Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas; acceptance of signed and sealed plan in lieu of local plan review. Authorizes a locality subject to the provisions of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act to accept a set of plans and supporting calculations prepared by a licensed professional, as described in the bill, for any land-disturbing activity that disturbs 2,500 square feet or more but less than one acre in an area of a locality designated as a Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area. The bill provides that such plans and supporting calculations shall satisfy the requirement that the locality retain a certified plan reviewer or conduct a plan review.
Fishing license requirements; exemptions; free fishing days. Increases from three to six days the maximum number of free fishing days, during which a person is allowed to fish without a fishing license, that the Board of Wildlife Resources may designate for inland waters in the Commonwealth and the Commissioner of Marine Resources may designate for saltwater recreational fishing in the Commonwealth.
Time zone; permanent standard time in Virginia. Exempts Virginia from observing daylight saving time, thereby making Eastern Standard Time the standard time in Virginia year-round.
Sale and distribution of plastic carryout bags by grocery stores prohibited; civil penalty. Prohibits any grocery store, as defined in the bill, from selling or distributing any plastic carryout bag, as defined in the bill, to its customers on or after January 1, 2027, unless such bag qualifies as an exempt bag, as defined in the bill. The bill provides that any grocery store that violates this provision shall be issued by the Department of Environmental Quality a written warning for the first violation and shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for a second and each subsequent violation as determined by the Director of the Department. The bill also requires any grocery store, no later than January 1, 2027, to develop, implement, and maintain a program to encourage its customers to utilize reusable bags, as defined in the bill.
State of emergency; spending authority during budgetary lapse. Authorizes the Governor to declare a state of emergency in the event of a budgetary lapse, defined as a state of affairs in which the general appropriation act has expired and no lawful appropriation authority is in effect. Upon such a declaration of a state of emergency, the Governor shall have authority to continue disbursement of funds for essential public services, defined in the bill, at levels equivalent to those that were in effect prior to expiration of the general appropriation act. Such spending authority shall begin upon declaration of a state of emergency during a budgetary lapse and shall continue until enactment of a general appropriation act. The Governor, upon declaring a state of emergency, shall have 30 days to provide a report to the General Assembly that details his plan to continue the functioning of essential public services during the budgetary lapse and to submit a budget bill to the General Assembly that, if enacted, would end the emergency. The bill contains an enactment clause providing that, unless reenacted, it shall expire two years and six months after the end of the session of the General Assembly in which it is enacted.
Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund; Director of Department of Environmental Quality; point source pollution grant agreements. Clarifies that the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality is only required to enter into water quality improvement grant agreements with all facilities designated as significant dischargers or eligible nonsignificant dischargers that apply for such grants if sufficient and unobligated funds are available in the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund at the time the Director enters into such grant agreements.
Kill permits for deer, elk, or bear; local authority. Clarifies that the Director of the Department of Wildlife Resources or his designee has the exclusive authority to provide written authorization to kill deer, elk, or bear and prohibits a locality from amending, abridging, or limiting such authorization.
Highway rights-of-way; invasive species. Requires the Commonwealth Transportation Board to establish and implement a policy for identifying, digging up, and destroying any invasive plant on the list of invasive plants created by the Department of Conservation and Recreation on any state highway right-of-way.
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 2.2-4311.3, relating to Virginia Public Procurement Act; prohibition on boycotting Israel.
Local officers; removal of officer appointed for a term certain; officers compensated by the appointing authority. Allows any officer appointed to an office for a term established by law and who receives compensation for his services by the appointing authority to be removed from office if the officer fails to perform his duties as outlined in the description of his position or the rules of the public body to which he has been appointed. The bill specifies that, prior to removal, the officer must be issued a warning from the appointing authority that includes a description of the violation committed and that if an additional violation occurs after the warning, the officer may be removed by a majority vote of the appointing authority upon the motion of the supervisor or council member representing the district for which the officer serves.
Department of Wildlife Resources; free or partially discounted fees to hunt, fish, and trap; reimbursement. Requires the Department of Wildlife Resources to maintain an annual accounting of revenue that would have been received by the Department from license exemptions or free or partially discounted fees to hunt, fish, or trap that are established by the General Assembly on or after July 1, 2025, and to submit such accounting to the Department of Accounts by August 1 of each year. The bill requires the Department of Accounts to pay the actual amount of such revenue within 30 days into the Game Protection Fund and also allows the accounting required by the bill and any other records relating to such accounting to be subject to audit by the State Comptroller.
Virginia Institute of Marine Science and Marine Resources Commission; oyster stock assessment; report. Directs the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) in collaboration with the Marine Resources Commission to conduct a stock assessment of the oyster population in the waters of the Commonwealth. The bill requires VIMS to provide a report on its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources no later than April 1, 2026.
