General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2004>Conservation


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Conservation

Passed

P HB445

Certificate of competence. Requires personnel of (i) the Department of Conservation and Recreation who inspect for compliance with the Erosion and Sediment Control Law and (ii) the Department of Environmental Quality who inspect for compliance with stormwater management permits to hold valid certificates of competence pursuant to the Erosion and Sediment Control Law, as required of local program personnel.
Patron - Suit

P HB643

Property conveyance. Authorizes the Department of Conservation and Recreation to accept from the Norfolk Southern Corporation approximately 35.66 miles of abandoned railroad right-of-way running through the Counties of Appomattox, Cumberland, Nottoway and Prince Edward.
Patron - Abbitt

P HB713

Temporary storage of hazardous waste. Allows localities and state agencies to temporarily store household hazardous waste and hazardous waste from small quantity generators if it is done in accordance with (i) a permit to store, treat, or dispose of hazardous waste, or (ii) a permit to transport hazardous waste.
Patron - Oder

P HB883

Conservation easements. Reduces the minimum number of years required for a holder of a conservation easement to have a principal office in the Commonwealth from five to four years. The provisions of this bill expires on July 1, 2005.
Patron - Plum

P HB947

Silvicultural activity. Allows the State Forester to collect civil penalties for failure to notify the State Forester of the commercial harvesting of timber. Currently, the State Forester may assess a penalty of $250 for an initial violation and not more than $1,000 for any subsequent violation within a two-year period. Such civil penalties must be recovered in a civil action brought by the Attorney General and are to be paid into the Virginia Forest Water Quality Fund.
Patron - Ingram

P HB1177

Stormwater management. Consolidates Virginia's stormwater management programs within the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and transfers oversight responsibilities to the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board from the Board of Conservation and Recreation.
Patron - Bryant

P HB1271

Soil and water conservation districts. Specifies the roles of soil and water conservation districts. Districts are to assist the Department of Conservation and Recreation in (i) providing technical assistance to promote conservation management practices, (ii) delivering educational initiatives on water quality issues, and (iii) promoting incentives to encourage voluntary actions to minimize nonpoint source pollution. The districts will also be responsible for locally administering the Department's Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Assistance Program.
Patron - Dillard

P HB1283

Erosion and Sediment Control Law. Specifies that only surface or deep mining activities that are authorized under a permit issued by the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy shall be excluded from the definition of "land-disturbing activity" under the Erosion and Sediment Control Law.
Patron - Ware, R.L.

P HB1338

Virginia Museum of Natural History; powers and duties; salary of director; gifts and endowments. Authorizes the Board of Trustees for the Virginia Museum of Natural History to supplement, with prior annual written approval of the Governor, the salary of the director of the Museum from nonstate funds. The Governor may be guided, in approving a supplement, by criteria that provide a reasonable limit on the total additional income of the director. The criteria may include, but need not be limited to, a consideration of the salaries paid to similar officials at comparable museums of other states. The Board must report approved supplements to the Department of Human Resource Management for retention in its records. In addition, the Museum, which is within the Secretariat of Natural Resources, is deemed an institution of higher education for the purposes of § 23-3.1, relating to local governing bodies' conveyance of property and appropriation of funds to state-supported institutions of higher education, and § 23-9.2, relating to the Commonwealth's policy vis-a-vis unrestricted gifts and endowments received by the public institutions of higher education from private sources.
Patron - Hurt

P HB1350

Air, waste, and water permit fees. Assesses a combination of permit application fees, annual fees, and permit maintenance fees that will generate approximately $6 million for the funding of air, water and waste permit programs at the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The Air Pollution Control Board is authorized to collect a permit application fee not to exceed $30,000 for new major stationary sources. The amount charged is to be credited towards the amount of annual fees paid by the permit holder during the first two years of the facility's operation. In addition to the permit fee charged for solid waste facilities, the bill establishes annual fees for various nonhazardous solid waste management facilities including noncaptive industrial landfills ($8,000), construction and demolition debris landfills ($4,000), sanitary landfills (amount based on tonnage), incinerators (amount based on tonnage), and other types of facilities. The bill also establishes the maximum amounts that the State Water Control Board can charge for processing various types of water permits and the maximum amounts it can assess as a permit maintenance fee on each permit type. In addition, the bill requires DEQ to evaluate and implement measures to improve the long-term effectiveness and efficiency of its programs. To assist the agency in attaining such goals, a consulting firm will be hired to conduct a management efficiency study of the Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program and the air permit program. The firm will be assisted by a peer review panel. DEQ also is charged with conducting a review of its solid waste permitting programs in order to ensure that these programs are operating at maximum efficiency. This bill is identical to SB 365.
Patron - Orrock

