General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2007>Conservation


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Conservation

Passed

P HB 1689

Regulation of municipal solid waste. Repeals two provisions of the solid waste laws enacted in 1999 that were subsequently found to be unconstitutional by the federal court. The bill repeals the authority of the Solid Waste Management Board to develop regulations governing the commercial transport of nonhazardous municipal solid waste by truck. This section was declared unconstitutional because it imposed certain requirements on large trucks carrying solid waste that violated the commerce clause. The federal court found that the statute placed "disproportionate burdens" on trucks carrying waste from outside of Virginia. The second provision found to be unconstitutional under the commerce clause was the 2,000 tons per day cap placed on landfills for accepting municipal solid waste. This is a recommendation of the Virginia Code Commission.
Patron - Landes

P HB 1710

Virginia Public Building Authority; water treatment. Authorizes the Virginia Public Building Authority to issue bonds in an amount not to exceed $250 million for grants to be used solely for the purpose of funding the installation of nutrient removal technologies at specified publicly owned treatment works and non-significant discharges to implement the Commonwealth's Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategies. This bill is identical to SB 771.
Patron - Callahan

P HB 2012

Wild Spanish Mustangs Fund. Establishes a fund to protect the last known herd of Spanish mustangs, which roams on the barrier islands of Virginia and North Carolina. The fund will be administered by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, with input from the manager of False Cape State Park and community leaders from the Virginia Beach area, and will pay for such needs as erecting fences to prevent the horses from entering populated areas in Virginia and possibly being killed on Virginia roads and transporting the horses safely back to the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge.
Patron - Suit

P HB 2143

State park regulations. Reduces the penalty for violating Virginia state park regulations from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class 3 misdemeanor.
Patron - Kilgore

P HB 2339

State forests permits. Authorizes the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, under a cooperative agreement with the Department of Forestry, to sell permits for hunting and trapping in state forests. The bill also removes obsolete sections that give the clerks of courts the authority to sell such permits.
Patron - Abbitt

P HB 2396

Scenic River. Designates additional portions of Goose Creek in Fauquier and Loudoun Counties as segments of the Goose Creek State Scenic River.
Patron - Athey

P HB 2568

Violation of erosion and sediment control ordinances. Allows localities to adopt an ordinance that assesses a civil penalty between $100 and $1,000 for violation of erosion and sediment control laws. The bill also increases the cap on civil penalties from $3,000 to $10,000. This bill is identical to SB 821.
Patron - Shannon

P HB 2825

Virginia Land Conservation Fund disbursements. Establishes a threshold that determines how the unrestricted funds in the Virginia Land Conservation Fund will be expended. If, by September, the new deposits in the Fund are less than $10 million, 25% of the money in the Fund is allocated to the Open-Space Land Preservation Trust (OSLPTF) Fund and 75% is disbursed in the form of grants equally among the following four uses: natural area protection, open spaces and parks (including land for hunting, fishing or wildlife watching), farmlands and forest preservation, and historic area preservation. If the Fund contains $10 million or more, the OSLPTF receives 25% of the money in the Fund and the remaining funds are awarded equally in the form of grants among five uses: natural area protection, open spaces and parks (including land for hunting, fishing or wildlife watching), farmland preservation, forestland conservation, and historic area preservation. Any OSLPTF funds not disbursed or committed to a project by the end of the fiscal year reverts to the Virginia Land Conservation Fund to be redistributed among the authorized uses. This bill is identical to SB 942.
Patron - Ware, R.L.

P HB 3113

Department of Environmental Quality. Consolidates the State Air Pollution Control Board, the State Water Control Board, and the Waste Management Board into one eleven-member citizen board--the Virginia Board of Environmental Quality--with the authority to adopt regulations, including general permit regulations. All other responsibilities of the existing boards, including the authority to issue licenses and permits, shall be transferred to the Department of Environmental Quality. The Department will hold public meetings for the presentation of staff recommendations on major permitting decisions. A citizen appeals board is established and granted the authority to hear appeals on decisions of the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality and to recommend reconsideration by the Director. The bill includes a "re-enactment clause" that requires the General Assembly of 2008 to reaffirm the legislation and delays the effective date until July 1, 2008. This bill is identical to SB 1403.
Patron - Landes

P HB 3133

Landfill postclosure document. Requires the Department of Environmental Quality to develop a postclosure guidance document for those landfills that stopped taking solid waste prior to October 9, l993. The document is to be developed by May 1, 2007, and has to include comments made by the public. This bill contains an emergency clause.
Patron - Morgan

P HB 3135

Revenue from state forests. Designates one-eighth of the proceeds generated by the state forests in the Counties of Appomattox, Buckingham, and Cumberland to be disbursed to those counties, and one-eighth to be expended by the Department of Forestry, in consultation with these counties, to enhance recreational opportunities in the state forests located in the three counties.
Patron - Abbitt

