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2019 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 14, 2019
Time and Place: 30 minutes after adjournment, Senate Room A

H.B. 1822

Patron: Bulova

Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund; grant for wastewater conveyance facility; estimates of future funding requests; Stormwater Local Assistance Fund. Authorizes the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) to authorize grants from the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund (the Fund) for the installation of certain wastewater conveyance infrastructure. Any such infrastructure shall (i) divert wastewater from one publicly owned treatment works that is eligible for grant funding to another such eligible treatment works; (ii) divert wastewater to a receiving treatment works that is capable of achieving compliance with its nutrient reduction or ammonia control discharge requirements and that results in a net reduction in total phosphorus, total nitrogen, or nitrogen-containing ammonia discharges; and (iii) result in no more expense to the Fund than would otherwise be incurred to install eligible nutrient removal technology or other treatment technology at the treatment works from which the wastewater will be diverted.

The bill also directs the Department to consult with stakeholders annually to estimate the amount of grant funding that local governments will request during the upcoming year from (a) the Fund and (b) the Stormwater Local Assistance Fund and to submit those estimates to the Governor as part of a biennial funding report and an annual progress report that are required by current law. The bill contains technical amendments.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 10.1-2131 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 4 of Chapter 21.1 of Title 10.1 sections numbered 10.1-2127.1 and 10.1-2134.1 and by adding a section numbered 62.1-44.15:29.2, relating to Water Quality Improvement Grant; point source pollution; Stormwater Local Assistance Fund.

19103598D

H.B. 1874

Patron: Ransone

Shooting dogs or cats that are companion animals; penalty. Provides that any person who cruelly or unnecessarily shoots any dog or cat that is a companion animal and, as a direct result, causes the death or euthanasia of such dog or cat is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 3.2-6570 of the Code of Virginia, relating to shooting dogs or cats that are companion animals; penalty.

19106243D

H.B. 2009

Patron: Krizek

Virginia Land Conservation Foundation; project proposals. Directs the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation (the Foundation) to conduct a grant round each year to identify and rank projects for the subsequent fiscal year. The bill requires the Foundation to assume an amount of funding of the grant program as provided in the general appropriation act. The bill requires the Foundation to provide rankings to the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance by December 15 of each year.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 10.1-1020 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Virginia Land Conservation Foundation; list of proposed projects.

19106081D

H.B. 2047

Patron: Stolle

Oyster planting grounds; municipal dredging projects; compensation. Extends the duration of an exception, for municipal dredging, to the right of a person to lease oyster planting grounds, and establishes a procedure for determining compensation to such a leaseholder when his grounds are disturbed by such a dredging project.

The bill extends from 2019 to 2035 the sunset date for an exception to the leaseholder's right that allows certain municipal dredging projects to take place in the Lynnhaven River. The bill provides that when such a dredging project is proposed for leased grounds that are subject to beneficial use as oyster-planting grounds, the Commissioner of Marine Resources (the Commissioner) shall review the project to ensure that it avoids affecting such grounds to the maximum extent practicable and, if the project meets such standard, the Commissioner shall notify any leaseholder within the footprint of the proposed navigation channel, requesting a response within 60 days.

The bill then requires the locality to compensate the lessee for the use of the ground by coming to a voluntary agreement or entering into mediation if no agreement is made in 90 days. If the lessee refuses mediation or cannot come to an agreement with the locality within nine months of the offer of mediation, a court of competent jurisdiction shall determine and order fair compensation to the lessee. Finally, the Commission shall hold a hearing on the proposed project. If the compensation has been determined and the project has been approved by the Commission, the Commissioner shall issue the permit for the project. The bill contains technical amendments.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 28.2-618 of the Code of Virginia and to repeal the second enactment of Chapter 365 and the second enactment of Chapter 529 of the Acts of Assembly of 2017, relating to oyster grounds; dredging projects; sunset.

19103694D

H.B. 2252

Patron: Head

Firearms ordinances; applicability to property located in multiple localities. Allows a landowner whose property, including multiple contiguous parcels, spans two or more localities to elect to have the firearms ordinances of the locality in which the largest portion of the contiguous parcel lies apply to anyone hunting on the property. The bill requires any landowner making such an election to notify the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries .

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 29.1-528.3, relating to firearms ordinances; property located in multiple localities.

19105382D

H.B. 2361

Patron: Jones, S.C.

Stormwater management; land-disturbing activities; prior technical criteria. Provides that the statewide technical criteria for stormwater management that were adopted by the State Water Control Board during 2011 and became effective July 1, 2014, shall be applicable to those land-disturbing activities that are subject to a stormwater management permit that was initially issued prior to July 1, 2014, where notice of transfer of such permit to another party is provided to the Department of Environmental Quality after December 31, 2020, but no land-disturbing activities have commenced before such provision of notice. The bill creates exceptions for projects involving certain governmental bonding or public debt financing and for land-disturbing activities that are served by existing stormwater management facilities.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 62.1-44.15:28, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, of the Code of Virginia, relating to stormwater regulations; land-disturbing activities; current regulations.