P HJ247

Importing municipal solid waste. Memorializes Congress to enact the State Waste Empowerment and Enforcement Provision Act of 2003, which gives state and local governments the authority to regulate the importation of solid waste into their jurisdictions.
Patron - Louderback

P SB365

Air, waste, and water permit fees. Assesses a combination of permit application fees, annual fees, and permit maintenance fees that will generate approximately $6 million for the funding of air, water and waste permit programs at the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The Air Pollution Control Board is authorized to collect a permit application fee not to exceed $30,000 for new major stationary sources. The amount charged is to be credited towards the amount of annual fees paid by the permit holder during the first two years of the facility's operation. In addition to the permit fee charged for solid waste facilities, the bill establishes annual fees for various nonhazardous solid waste management facilities including noncaptive industrial landfills ($8,000), construction and demolition debris landfills ($4,000), sanitary landfills (amount based on tonnage), incinerators (amount based on tonnage), and other types of facilities. The bill also establishes the maximum amounts that the State Water Control Board can charge for processing various types of water permits and the maximum amounts it can assess as a permit maintenance fee on each permit type. In addition, the bill requires DEQ to evaluate and implement measures to improve the long-term effectiveness and efficiency of its programs. To assist the agency in attaining such goals, a consulting firm will be hired to conduct a management efficiency study of the Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program and the air permit program. The firm will be assisted by a peer review panel. DEQ also is charged with conducting a review of its solid waste permitting programs in order to ensure that these programs are operating at maximum efficiency. This bill is identical to HB 1350.
Patron - Watkins

P SB386

Air emissions trading. Prohibits the Commonwealth from selling, by auction or other manner, the set asides allocated to new sources of air emissions. The bill does not apply to or affect the auction of Virginia's allocation of nitrogen oxide pollution credits set aside for new sources of electric power generation for the years 2004 and 2005.
Patron - Norment

P SB454

Ozone nonattainment fees. Authorizes the Department of Environmental Quality to collect penalty fees from stationary sources of air emissions if severe nonattainment areas in which these facilities are located do not attain air quality standards by deadlines established by the federal Clean Air Act. The bill establishes the formula for calculating the fee amounts owed as a penalty. The fees would be used for air quality monitoring and evaluation, and for measures to improve air quality in severe nonattainment areas.
Patron - Whipple

P SB523

Watershed Coordination Program. Enables the Department of Conservation and Recreation to create the Watershed Coordination Program to engage stakeholders within each of the Commonwealth's 14 major river basins to develop comprehensive strategic plans to mitigate and prevent nonpoint source water pollution. The Program will continue the work of watershed roundtables, support citizen stewardship activities, and be coordinated with the agencies of the Secretariat of Natural Resources, the Department of Forestry, and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The Program will be funded with private funds; however, DCR may assist with the initial costs associated with the development of the Program. This bill allows DCR to assist in fund-raising efforts to supplement the Fund and provide assistance to the fund-raising efforts of the watershed roundtables.
Patron - Hanger

P SB614

Occoneechee State Park. Amends Chapter 809 of the 2002 Acts of Assembly to provide a two-year extension for the authority granted to the Department of Conservation and Recreation to amend a lease with the Secretary of the Army for the purpose of providing additional recreational facilities, not to be operated by the Department, at Occoneechee State Park in Mecklenberg County.
Patron - Ruff

Failed

F HB693

Virginia Natural and Historic Resources Fund. Creates the Virginia Natural and Historic Resources Fund. This permanent, nonreverting fund will consist of moneys appropriated to it by the General Assembly and any other public or private moneys. The moneys in the Fund will be allocated by the Secretary of Natural Resources to the Virginia Land Conservation Fund and the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund. The bill establishes the seven-member Virginia Natural and Historic Resources Fund Commission, which is to provide recommendations to the Secretary regarding the allocation of moneys in the Fund. The Secretary is the chairman of the Commission. The six citizen members will be individuals who have experience or expertise in the areas of natural and historic resource conservation and protection. Under the legislation, a $10 fee is assessed on various deeds for which the state recordation tax is collected and on the recordation of a certificate of satisfaction.
Patron - Morgan

F HB728

Nonhazardous waste barges. Authorizes the Virginia Waste Management Board to establish a fee of $7.50 on each ton of nonhazardous solid waste transported by barge or other vessel carrying, loading or off-loading waste on Virginia waters. The bill also prescribes the test that shall be used to certify that the containers holding the waste are watertight, leak-proof, and designed, constructed and maintained to prevent the loss or spillage of waste or leachate during transport, normal handling or in the event of an accident.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

