SB 704

Abstract

Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan initiatives; nutrient management plans; stream exclusion. Sets December 31, 2025, as the target date to achieve the water quality goals contained in Virginia's final Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP). The bill provides that if the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry and the Secretary of Natural Resources (the Secretaries) jointly determine on or after July 1, 2026, that such goals have not been met by a combination of agricultural best management conservation practices, including the coverage of a sufficient portion of Chesapeake Bay cropland by nutrient management plans or the installation of a sufficient number of livestock stream exclusion practices, then certain provisions requiring the use of nutrient management plans and livestock stream exclusions shall become effective. The bill directs the Secretaries to convene a stakeholder advisory group to review annual progress toward the implementation of agricultural commitments in the WIP, develop a process to assist in creating nutrient management plans, and develop a plan for the stream exclusion program. The measure also directs the Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board to establish by December 31, 2020, the official method for identifying perennial streams and directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation to establish by July 1, 2021, a portable stream fencing practice for inclusion in the Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practice Cost-Share Program. This bill is identical to HB 1422.

Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan initiatives; nutrient management plans; livestock stream exclusion. Requires any operator of at least 50 acres of cropland in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to maintain and implement a nutrient management plan for such cropland which must be prepared by a certified nutrient management planner and approved by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).  The bill requires any person who owns 20 or more bovines in the watershed to install stream exclusion practices that satisfy regulations adopted by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2026, and provides that it shall not become effective unless the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Secretary of Agriculture jointly determine that the Commonwealth's commitments in the Commonwealth's commitments in the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan, as it applies to the agriculture and forestry sector, have not been satisfied.

Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Planinitiatives; nutrient management plans; livestock stream exclusion.Requires any operator of at least 50 acres of cropland in theChesapeake Bay watershed to submit a nutrient management plan forsuch cropland by July 1, 2026, to the Department of Conservationand Recreation (DCR). DCR shall review such plans and provide technicalassistance, and the operator shall have an affirmative defense ifhe has applied for cost-share funding and is waiting to receive such funds. The bill requires any personwho owns 20 or more bovines in the watershed, beginning July 1, 2026,to install stream exclusion practices that satisfy regulations adoptedby the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The person shallhave an affirmative defense if he has applied for cost-share fundingand is waiting to receive such funds, or if his installed streamexclusion practices were damaged or destroyed. Thebill authorizes DCR and DEQ to adopt regulations to carry out itsprovisions. The bill provides that if the Secretary of Natural Resourcesdetermines that sufficient numbers of stream exclusion practices or nutrient management plans have been put in place to satisfy the Commonwealth's commitments in the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load PhaseIII Watershed Implementation Plan, he shall, on or before December31, 2025, recommend that all or part of the bill be repealed.