| Bills | Committee | Last action | Date |
| HB 420 - Bulova - Federal park operations; temporary funding. | (H) Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (S) Committee on Finance and Appropriations | (S) Continued to 2025 in Finance and Appropriations (13-Y 1-N) | 02/29/24 |
| notes: Authorizes the Governor to provide funding and execute necessary agreements to allow the temporary operation of any Virginia property controlled by the National Park Service in the event of a federal government shutdown. Such authority shall be contingent on the U.S. Department of the Interior executing an agreement which authorizes the Commonwealth to operate such property. The bill states that the funds may come from the State Park Conservation Resources Fund, voluntary donations, funds allocated to the Department of Conservation and Recreation, or other sources. However, the bill clarifies that no funds originally allocated from the general fund shall be used to operate a federal park for more than 21 days without the approval of the General Assembly. | |||
| HB 892 - Bulova - Farmland Preservation, Office of; transfers Office to Dept. of Forestry. | (H) Committee on Appropriations (S) Committee on Finance and Appropriations | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0146) | 03/26/24 |
| notes: Transfers from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to the Department of Forestry the Office of Farmland Preservation and its powers and duties and reporting requirements, the Virginia Farm Link Program, the Century Farm Program, and the Virginia Farmland Preservation Fund. The bill renames the Office as the Office of Working Lands Preservation. The bill makes technical amendments to effectuate the transfer. | |||
| HB 944 - Lopez - Forest Sustainability Fund; fund allocation. | (H) Committee on Appropriations (S) Committee on Finance and Appropriations | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0699) | 04/08/24 |
| notes: Provides that moneys from the Forest Sustainability Fund must be allocated proportionally among localities that forego tax revenues as a result of the use value assessment and taxation for real estate devoted for forest use. The bill specifies that no locality shall receive an allocation of more than four percent or less than one-half of one percent of available funds from the Fund. | |||
| SB 455 - Marsden - Wildlife Corridor Grant Fund; created, report. | (H) Committee on Appropriations (S) Committee on Finance and Appropriations | (H) Tabled in Appropriations (22-Y 0-N) | 02/26/24 |
| notes: Establishes the Wildlife Corridor Grant Fund to provide grants for projects that conserve or enhance wildlife corridors prioritized by the Wildlife Corridor Action Plan and associated wildlife crossing infrastructure projects. A grant program is established for the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Department of Forestry, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Wildlife Resources to collaborate on disbursing moneys from the Fund, and such Departments are directed to submit a report to the General Assembly by November 1 of each odd-numbered year concerning funding of the Fund, the awarding of grants from the Fund, and the progress of projects funded by the Fund, including data on the use of project infrastructure by wildlife. | |||
| SB 465 - Marsden - Virginia Land Conservation Foundation; land trusts that have been accredited, etc. | (S) Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources | (S) Continued to 2025 in Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (15-Y 0-N) | 01/30/24 |
| notes: Allows land trusts that have been accredited by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission or a similar set of standards and practices adopted by the Virginia Land Conservation Board of Trustees (the Board) to hold an interest in land other than a fee simple interest as a result of a grant or transfer from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation (the Foundation) without a co-holder. Current law requires that certain interests in land as a result of a grant or transfer from the Foundation be held jointly by a holder and a public body. The bill also allows, whenever a holder acquires fee simple interest in land as a result of a grant or transfer from the Foundation, the Board to accept a reversionary interest in such land as an alternative to a public body holding an open space easement in such land. | |||
| SB 616 - Pillion - Farmland Preservation, Office of; transfers Office to Dept. of Forestry. | (H) Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (S) Committee on Finance and Appropriations | (G) Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0010) | 03/08/24 |
| notes: Transfers from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to the Department of Forestry the Office of Farmland Preservation and its powers and duties and reporting requirements, the Virginia Farm Link Program, the Century Farm Program, and the Virginia Farmland Preservation Fund. The bill renames the Office as the Office of Working Lands Preservation. The bill makes technical amendments to effectuate the transfer. | |||