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2021 SESSION
21102632DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 62.1-44.15:23 and 62.1-44.15:23.1 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 62.1-44.15:23. Wetland and stream mitigation banks.
A. For purposes of this section:
"Physiographic province" means one of the five physiographic provinces of Virginia designated as the Appalachian Plateaus, Blue Ridge, Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and Ridge and Valley physiographic provinces as identified on Figure 2 in the Overview of the Physiography and Vegetation of Virginia prepared by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage and dated February 2016. The Department of Environmental Quality may adjust the boundaries of a physiographic province to reflect site-specific boundaries based on relative elevation, relief, geomorphology, and lithology provided by the bank sponsor.
"Primary service area" means the fourth order subbasin in which the bank is located, as defined by the hydrologic unit boundaries of the National Watershed Boundary Dataset or the hydrologic unit system or dataset utilized and depicted or described in the bank's approved mitigation banking instrument, and any adjacent fourth order subbasin within the same river watershed.
"River watershed" means the Potomac River Basin; Shenandoah River Basin; James River Basin; Rappahannock River Basin; Roanoke and Yadkin Rivers Basin; Chowan River Basin, including the Dismal Swamp and Albemarle Sound; Tennessee River Basin/Big Sandy River Basin Complex; Chesapeake Bay and its Small Coastal Basins; Atlantic Ocean; York River Basin; and New River Basin.
"Secondary service area" means the area outside the primary service area but within the same physiographic province in which the bank is located and any adjacent physiographic province within the same river watershed.
"Tree canopy" includes all of the area of canopy coverage by self-supporting and healthy woody plant material exceeding five feet in height.
B. When a Virginia Water Protection Permit is conditioned
upon compensatory mitigation for adverse impacts to wetlands or streams, the
applicant may be permitted to satisfy all or part of such mitigation
requirements by the purchase or use of credits from any wetland or stream
mitigation bank in the Commonwealth, or in Maryland on property wholly
surrounded by and located in the Potomac River if the mitigation banking
instrument provides that the Board shall have the right to enter and inspect
the property and that the mitigation bank instrument and the contract for the
purchase or use of such credits may be enforced in the courts of the
Commonwealth, including any banks owned by the permit applicant, that has been
approved and is operating in accordance with applicable federal and state
guidance, laws, or regulations for the establishment, use, and operation of
mitigation banks as long as (i) the bank is in the same fourth order subbasin, as
defined by the hydrologic unit boundaries of the National Watershed Boundary
Dataset or by the hydrologic unit system or dataset utilized and depicted or
described in the bank's approved mitigation banking instrument, as the impacted
site, or in an adjacent subbasin within the same river watershed as the
impacted site, is located in the bank's primary or secondary
service area as provided in subsection C or it meets all the conditions found in clauses (a)
through (d) and either clause (e) or (f) of this subsection;
(ii) the bank is ecologically preferable to practicable onsite and offsite individual
mitigation options as defined by federal wetland regulations; and (iii) the
banking instrument, if approved after July 1, 1996, has been approved by a
process that included public review and comment. When the
bank impacted site
is not located in the same subbasin or
adjacent subbasin within the same river watershed as the impacted site bank's primary or secondary service area,
the purchase or use of credits shall not be allowed unless the applicant
demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Department of Environmental Quality
that (a) the impacts will occur as a result of a Virginia Department of
Transportation linear project or as the result of a locality project for a
locality whose jurisdiction encompasses multiple river watersheds; (b) there is
no practical same river watershed mitigation alternative; (c) the impacts are
less than one acre in a single and complete project within a subbasin; (d)
there is no significant harm to water quality or fish and wildlife resources
within the river watershed of the impacted site; and either (e) impacts within
the Chesapeake Bay watershed are mitigated within the Chesapeake Bay watershed
as close as possible to the impacted site or (f) impacts within subbasins
02080108, 02080208, and 03010205, as defined by the National Watershed Boundary
Dataset, are mitigated in-kind within those subbasins, as close as possible to
the impacted site. For the purposes of this subsection, the hydrologic unit
boundaries of the National Watershed Boundary Dataset or other hydrologic unit
system may be adjusted by the Department of Environmental Quality to reflect
site-specific geographic or hydrologic information provided by the bank
sponsor.
For the purposes of
this section, "river watershed" means the Potomac River Basin,
Shenandoah River Basin, James River Basin, Rappahannock River Basin, Roanoke
and Yadkin Rivers Basin, Chowan River Basin (including the Dismal Swamp and
Albemarle Sound), Tennessee River Basin/Big Sandy River Basin Complex,
Chesapeake Bay and its Small Coastal Basins, Atlantic Ocean, York River Basin,
and the New River Basin.
