Environment

Protection of native migratory fish; work group report. Directs the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources to convene a work group of relevant stakeholders to address the decline in Virginia's native migratory fish in the James River and Chesapeake Bay. The bill requires the work group to (i) evaluate the cumulative ecological impacts of surface water withdrawals excluded from the Virginia Water Protection Permit requirements on aquatic organisms and freshwater systems; (ii) review and identify how state agencies address particular needs of fish that are listed as threatened or endangered under the federal endangered species list or the Virginia Species of Greatest Conservation Need; and (iii) develop recommendations for (a) updating the regulations regarding surface water intakes excluded from permitting requirements to meet protective standards, (b) reviewing a statewide inventory of unpermitted intake structures, and (c) assessing the feasibility of installing measures to reduce aquatic organism mortality. The bill requires the Secretary to submit a report of the findings and recommendations of the work group to the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources by October 1, 2027.