Department of Conservation and Recreation; Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan. Directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation, when updating the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan, to identify areas where marshes may migrate in the face of sea level rise.
Department of Environmental Quality; industrial wastewater; publicly owned treatment works; PFAS monitoring. Directs every publicly owned treatment works (POTW) to require certain new or industrial users of such POTW to perform and report to such POTW no later than 30 days after receipt from a laboratory the results as received of quarterly discharge monitoring for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for an initial characterization period of one year, provided, however, that such POTW may discontinue remaining quarterly monitoring by an industrial user with proper monitoring results that are below the method detection level for the first two quarters. If an industrial user detects PFAS in any amount above the detection method limit in its initial year of quarterly monitoring, the bill requires such industrial user to continue to perform and report to the POTW no later than 30 days after receipt from the laboratory the results as received of quarterly discharge monitoring for PFAS. The bill requires a POTW that receives PFAS monitoring results to report such results to the Department of Environmental Quality on a quarterly basis. Finally, the bill directs any POTW to notify an owner or operator of an industrial user subject to the monitoring requirements of the bill of the requirement to submit the initial quarterly monitoring results for PFAS within 30 days of the effective date of the bill. This bill is identical to SB 138.
HB 1381 prohibits the use of bioslurry injection wells in designated groundwater management areas. Bioslurry - agricultural waste from livestock processing - is typically injected into the ground for disposal; this bill bans such wells in specific groundwater protection zones. It directly affects agricultural operations that rely on bioslurry injection for waste management within these areas. The key provision is a statewide ban on new bioslurry injection wells in designated groundwater zones, aiming to protect water resources from potential contamination.
Office of Working Lands Preservation; powers and duties; Forest Sustainability Fund. Adds management of the Forest Sustainability Fund to the powers and duties of the Office of Working Lands Preservation within the Department of Forestry. This bill is identical to HB 543.
Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund; loan and grant program; deferment of interest accrual and repayment obligations. Provides that for funds disbursed to localities, federally recognized tribes, and Virginia recognized tribes primarily for the purpose of implementing flood prevention and protection projects and studies in areas that are subject to recurrent flooding, interest on loans shall not accrue and repayment obligations shall not come into effect for loans or grants until completion of the project or study for which such funds are disbursed. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee on Recurrent Flooding.
Department of Environmental Quality; Chesapeake Bay Watershed Nutrient Credit Exchange Program; certain industrial stormwater permits; nutrient credits. Provides that for the purposes of the industrial stormwater general permit nutrient reduction compliance for calendar years 2025 and 2026, the term “nutrient credit” shall include nutrient credits generated by point sources in accordance with the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Nutrient Credit Exchange Program, subject to certain conditions. The bill requires the Department of Environmental Quality to (i) prioritize timely and appropriate enforcement actions in the case of any industrial stormwater permittee that fails to comply for calendar years 2025 and 2026 by achieving sufficient onsite nutrient reductions or acquiring sufficient point or nonpoint source nutrient credits and (ii) convene a work group to evaluate and recommend conditions and requirements to most effectively address industrial stormwater general permit nutrient reduction compliance in future calendar years and submit a report summarizing such evaluation and recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources no later than November 1, 2026.
Condemnation of conservation or open-space easement; compensation. Provides that if a person takes by condemnation any land subject to a conservation easement or open-space easement, such person shall compensate the Commonwealth and the locality in which such land is located for certain tax credits and values enumerated in the bill. The bill specifies that any such compensation paid to the Commonwealth shall be in addition to compensation required by other provisions of law.
Remediated Mine Gas Grant Program established; report. Directs the Department of Energy to establish the Remediated Mine Gas Grant Program to assist projects in the Commonwealth with capture and sequestration of remediated mine gas. The bill requires (i) the Department to award grants for the Program to taxpayers on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to appropriation by the General Assembly, and (ii) grant recipients to submit a report to the Department by October 1 of any year in which funds are made available for the Program. The bill also directs the Department to submit a report summarizing the information received from grant recipients to relevant committees of the General Assembly by January 1 after any year in which funds are made available for the Program.
Permit requirements for data centers; emission limits for certain engine-generator sets. Prohibits the Department of Environmental Quality from issuing an air permit for any application submitted for a data center on or after July 1, 2026, unless the emission limit for each engine-generator, defined in the bill, established by such permit is equal to or less than the emissions achieved by a Tier 4 equivalent engine-generator.
Virginia Land Conservation Foundation. Allows the Virginia Land Conservation Board of Trustees to waive the requirement for a holder of a conservation easement to have such easement jointly held with a public body whenever such holder acquires any interest in land other than a fee simple interest from a grant or transfer from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation, provided that such holder is accredited by the national Land Trust Accreditation Commission or meets a similar set of standards and practices adopted by the Board of Trustees and the easement contains a third party right of enforcement, as defined in relevant law, in favor of the Department of Conservation and Recreation or another public body.
