulated gasoline program for conventional gasoline sold in that portion of the City of Hopewell that is located west of Interstate 295.

A BILL directing the Department of Environmental Quality to seek an exemption from the federal reformulated gasoline program for certain gasoline sold in the City of Hopewell.

18104078D

H.B. 1537 Animal boarding establishments; clarifies definition of boarding establishment.

Patron: Wilt

Animal boarding establishments; in-home care. Excludes from the definition of "boarding establishment" any private residential dwelling that shelters, feeds, and waters fewer than five companion animals that are not owned by the proprietor.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 3.2-6500 of the Code of Virginia, relating to animal boarding establishments; in-home care exception.

18105032D

H.B. 1607 Abandonment of an animal; penalty.

Patron: Fariss

Abandonment of an animal; penalty. Decreases from five days to four days the minimum length of time for which failing to provide the elements of basic care constitutes abandonment of an animal. The bill increases from a Class 3 misdemeanor to a Class 1 misdemeanor the penalty for abandonment of an animal.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 3.2-6500, 3.2-6504, 18.2-403.1, and 18.2-403.2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to abandonment of an animal; penalty.

18104421D

H.B. 1608 Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund; publicly owned treatment works, nutrient reduction.

Patron: Poindexter

The Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund; publicly owned treatment works; nutrient reduction. Authorizes the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) to issue grants from the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund for water quality improvements, including cost effective technologies to reduce loads of total phosphorus, total nitrogen, or nitrogen-containing ammonia, in order to meet certain requirements of ammonia-related regulations that are more stringent than those adopted by the State Water Control Board (the Board). The bill also requires the Department to prepare a preliminary estimate of the amount and timing of Water Quality Improvement Grants required to fund projects to reduce loads of nitrogen-containing ammonia at certain levels based on an estimate of the anticipated range of costs for all publicly owned treatment works if the Board were to adopt the 2013 Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Ammonia published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 10.1-2131 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund; publicly owned treatment works; nutrient reduction.

18106340D