Waste to Energy Grant Program established; report. Establishes the Waste to Energy Grant Program to incentivize eligible localities, defined by the bill as counties, cities, and towns located in Planning District 23, to dispose of their waste through use of a qualifying waste to energy plant, as defined by the bill. The bill provides that, for any year in which at least one grant is awarded by the Program, the Department of Environmental Quality must submit a report to the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations detailing information on the utilization of the Program and its impact on waste management in grant recipient localities.
Light pollution education and dark sky preservation. Provides that the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) shall serve as the lead agency for public education and outreach related to light pollution. The bill requires DEQ, in coordination with the Department of Energy, the Department of Wildlife Resources, and the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), to develop and implement an education and outreach program to (i) inform the public about the impacts of light pollution on public health, safety, wildlife, and the environment; (ii) promote best practices for outdoor lighting, including energy-efficient and properly shielded outdoor lighting fixtures; and (iii) encourage voluntary adoption of lighting practices that reduce light pollution and energy waste. The bill further provides that DCR may designate qualifying areas within the Commonwealth as Dark Sky Preserves, as defined in the bill, and that a Dark Sky Preserve designation shall be voluntary and advisory and shall not create additional land use or lighting restrictions beyond those established by local ordinance. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.
Board of Wildlife Resources; prescribing seasons and bag limits for taking wild birds, animals, and fish. Provides that when an investigation of the Board of Wildlife Resources shows, for any species of wild bird, animal, or fish within the jurisdiction of the Board, that there is an unusual scarcity of such wild bird, animal, or fish or a risk that the population of such wild bird, animal, or fish in any city or county could be eliminated, the Board shall prescribe the seasons and bag limits for such wild bird, animal, or fish in such city or county accordingly to promote the recovery and stabilization of such wild bird, animal, or fish population.
Virginia Institute of Marine Science; duties; oyster stock assessment; report. Directs the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) to conduct, in collaboration with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), a stock assessment of the oyster population in the waters of the Commonwealth beginning in calendar year 2026 and occurring no less frequently than every three years thereafter. The bill directs VIMS to report its findings and any recommendations to the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources, VMRC's Shellfish Management Division, and 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 December 1 of the calendar year in which such assessment has been conducted. The bill also directs VMRC to utilize the findings and recommendations of such assessment in its fisheries and restoration management decisions no later than July 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which such assessment has been conducted.
Chesapeake Bay Pay for Outcomes Fund established. Establishes the Chesapeake Bay Pay for Outcomes Fund to provide outcome-based payments for verified reductions in nutrient and sediment pollution from nonpoint sources within the Chesapeake Bay watershed of the Commonwealth. The Department of Environmental Quality is directed to administer the Fund and to establish a competitive solicitation process for awarding payments from the Fund.
Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program; small farms. Provides that no less than 30 percent of the funds distributed to the Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program used for matching grants for agricultural best management practices shall be granted to small farms, as defined in the bill.
Geoengineering prohibited; civil penalties. Prohibits any person from engaging in geoengineering, defined in the bill as the intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus into the atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of sunlight, in the Commonwealth. The bill provides that any person who violates such prohibition shall be subject to civil penalties authorized by relevant law.
Residential Well Water Testing and Treatment Program and Fund. Directs the State Board of Health to adopt regulations to utilize point-of-use or point-of-entry drinking water treatment or filtration systems to remove or significantly reduce concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulfonate, and other established and emerging contaminants of concern that meet or exceed maximum contaminant levels or health advisory levels for the same contaminant adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or, in the in the absence of an EPA health advisory for such contaminant, a contaminant level determined by the Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water. The bill also establishes the Residential Well Water Testing and Treatment Program and Program Fund to allow the Department to test and treat contaminated drinking water through grants for the use of eligible treatment or filtration systems in private residential wells. This bill is a recommendation of the State Water Commission.
Occoquan Reservoir; low-flow protections for drinking water safe yield. Requires any Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit issued after July 1, 2026, authorizing the diversion of sewage or reclaimed water from a publicly owned treatment works for reuse that would otherwise discharge into the Occoquan Reservoir, the Occoquan River, Bull Run, or any of their tributaries above the Occoquan Reservoir to incorporate certain low-flow protection requirements for drinking water safe yield if the total diversion amount allowed by the permit exceeds 500,000 gallons per day. The bill also prohibits the issuance of any Virginia Water Protection Permit after July 1, 2026, authorizing the withdrawal of water for consumptive uses from the Occoquan Reservoir, the Occoquan River, Bull Run, or any of their tributaries above the Occoquan Reservoir for any purpose other than agricultural or irrigation purposes or for continued operation, expansion, or relocation of existing public water supply withdrawals.
Pesticides; manufacture, distribution, use, or sale of paraquat prohibited. Prohibits any person from manufacturing, distributing, using, or selling any pesticide containing paraquat, defined in the bill, as an active ingredient. The bill allows the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to seize any such pesticide containing paraquat on complaint to the circuit court in the area where the pesticide is located.