C. For impacts to a site for which no credits are available to purchase (i) in the primary service area of any mitigation provider or (ii) at a price below 200 percent of the current price of credits applicable to that site from a Board-approved fund dedicated to achieving no net loss of wetland acreage and functions, a permit applicant may be permitted to purchase or use credits from the secondary service area of a mitigation provider to satisfy all or any part of such applicant's mitigation requirements. For purposes of this subsection, the permit applicant shall provide a determination of credit availability and credit price no later than the time such applicant submits to the Department (a) its proof of credit acquisition or (b) a later change to such proof.
If a permit applicant purchases or uses credits from a secondary service area, the permit applicant shall:
1. Acquire three times the credits it would have had to acquire from a bank in the primary service area for wetland impacts and two times the number of credits it would have had to acquire in the primary service area for stream impacts;
2. When submitting proof of acquisition of credits, provide to the Department a plan that the permit applicant will implement that is certified by a licensed professional engineer, surveyor, or landscape architect for the planting, preservation, or replacement of trees on the development site such that the minimum tree canopy percentage 20 years after development is projected to be as follows:
a. Ten percent tree canopy for a site zoned for business, commercial, or industrial use;
b. Ten percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned for 20 or more units per acre;
c. Fifteen percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned for more than eight but fewer than 20 units per acre;
d. Twenty percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned for more than four but not more than eight units per acre;
e. Twenty-five percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned for more than two but not more than four units per acre; and
f. Thirty percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned for two or fewer units per acre.
The tree canopy requirements established under this subsection shall not supersede any additional requirements imposed by a locality pursuant to § 15.2-961 or 15.2-961.1.
B. D. The Department of Environmental Quality is
authorized to serve as a signatory to agreements governing the operation of
mitigation banks. The Commonwealth, and its officials, agencies,
and employees shall not be liable for any action taken under any agreement
developed pursuant to such authority.
C. E. State
agencies and localities are authorized to purchase credits from mitigation
banks.
D. F. A
locality may establish, operate and sponsor wetland or stream single-user
mitigation banks within the Commonwealth that have been approved and are
operated in accordance with the requirements of subsection A B, provided that such
single-user banks may only be considered for compensatory mitigation for the
sponsoring locality's municipal, joint municipal or governmental projects. For
the purposes of this subsection, the term "sponsoring locality's
municipal, joint municipal or governmental projects" means projects for
which the locality is the named permittee, and for
which there shall be no third-party leasing, sale, granting, transfer, or use
of the projects or credits. Localities may enter into agreements with private
third parties to facilitate the creation of privately sponsored wetland and
stream mitigation banks having service areas developed through the procedures
of subsection A B.
§ 62.1-44.15:23.1. Wetland and Stream Replacement Fund established.
There is hereby created in the state treasury a special
nonreverting fund to be known as the Wetland and Stream Replacement Fund,
hereafter referred to as "the Fund." The Fund shall be established on
the books of the Comptroller. All contributions to the Board pursuant to clause
(iii) of subsection B of § 62.1-44.15:21 shall be paid into the state treasury
and credited to the Fund. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in
the Fund and be credited to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including
interest thereon, at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the
general fund but shall remain in the Fund. The Fund shall be administered and
utilized by the Department of Environmental Quality. The Fund may be used as an
additional mechanism for compensatory mitigation for impacts to aquatic resources
(i) that result from activities authorized under (a) Section 404 and 401 of the
Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.), (b) the Virginia Water Protection
Permit Regulation (9VAC25-210 et seq.), or (c) Section 10 of the Rivers and
Harbors Act (33 U.S.C. § 403); (ii) that result from unauthorized activities in
waters of the United States or state waters; and (iii) in other cases, as the
appropriate regulatory agencies deem acceptable. Moneys in the Fund shall be
used for the purpose of purchasing mitigation bank credits in compliance with
the provisions of subsection A B of § 62.1-44.15:23 as soon
as practicable if qualifying credits are available. If such credits are not
available within three years of the collection of moneys for a specific impact,
then funds shall be utilized either (1) to purchase credits from a
Board-approved fund that have met the success criteria, if qualifying credits
are available, (2) for the planning, construction, monitoring, and preservation
of wetland and stream mitigation projects and preservation, enhancement, or
restoration of upland buffers adjacent to wetlands or other state waters when
used in conjunction with creation or restoration of wetlands and streams, or
(3) for other water quality improvement projects as deemed acceptable by the
Department of Environmental Quality. Such projects developed under clause (2)
shall be developed in accordance with guidelines, responsibilities, and
standards established by the Department of Environmental Quality for use,
operation, and maintenance consistent with 33 CFR Part 332, governing
compensatory mitigation for activities authorized by U.S. Army Corps of
Engineer permits. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall be made by
the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon written request
signed by the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality. The
Department may charge a reasonable fee to administer the Fund.