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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2020 SESSION
Chair: J. Chapman Petersen
Clerk: Chad Starzer
Staff: Scott Meacham, David Barry
Date of Meeting: January 14, 2020
Time and Place: 30 Min. after Adjournment - Senate Room A, Pocahontas Bldg.
Patron: Petersen
Agritourism activities; horseback riding and stabling. Adds horseback riding or stabling to the definition of "agritourism activity." Agritourism activities have limited liability for the inherent risks of the activity under certain conditions.
Patron: Locke
Tree conservation ordinance; Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act locality; designated trees. Adds "Chesapeake Bay watershed tree," as defined in the bill, to the types of tree that a locality with a tree conservation ordinance is authorized to designate individually for preservation. Current law allows individual designation of heritage, memorial, specimen, and street trees. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: Ruff
Persons permitted to work in mines; age requirements. Removes a prohibition on persons under 18 years of age working in or around any mine, and requires the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy to conform its regulations to federal law with respect to such age requirements.
Patron: Chafin
Special license to hunt elk. Authorizes the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries (the Board) to create a special license for hunting elk in the elk management zone that is required in addition to a general hunting license. The bill authorizes the Board to establish (i) quotas and procedures for selection to purchase a special elk license, (ii) 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, and (iii) guidelines permitting the transfer of special elk licenses to individuals, cooperators who assist in meeting agency hunting objectives, or wildlife conservation organizations whose mission is to ensure the conservation of Virginia's wildlife resources. The bill clarifies that a separate special license to hunt elk is not required to hunt elk outside of the designated elk management zone.
Patron: Deeds
Scenic river designation; Maury River. Designates a 19.25-mile segment of the Maury River as a component of the Virginia Scenic Rivers System.
Patron: Kiggans
Release of balloons; prohibition. Reduces the number of balloons per hour that a person may release without penalty from 49 to one.
Patron: Stuart
Fees to hunt and fish; waiver for military service. Requires the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries to waive fees to obtain a hunting or fishing license for active duty military personnel and veterans.
Patron: Surovell
Waterfowl blinds in locality where certain hunting prohibited. Directs the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries not to license any stationary waterfowl blind in any area in which a local governing body prohibits by ordinance the hunting of birds with a firearm.
Patron: Reeves
Hunting and fishing licenses; veterans and active duty service members. Authorizes any resident veteran or active duty service member to obtain at no cost a nontransferable license, valid for life, permitting the veteran or active duty service member to hunt and freshwater fish in the Commonwealth. Current law authorizes only a resident, disabled veteran to obtain such a license for no cost. The bill also authorizes a nonresident active duty service member to obtain such license for $250.
Patron: Chafin
Clinch State Scenic River; Guest State Scenic River. Designates segments of the Clinch River in Tazewell, Russell, and Scott Counties as part of the Clinch State Scenic River, a component of the Virginia Scenic Rivers System. The bill extends the designated portion of the Clinch River from the confluence with Indian Creek to the Tennessee state line, a distance of about 110 miles. The bill renames a portion of the existing designation of the Clinch-Guest State Scenic River as the Guest State Scenic River. The bill contains technical amendments.
Patron: Deeds
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; name change. Renames the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries as the Department of Wildlife Resources and the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries as the Board of Wildlife Resources.
Patron: Deeds
Open-space and conservation easements; rule of construction. Provides that if language in an open-space or conservation easement acquired pursuant to state law is ambiguous, such language shall be construed against the grantor and in favor of the grantee.
Patron: Boysko
Goat grazing on stream buffers. Authorizes a locality that procures and utilizes goats for the temporary grazing of stream buffers to remain in compliance with a resource management plan for pasture land. Such compliance qualifies the locality for matching grants for agricultural best management practices provided through the Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program. The bill also clarifies that such grazing is not prohibited by certain provisions of the State Water Control Law.
Patron: Mason
Nonagricultural irrigation wells prohibited outside surficial aquifer. Prohibits any person from constructing a well in a ground water management area for nonagricultural irrigation purposes except in the surficial aquifer. The bill authorizes the State Water Control Board (the Board) to adopt regulations to develop a general permit for the regulation of irrigation withdrawals from the surficial aquifer greater than 300,000 gallons in any one month. The bill directs the Board to promulgate regulations establishing criteria for determining whether the quantity or quality of the ground water in a surficial aquifer is adequate to meet a proposed beneficial use.
Patron: Mason
Voluntary forest mitigation agreements. Authorizes the Secretary of Natural Resources, the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, or any agency within those secretariats, or the Virginia Outdoors Foundation to enter into an agreement, with certain provisions, with the owner or operator of construction projects to accomplish forest mitigation, as defined in the bill. The bill provides that no such agreement shall (i) include any waiver of liability for environmental damage caused by the construction project or (ii) guarantee regulatory approval for a construction project by any state agency.
Patron: Chafin
Big game hunting; guaranteed kills prohibited; penalty. Prohibits offering for sale, selling, offering to purchase, purchasing, or guaranteeing a kill of, or charging a fee for killing, a deer, bear, or wild turkey. Such prohibition does not apply to killing small game or migratory birds. The bill does not prevent a landowner from leasing land for hunting, except that a lease of land for hunting deer, bear, or wild turkey shall not be for a duration of less than three days. A violation is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor; when the aggregate of such sales or purchases, or any combination thereof, by any person totals $500 or more during any 90-day period, such violation is punishable as a Class 6 felony.
Patron: Mason
Lawn fertilizer contractor-applicators. Authorizes the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services to enter into an agreement with a locality to provide oversight and data collection assistance related to the requirements of certified lawn fertilizer contractor-applicators. Current law prohibits localities from regulating the registration, packaging, labeling, sale, use, application, storage, or distribution of fertilizers except by ordinance pursuant to certain requirements. The bill also reduces from 100 to 50 the total number of acres of nonagricultural land to which a contractor-applicator may apply lawn fertilizer and lawn maintenance fertilizer annually without submitting an annual report to the Commissioner. The bill increases from $250 to $1,000 the civil penalty imposed on a contractor-applicator for a violation of applicable regulations.
Patron: Locke
Conservation police officers; external appointment. Removes a provision prohibiting the Director of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries from making an external appointment for any sworn law-enforcement position above the rank of conservation police officer. Current law requires that all promotions within the Department's sworn ranks be made from among existing sworn conservation police officers.