P HB 3151

Department of Conservation and Recreation, Lessor. Authorizes lease of certain land within First Landing State Park to the City of Virginia Beach, Lessee. This bill is identical to SB 1418.
Patron - Iaquinto

P HB 3192

Disbursement of funds appropriated for caring for Revolutionary War cemeteries and graves. Provides that the number of grave sites located at New Providence Presbyterian Church that are eligible for funding under § 10.1-2211.1 of the Code be increased to 16.
Patron - Cline

P SB 771

Virginia Public Building Authority; water treatment. Authorizes the Virginia Public Building Authority to issue bonds in an amount not to exceed $250 million for grants to be used solely for the purpose of funding the installation of nutrient removal technologies at specified publicly owned treatment works and non-significant discharges to implement the Commonwealth's Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategies. This bill is identical to HB 1710.
Patron - Chichester

P SB 821

Violation of erosion and sediment control ordinances. Allows localities to adopt an ordinance that assesses a civil penalty between $100 and $1,000 for violation of erosion and sediment control laws. The bill also increases the cap on civil penalties from $3,000 to $10,000. This bill is identical to HB 2568.
Patron - Devolites Davis

P SB 925

Methods to determine opacity. Authorizes the Executive Director of the Department of Environmental Quality or his representative to use various methods to determine whether opacity requirements or opacity limits for air quality are being met.
Patron - Ticer

P SB 942

Virginia Land Conservation Fund disbursements. Establishes a threshold that determines how the unrestricted funds in the Virginia Land Conservation Fund will be expended. If, by September, the new deposits in the Fund are less than $10 million, 25% of the moneys in the Fund is allocated to the Open-Space Land Preservation Trust Fund (OSLPTF) and 75% is disbursed in the form of grants equally among the following four uses: natural area protection, open spaces and parks (including land for hunting, fishing or wildlife watching), farmlands and forest preservation, and historic area preservation. If the Fund contains $10 million or more, the OSLPTF receives 25% of the moneys in the Fund and the remaining funds are awarded equally in the form of grants among five uses: natural area protection, open spaces and parks (including land for hunting, fishing or wildlife watching), farmland preservation, forestland conservation, and historic area preservation. Any OSLPTF funds not disbursed or committed to a project by the end of the fiscal year revert to the Virginia Land Conservation Fund to be redistributed among the authorized uses. This bill is identical to HB 2825.
Patron - Ticer

P SB 963

Conveyance of George Washington's Grist Mill State Park. Specifies that the George Washington's Grist Mill State Park property that the Department of Conservation and Recreation is authorized, pursuant to legislation enacted in 1996 and amended in 1997, to convey to the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union, Inc., includes parcels that were conveyed to the Department of Conservation and Recreation in 2001.
Patron - Puller

P SB 1115

Sale of trees and timber. Places the proceeds from the sale of the timber and trees taken from (i) state park lands into the State Park Conservation Resources Fund and (ii) natural area preserves into the Natural Area Preservation Fund. The bill also requires competitive bids when the appraised value of the trees is more than $50,000. Currently, the threshold for competitive bidding is $10,000.
Patron - Quayle

P SB 1301

Water Quality Improvement Fund; CSO funding for the City of Lynchburg and the City of Richmond. Creates a formula for funding elimination of the combined sewer overflow (CSO) in the City of Lynchburg and the City of Richmond.
Patron - Newman

P SB 1403

Department of Environmental Quality. Consolidates the State Air Pollution Control Board, the State Water Control Board, and the Waste Management Board into one eleven-member citizen board--the Virginia Board of Environmental Quality--with the authority to adopt regulations, including general permit regulations. All other responsibilities of the existing boards, including the authority to issue licenses and permits, shall be transferred to the Department of Environmental Quality. The Department will hold public meetings for the presentation of staff recommendations on major permitting decisions. A citizen appeals board is established and granted the authority to hear appeals on decisions of the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality and to recommend reconsideration by the Director. The bill includes a "re-enactment clause" that requires the General Assembly of 2008 to reaffirm the legislation and delays the effective date until July 1, 2008. This bill is identical to HB 3113.
Patron - Puckett

P SB 1418

Department of Conservation and Recreation, Lessor. Authorizes lease of certain land within First Landing State Park to the City of Virginia Beach, Lessee. This bill is identical to HB 3151.
Patron - Wagner

Failed

F HB 1786

Improper disposal of solid waste. Authorizes nonprofit organizations, whose primary mission is to protect Virginia's natural resources, to receive the proceeds from a civil action they brought for the improper disposal of solid waste.
Patron - Kilgore

F HB 1945

Solid waste disposal fee. Requires that landfill operators pay a tipping fee for each ton of solid waste received at the landfill. The fee increases commensurate with the volume of trash disposed of at the landfill. Moneys will be deposited into the general fund.
Patron - Purkey