F HB921

Logging roads. Authorizes the State Forester to require any logging roads or skid roads to be reseeded.
Patron - Phillips

F HB1021

Notification of timbering activities. Requires an operator of a commercial silvicultural activity to provide 10 days' advance notice to the State Forester of his intention to begin harvesting and the date on which such activity will begin. The operator's notification to the State Forester is to include a legal description of the property on which the tract is located, including the property tax parcel identification number and plat showing the boundaries of the tract on the parcel, as well as the location of any adjacent properties and their tax parcel identification numbers. The bill also gives the State Forester the authority to issue a summons for violations of the notification provisions.
Patron - Dillard

F HB1168

Landfill siting requirements. Prohibits any landfill from being constructed within a one-half mile radius of any area zoned as residential.
Patron - Frederick

F HB1329

Severe nonattainment areas. Directs any electric generating facility in a severe nonattainment area to meet the following emission reduction requirements no later than January 1, 2007: (i) reduce aggregate sulfur dioxide emissions by at least 75 percent from levels allowed under full implementation of the federal Clean Air Act Phase II sulfur dioxide requirements, and (ii) reduce aggregate nitrogen oxide emissions by at least 75 percent from the facility's 1997 levels. Also, this bill prohibits any electric generating facility from operating after January 1, 2007. The bill exempts any electric generating plant that has entered into a settlement agreement or consent degree with the Environmental Protection Agency prior to January 1, 2004, for the reduction of certain emissions.
Patron - Reese

F SB104

Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. Requires the Attorney General to defend a locality in a private legal action resulting from the locality's adoption or implementation of the criteria developed by the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Board to regulate the use and development of land and to protect water quality. The criteria are to be used by local governments (i) to determine the ecological and geographic extent of Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas and (ii) in granting, denying, or modifying requests to rezone, subdivide, or to use and develop land in these areas.
Patron - Devolites

F SB427

Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. Expands the boundaries of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act to include the entire watershed of the Chesapeake Bay, not just Tidewater.
Patron - Wagner

F SB527

Land and Water Conservation Trust Fund. Establishes the Land and Water Conservation Trust Fund. The Fund will be capitalized from revenue generated from a fee imposed on waterworks owners of $2 per water connection, a $10 fee for each instrument recorded in deed books and upon each judgment docketed in the judgment lien docket book, general fund appropriations, and any other moneys available from public and private sources. The moneys in the Fund will then be allocated quarterly, with at least 47 percent going to the Virginia Land Conservation Fund, at least 47 percent going to the Water Quality Improvement Fund, and up to six percent expended for the management and administration of these two funds. This bill is incorporated into SB 569.
Patron - Hanger

F SB569

Virginia Natural and Historic Resources Fund. Creates the Virginia Natural and Historic Resources Fund. This permanent, nonreverting fund will consist of moneys appropriated to it by the General Assembly and any other public or private moneys. The moneys in the Fund will be allocated by the Secretary of Natural Resources to the Virginia Land Conservation Fund and the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund. The bill establishes the seven-member Virginia Natural and Historic Resources Fund Commission, which is to provide recommendations to the Secretary regarding the allocation of moneys in the Fund. The Secretary is the chairman of the Commission. The six citizen members will be individuals who have experience or expertise in the areas of natural and historic resource conservation and protection. Under the legislation, a $10 fee is assessed on various deeds for which the state recordation tax is collected and on the recordation of a certificate of satisfaction.
Patron - Deeds

Carried Over

C HB68

Local Parks and Recreational Facilities Act. Requires the Department of Conservation and Recreation to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the adequacy of public parks and recreational facilities provided by each Virginia locality. The bill sets forth factors that the Department must consider and requires that the locality cooperate during the assessment process. If the Department determines that a locality's parks or recreational facilities are inadequate or will be inadequate within five years, then the locality will have one year to develop a plan for curing such inadequacy. If the Department determines that such plan will not achieve adequacy, then it shall impose a parks and recreation residential impact fee upon the builder of each new residential unit in the locality, until such time as the parks and recreational facilities are adequate. The Department shall base such fee on the pro-rata impact of each additional residential unit on (i) existing parks and recreational facilities, and on (ii) the costs of improving or developing new parks or recreational facilities. The Department shall hold all collected fees on behalf of the locality in an interest-bearing escrow account, and shall make distributions for the development of new or improvement of existing parks and recreational facilities. The Board of Conservation and Recreation is authorized to promulgate regulations for the implementation of the Act.
Patron - Marshall, R.G.

