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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: Patty Lung, Alec Fischbein
Staff: Scott Meacham, David Barry
Date of Meeting: January 21, 2020
Time and Place: 30 Min. after Adjournment - Senate Room A, Pocahontas Bldg.
Patron: Surovell
Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area; hydraulic fracturing prohibited. Prohibits hydraulic fracturing, as defined in the bill, in the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area.
Patron: Marsden
Comprehensive animal care; enforceable under Virginia Consumer Protection Act. Subjects certain animal care statutes to enforcement under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act (§ 59.1-196 et seq.). These statutes relate to the misrepresentation of animals' conditions, the posting of information about dogs, and written notice of consumer remedies required to be provided by pet shops, pet dealers, and animal boarding establishments.
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: 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: Stanley
Import and sale of dogs from certain breeders; penalty. Prohibits any dealer or commercial dog breeder from importing for sale, selling, or offering for sale any dog bred by a person who has received certain citations pursuant to enforcement of the federal Animal Welfare Act. A violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
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: Stuart
Special fishing permits for certain youth camps. Authorizes employees of an organized nonprofit tax-exempt youth camp that holds a special fishing permit for certain youth camps to fish without a license in public waters adjacent to property owned by the camp. Current law only authorizes camp members under 18 years of age at such camp to fish without a license.
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: Surovell
Tetrahydrocannabinol concentration; definition. Clarifies that "tetrahydrocannabinol concentration" refers to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and is determined using post-decarboxylation testing or other equivalent method. The bill contains an emergency clause.
EMERGENCY
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: McPike
Rental or lease of dog or cat prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits the rental or lease of a dog or cat to a consumer, including by a purported sale of the animal in a manner that vests no equity in the consumer at the time of the purported sale. The bill prohibits the sale of a dog or cat in which the animal is subject to repossession upon default of the agreement and prohibits any financial institution from offering a loan for which the animal is subject to repossession upon default of the loan. The bill provides that the Attorney General may bring a civil action to enforce the bill's provisions and that a violator may be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $2,500. A pet shop, commercial dog breeder, dealer, or other business that violates the provisions of the bill also may have its business license, retail license, or local pet shop permit suspended or revoked after a hearing by the issuing authority. The bill exempts certain animals from its prohibitions, including purebred dogs leased for breeding; dogs or cats used in spectator events, motion pictures, racing, or other entertainment; and service dogs, guide or leader dogs, security dogs, law-enforcement dogs, military working dogs, and certified facility dogs. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021.
Patron: Stanley
Transportation of bait fish for sale; penalty. Prohibits the transportation of bait fish, including shad, herring, or mullet, or the carcass or any part thereof, for sale or offer for sale outside of the Commonwealth. A violation of the provisions of the bill constitutes a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Patron: Lewis
Offshore drilling; prohibition on leases; policy. Prohibits the granting of a lease, easement, or permit on the beds of the waters of the Commonwealth that would allow any infrastructure for conveying oil or gas associated with offshore drilling and removes any oil or gas lease granted on such beds from the mandate that such lease include a royalty payment requirement. The bill removes policy statements supporting federal efforts to permit oil and gas development 50 miles or more off the Atlantic shoreline and provides that the Commonwealth does not endorse offshore gas or oil development.
Patron: Marsden
Industrial hemp extract; approval as food or ingredient; regulations; fund. Provides that an industrial hemp extract, as defined in the bill, is a food and is subject to applicable laws and regulations. The bill establishes (i) requirements for the production of an industrial hemp extract or a food containing an extract and (ii) conditions under which a manufacturer of such extract or food shall be considered an approved source. The bill authorizes the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt regulations establishing contaminant tolerances, labeling requirements, and batch testing requirements, and it provides that moneys collected under the chapter shall be deposited in the Virginia Industrial Hemp Fund, created by the bill. The bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry to report by November 1, 2020, a plan for the long-term sustainability of funding for the industrial hemp program.