19106039D

H.B. 2395

Patron: Lopez

Hazardous Waste Site Inventory. Requires the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) to compile by July 1, 2020, to update at least annually thereafter, and to post to its website a Hazardous Waste Site Inventory (the Inventory). The Inventory shall be a current listing of sites permitted by or in corrective action under the Department at which the disposal of hazardous waste not otherwise excluded from regulation has occurred, providing specific information about each site.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 10.1-1186.1:1, relating to Hazardous Waste Site Inventory.

19102542D

H.B. 2403

Patron: Hodges

Impacts to wetlands; permit requirements for compensation. Requires the State Water Control Board to evaluate Virginia Water Protection Permits mitigation options for impacts to wetlands on a case-by-case basis with consideration for which option is practicable and ecologically and environmentally preferable, including, in terms of replacement of acreage and functions, which option has the greatest likelihood of success and avoidance of temporal loss of acreage and function.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 62.1-44.15:21 of the Code of Virginia, relating to impacts to wetlands; permit requirements for compensation.

19102108D

H.B. 2411

Patron: Adams, L.R.

Timber sales; theft; accounting; penalty. Provides that a person who buys and removes timber from a landowner's property is guilty of larceny if he fails to pay the landowner by the date specified in their agreement or, if there is no written agreement, within 60 days of removing the timber. The bill provides that a person who is convicted of larceny of timber shall be ordered to pay three times the value of the timber removed. The bill also provides that, following the passing of the payment deadline, a buyer's failure to pay within 10 days of receiving a demand for payment shall constitute prima facie evidence of the buyer's intent to violate the larceny provision. An exception exists for a purchaser who made payment to a person he believed in good faith to be the rightful owner of the timber.

The bill requires a timber buyer, in certain cases, to furnish at the request of the landowner an accounting of each load removed from the property, with all supporting documentation. A person who fails to provide such information, or who provides false information, is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.

The bill extends from 30 days to 90 days the period during which the owner of land on which a person encroached and cut timber has the right to notify such trespasser and to appoint a timber estimator to determine the amount of damages and directs the State Forester to assist landowners and law-enforcement agencies with regard to reported cases of timber theft.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 10.1-1105 and 55-332 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding sections numbered 55-334.2 and 55-334.3, relating to timber theft; accounting; penalty.

19104121D

H.B. 2637

Patron: Webert

Loans and grants for agricultural best management practices; riparian buffers. Authorizes the State Water Control Board to issue loans and grants from the Virginia Water Facilities Revolving Fund for the construction, renovation, improvement, or equipping of facilities or structures to implement agricultural best management practices to prevent pollution of state waters. Current law authorizes the Board to only issue loans for the construction of such facilities. The bill includes among the types of facilities or structures for which a loan or grant may be issued riparian buffers planted in trees and maintained in accordance with the terms and conditions of the loan or grant.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 62.1-229.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to loans and grants for agricultural best management practices; riparian buffers.

19102217D

H.B. 2642

Patron: Levine

Cruelty to animals with intent to intimidate or threaten a household member; penalty. Makes any violation relating to cruelty to an animal a Class 6 felony when such violation is carried out with the intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass a family or household member.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 3.2-6570 of the Code of Virginia, relating to cruelty to animals with intent to intimidate or threaten a household member; penalty.

19106255D

H.B. 2687

Patron: Morefield

Special license for hunting elk. Authorizes the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries (the Board) to create a special license for hunting elk. Such license shall be required in addition to general hunting licenses. The bill authorizes the Board to establish guidelines (i) related to selection of applicants for eligibility to purchase a special elk license and (ii) permitting the transfer of special elk licenses to individuals or wildlife conservation organizations whose mission is to ensure the conservation of Virginia's wildlife resources. The bill authorizes the Board to establish a nonrefundable application fee of $15 for residents and $20 for nonresidents and a special elk license fee at no more than $40 for residents and $400 for nonresidents. The bill directs the Board, as funds become available, to utilize a portion of the fees collected for special elk licenses to compensate an owner or lessee of agricultural land for agricultural damage directly caused by elk.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 29.1-305.01, relating to special license for hunting elk.

19105676D

H.B. 2755

Patron: Fariss

Conservation easements; comprehensive plan. Requires that the use of real property for open-space land shall conform to the official comprehensive plan for the area in which the property is located. Current law provides that no conservation easement shall be valid and enforceable unless the limitations it creates conform in all respects to the comprehensive plan at the time the easement is granted.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 10.1-1010 of the Code of Virginia, relating to conservation easements; comprehensive plan.

19104628D

H.B. 2783

Patron: Hodges

Living shorelines; loans to businesses. Authorizes a local government that has a funding program that provides low-interest loans or other incentives for the establishment of living shorelines to provide such incentives to businesses. The bill includes bed-and-breakfast operations, campgrounds, restaurants, and businesses that use working waterfronts among the eligible businesses, and it requires such a business to be located within a locality that is in the Rural Coastal Virginia Community Enhancement Authority in order to be eligible for loan funding. Current law authorizes the provision of such incentives only to individual residents of the Commonwealth.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 62.1-229.5 of the Code of Virginia, relating to living shorelines; loans to businesses.

19106078D