Environment

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.

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.

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.

Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services; invasive plant species installation; written notification to property owners; civil penalty. Provides that the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services may assess a civil penalty in an amount of not more than $250 for a first violation, $500 for a second violation, and $1,000 for each subsequent violation to any tradesperson involved with proposing or installing plants who fails to provide written notification to property owners when such plants are on the Department of Conservation and Recreation's list of invasive plant species. Current law provides that any such tradesperson who fails to provide such written notice is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. This bill is identical to HB 710.

Electric utilities; renewable energy portfolio standard; zero-carbon electricity; accelerated clean energy buyers. Revises the conditions under which accelerated clean energy buyers, defined in existing law as accelerated renewable energy buyers, may contract with Appalachian Power or Dominion Energy Virginia to obtain renewable energy certificates (RECs). The bill exempts an accelerated clean energy buyer obtaining capacity, energy, or RECs from qualifying resources or facilities from the assignment of non-bypassable costs associated with compliance with the renewable portfolio standard program based on the amount and type of renewable energy certificates obtained in proportion to such accelerated clean energy buyer's total electric energy consumption. This bill incorporates SB 470. This bill is identical to HB 369.

Department of Environmental Quality; special orders; Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program; civil penalties. Increases the maximum civil penalty amount that the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality may assess for any special order to a person to comply with certain related laws, regulations, permits, and certifications from $10,000 to $32,500. The bill increases from $1,000 to $32,500 the maximum civil penalty that a locality authorized to administer a Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program is able to collect for any one violation of certain regulations, orders, ordinances, program provisions, conditions of land-disturbance approvals, and provisions of state law. The bill also provides, however, that for a land-disturbing activity that (i) disturbs an area measuring at least 10,000 square feet but less than one acre in an area not designated as a Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area and (ii) is not part of a larger common plan of development or sale that disturbs one or more acres of land, the civil penalty shall not exceed $5,000 for each violation, and a series of violations arising from the same set of facts shall not exceed $50,000.

Marine Resources Commission; Habitat Policy Oversight Committee established; powers and duties. Establishes the Habitat Policy Oversight Committee within the Marine Resources Commission to advise the Commission and the Habitat Management Division of the Commission on policies within their jurisdiction and to support the Commission's coastal resilience efforts. The bill establishes the powers and duties of the Committee, establishes how the members of the Committee are appointed, and provides that the Committee shall have 11 voting members and two ex-officio members. This bill incorporates HB 619.

Highway rights-of-way; invasive species. Prohibits the Commonwealth Transportation Board (the Board) and Commissioner of Highways from planting or causing or suffering to be planted any invasive plant on the list of invasive plants created by the Department of Conservation and Recreation on the right-of-way of any state highway. Current law prohibits the planting of three listed plants if the governing body of the locality declares such weeds or plants to be injurious and requires the Board to remove such plants. The bill removes such requirement for the Board to remove such plants and requires the Department of Transportation to conduct a review of the processes and resources that are necessary and appropriate to (i) determine the prevalence of invasive plants on the list of invasive plant species created by the Department of Conservation and Recreation and develop options for establishing and implementing a plan to remove or control such plants and manage such plants on an ongoing basis.