SB 453 Virginia Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Intentional discharge of untreated sewage onto land or into waters of the Commonwealth; penalty.

Summary
Intentional discharge of untreated sewage onto land or into waters of the Commonwealth; civil penalty. Establishes a maximum civil penalty of $50,000 per violation for any person found to have intentionally discharged untreated sewage onto land or into waters of the Commonwealth.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Signed Apr 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Finance and Appropriations Substitute Enrolled · 3 edits · Mar 12, 2026
MINOR
The bill was finalized into an enrolled act, moving from a Senate substitute to the official version signed into law. The primary substantive change is the reorganization of the statute's subsections, specifically moving the text regarding the apportionment of funds to local health departments and the fee for inspections from subsection C to a new subsection D, while shifting the original subsection D (economic cost consideration) to subsection E. Additionally, the text for subsections G and H was updated to include non-breaking spaces in legal citations. These changes ensure the final law is properly formatted for publication and clarify the administrative flow of funds and fees without altering the underlying policy or penalties.
REQUIREMENT

The text regarding the apportionment of fees to local health departments and the fee for installation/monitoring inspections was moved from subsection C to a new subsection D, while the requirement to consider economic costs was moved to subsection E.

TECHNICAL

Legal citations within subsections C, D, E, G, H, J, L, and M were updated to include non-breaking spaces (e.g., § 32.1-164 became § 32.1-164) to meet final publication standards.

The header was changed from 'SENATE SUBSTITUTE' to 'ENROLLED', indicating the bill has passed all legislative stages and is now official law.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 12, 2026 · House of Delegates Mar 5, 2026

How they voted

390
Passed
Total votes 39
Feb 12, 2026
D Democratic20
20 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican19
19 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
36
Key actions
11
Committee
8
Apr 13, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 946 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB453ER)
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House (95-Y 0-N 0-A)
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Appropriations (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 26, 2026
Committee
Assigned HAPP sub: Commerce Agriculture & Natural Resources
lower
Feb 25, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and referred to Appropriations (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources
lower
Feb 13, 2026
Upper · Passed
Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote (38-Y 0-N 0-A)
upper
Feb 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (14-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 3, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N)
upper
Jan 27, 2026
Committee
Assigned HACNR sub: Water Usage
upper
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Richard Stuart
Richard Stuart
RRepublican
VA
25