F HB 2206

State environmental review process. Provides that, for coverage under general permits issued pursuant to Title 10.1, 28.2, 29.1, or 62.1, the state agency, board, or commission that issues these permits must, within 10 working days of receipt of an application from the Department of Transportation for a road or highway construction project, review the application for completeness and either accept the application or request additional specific information from the Department of Transportation. Coverage under the general permit must be approved, approved with conditions, or denied within 30 working days of receipt of a complete application. The bill also corrects an error in existing law.
Patron - Wardrup

F HB 2343

State park. Renames Smith Mountain Lake State Park the A. Victor Thomas-Smith Mountain Lake State Park.
Patron - Abbitt

F HB 2384

Uniform environmental covenant. Authorizes the Department of Environmental Quality to enter into environmental covenants with interest holders in real property that restrict the use of the real property. The covenants are intended to survive transfers of ownership interests in the land or operations of law that may otherwise terminate the covenant. The bill spells out the recordation process and notice to subsequent holders of interest. Prior held interests are not affected by the covenant. The Department of Environmental Quality will create an electronic registry containing all environmental covenants.
Patron - May

F HB 2679

Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act; imposition and collection of certain fees. Provides that any locality that has designated Chesapeake Bay Preservation areas and that includes within its comprehensive plan a calculation of the capital costs of public facilities necessary to serve residential uses may impose and collect impact fees to cover the costs of issuing permits for residential uses in amounts consistent with the methodologies used in its comprehensive plan to defray the capital costs of public facilities related to the residential development. A locality imposing impact fees pursuant to the provisions of this bill shall allow credit against the impact fees for cash proffers collected for the purposes of defraying the capital costs of public facilities related to the residential development. In addition, a locality imposing impact fees pursuant to the provisions of this bill may require that such impact fees be paid prior to and as a condition of the issuance of any necessary building permits for residential uses.
Patron - Frederick

F HB 2680

Impact fees for public facilities related to residential development. Provides that any locality that has designated Chesapeake Bay Preservation areas and that includes within its comprehensive plan a calculation of the capital costs of public facilities necessary to serve residential uses may impose and collect impact fees to cover the costs of issuing permits for residential uses in amounts consistent with the methodologies used in its comprehensive plan to defray the capital costs of public facilities related to the residential development. A locality imposing impact fees pursuant to the provisions of this bill shall allow credit against the impact fees for cash proffers collected for the purposes of defraying the capital costs of public facilities related to the residential development. In addition, a locality imposing impact fees pursuant to the provisions of this bill may require that such impact fees be paid prior to and as a condition of the issuance of any necessary building permits for residential uses.
Patron - Frederick

F HB 2878

Methods to determine opacity. Authorizes the Executive Director of the Department of Environmental Quality to use various methods to determine whether opacity requirements for air quality are being met.
Patron - Englin

F HB 3081

Notification of increased power generation; civil penalty. Requires power generation facilities that have been ordered by the U.S. Department of Energy to increase their power generation to notify those persons who have requested such notification if the increased operation is predicted to potentially cause exceedances of air quality standards. If such notification is not provided, the owner of the facility can be assessed a civil penalty of up to $1,000, with each day of violation being a separate offense.
Patron - Englin

F HB 3102

Water Quality Improvement Fund; CSO funding for the City of Lynchburg and the City of Richmond. Provides that the first $7 million in each fiscal year appropriated to the Water Quality Improvement Fund from surplus revenues and any unreserved general fund balance would be deposited into a special fund to be used to help eliminate combined sewer overflow (CSO) in the City of Lynchburg and the City of Richmond, with $3.5 million allocated to each city. The total amount used for CSO in the City of Lynchburg from the Water Quality Improvement Fund would equal $70 million, $7 million in each fiscal year for the next 10 fiscal years beginning July 1, 2007. This bill is identical to SB 1301.
Patron - Valentine

F HB 3178

Funding for upgrades of wastewater treatment plants. Provides for a direct appropriation to the Water Quality Improvement Fund (WQIF) of no more than $500 million for grants to upgrade wastewater treatment plants and provides three methods for the payment of that sum: (i) current funding in the WQIF; (ii) future deposits to the WQIF; and, (iii) the use of Virginia Public Building Authority bonds. The bill provides for the payment of these grants to 89 publicly-owned wastewater treatment plants according to the methodology specified in the Water Quality Improvement Act, with a minimum grant amount of 35% of the costs for the design and installation of nutrient removal technology. Should any grant be prorated, the bill prioritizes the use of any year-end revenue surplus or unappropriated general fund balances deposited to the WQIF be used to offset any proration.
Patron - Callahan

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General Assembly>Division of Legislative Services>Publications>Session Summaries>2007>Conservation

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