C HB113

Severe nonattainment areas. Directs any electric generating facility in a severe nonattainment area to meet the following emission reduction requirements no later than January 1, 2009: (i) reduce aggregate sulfur dioxide emissions by at least 75 percent from levels allowed under full implementation of the federal Clean Air Act Phase II sulfur dioxide requirements, and (ii) reduce aggregate nitrogen oxide emissions by at least 75 percent from the facility's 1997 levels. Also, this bill prohibits any electric generating facility from operating after January 1, 2009, unless it has complied with such emission reduction requirements or entered into a consent decree with the State Air Pollution Control Board, agreeing to cease operations by 2014.
Patron - Van Landingham

C HB719

Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. Requires the Attorney General, if requested by the locality, to defend the locality in a private legal action resulting from the locality's adoption or implementation of the criteria developed by the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Board to regulate the use and development of land and to protect water quality. The criteria are to be used by local governments (i) to determine the ecological and geographic extent of Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas and (ii) in granting, denying, or modifying requests to rezone, subdivide, or to use and develop land in these areas.
Patron - Shannon

C HB1418

Water quality improvement fee. Imposes a $1 per month fee on owners of improved real property having a value of more than $60,000. The locality will be responsible for collecting the fee and remitting the funds to the State Treasurer for deposit in the Water Quality Improvement Fund. An additional $1 per month fee is assessed on such property owners if they are served by a wastewater treatment facility. The locality can withhold quarterly $10,000 or three percent of the amount due, whichever is less, to cover its administrative expenses. Seventy percent of the funds received will be allocated for point source pollution programs and 30 percent will be used for nonpoint source pollution programs.
Patron - Pollard

C HB1429

Erosion and Sediment Control Law. Requires the Department of Transportation (VDOT) to submit a conservation plan for each project involving a land-disturbing activity to the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) for review and approval. Currently, all state agencies, including VDOT, have the option of submitting one annual report specifying its conduct of land-disturbing activities to DCR for review and approval, prior to conducting land-disturbing activities. "Land-disturbing activity" includes disturbed land areas of 10,000 square feet or greater.
Patron - Ingram

C HB1462

Solid waste disposal fees. Establishes a $5 per ton municipal solid waste disposal fee to be collected by localities in which the municipal solid waste landfills are located. This bill directs the host localities to retain 50 percent of the moneys collected for the abatement of pollution caused by landfills or the improper management of waste, groundwater monitoring and cleanup, litter control, recycling, or for other waste-related purposes, including solid waste management operating fees. This bill also directs the host localities to remit 50 percent of all moneys collected to the Commonwealth to be deposited into the Landfill Cleanup and Closure Fund, the Virginia Brownfields Restoration and Economic Redevelopment Assistance Fund, and the Virginia Environmental Emergency Response Fund.
Patron - Dillard

C HB1472

Air emissions reductions. Establishes a schedule by which investor-owned public utilities that own or operate coal-fired generating units are required to reduce by specific amounts their emissions of oxides of nitrogen, sulfur dioxide and mercury. The utilities are to determine what technologies will be used to achieve the emission limits established by the bill. Any permit issued by the Air Pollution Control Board for a coal-fired generating unit, which is subject to this new law, will have to provide for testing, monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting to assure compliance with the reduction requirements. The bill also authorizes the Governor to enter into agreements with the utilities to transfer to the state any emissions allowance that may be acquired by the utilities under federal law. The Department of Environmental Quality and the State Corporation Commission (SCC) are to report annually to the status of the emissions reduction and cost recovery efforts to the committees having jurisdiction over the subject matter. In addition, the Department of Environmental Quality is required to conduct an ongoing analysis of the issues related to the development and implementation of standards and plans to control carbon dioxide (CO2) from coal-fired generating units. The Department is also to evaluate available control technologies and perform a cost-benefit analysis of alternative strategies to reduce emissions of CO2, and report its findings to the committees with jurisdiction over the subject matter. Finally, the bill authorizes the SCC to adjust the rate caps established by the Electric Utility Restructuring Act to account for the environmental compliance costs incurred by the utilities in carrying out the provisions of the Clean Smokestack Act.
Patron - Reid

C SB193

Buffalo Mountain. Allows any person with a disability that limits his ability to walk to use a motorized wheel chair, a riding lawnmower, or a power chair personal mobility vehicle designed to maneuver through sand, mud, and snow to travel on property owned by the Commonwealth along the trail that leads from the foot and to the peak of Buffalo Mountain in Floyd County.
Patron - Reynolds

C SB588

Open-space easements. Amends the Open-Space Land Act (Act) to ensure that any perpetual interest in real estate acquired by a public body pursuant to the Act will be consistent with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service Code for tax-deductible conservation contributions.
Patron - Deeds

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