2008 General Assembly
Significant Bills Affecting The Virginia Department of Forestry
* denotes Agency Bills
** Sec. Agriculture and Forestry Bills
| Bill Number | Chief Patron | Committee Assignment | Bill Summary | Date/Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HB271 | Paula J. Miller | Appropriations | Amends the definition of "deceased person" to
include an individual who suffers a heart attack or stroke during non-routine,
stressful, or strenuous law-enforcement situations, fire suppression, rescue,
or other such activities and who suffers the heart attack or stroke while
engaged in the activity or not later than 24 hours after the activity.
The bill also allows for the $100,000 payment to the beneficiary of the
deceased to be annually adjusted to reflect changes in the Consumer Price
Index. LIS > Bill Tracking > SB271 > 2008 session |
01/02/08 Referred to Committee on Appropriations 01/15/08 Assigned App. sub: Compensation and Retirement (Jones, S.C.) 02/12/08 Left in Appropriations |
| HB848 | R. Lee Ware, Jr. | Agriculture, Conservation, Natural Resources | Tasks the Office of Farmland Preservation to create
a lease of development rights program. Under such program, properties of
20 acres and larger and that are enrolled in "land use" taxation
programs, would be eligible to participate in a lease of development rights
program whereby the property owner relinquishes "by right" development
for seven years in exchange for a contractually agreed upon lease amount. LIS > Bill Tracking > HB848 > 2008 session |
01/08/08 House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered; Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources 01/23/08 Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with amendments (22-Y 0-N) 01/24/08 Read first time; Read second time 01/25/08 Committee amendments agreed to; Engrossed by House as amended; Printed as engrossed 01/28/08 Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N); Communicated to Senate 01/29/08 Constitutional reading dispensed; Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources 02/18/08 Continued to 2009 in Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (15-Y 0-N) |
| HB913** | Harry R. Purkey | Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources | Prohibits any person from using the titles "arborist" and "consulting
arborist" unless he possesses the proper certification. The bill provides
for injunctive relief to restrain the invalid use of the titles and exempts
any person who is not certified to perform arboriculture, defined as the
specialized field involving the cultivation of trees and shrubs especially
for ornamental purposes, if the person does not represent himself to the
public as being an arborist or a consulting arborist. LIS > Bill Tracking > HB913 > 2008 session |
01/08/08 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered; 01/09/08 Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources 01/30/08 Tabled in Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources by voice vote |
| HB1115** | Watkins Abbitt, Jr | Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources | Increases the annual amount a locality pays to
the State Forester to provide forest fire protection, detec-tion, prevention,
and suppression from 5 cents to 9 cents per acre. LIS > Bill Tracking > HB848 > 2008 session |
01/09/08 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered; Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources 01/30/08 Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with amendments (22-Y 0-N) 01/31/08 Read first time 02/04/08 Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) 02/05/08 Constitutional reading dispensed; Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources 02/18/08 Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (13-Y 0-N) 02/19/08 Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) 02/20/08 Read third time; Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) 02/25/08 Enrolled; Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1115ER); Signed by Speaker 02/26/08 Signed by President 03/04/08 Approved by Governor-Chapter 254 (effective 7/1/08) |
| HB1214* | Roslyn Tyler | Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural Resources | Increases to $50,000 the minimum threshold at which
public bidding is required for sales of trees taken from state forests.
Currently, the State Forester is required to solicit bids if the underlying
value of the trees is greater than from $10,000. LIS > Bill Tracking > HB1214 > 2008 session |
01/09/08 Prefiled and ordered printed; Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources 01/23/08 Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (22-Y 0-N) 01/24/08 Read first time 01/25/08 Read second time and engrossed 01/28/08 Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N); Communicated to Senate 01/29/08 Constitutional reading dispensed; Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources 02/11/08 Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (14-Y 0-N) 02/12/08 Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) 02/13/08 Read third time; Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) 02/15/08 Enrolled; Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1214ER); Signed by Speaker; Signed by President 02/22/08 Approved by Governor-Chapter 19 (effective 7/1/08) 02/25/08 Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0019) |
| HB1225 | Danny C. Bowling | Commerce and Labor | Increases the rate of the assessment for the Fire
Programs Fund from one to 1.5% of the total direct gross premium income
for fire and related lines of insurance. LIS > Bill Tracking > HB1225 > 2008 session |
01/09/08 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered; Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor 01/25/08 Assigned C & L sub: 1 01/31/08 Continued to 2009 in Commerce and Labor by voice vote |
| HB1309** | Harvey B. Morgan | Pending | Adds "grantor's trust" to the definition
of "individual" and changes the term "taxpayer" to
individual. This will allow a grantor's trust to benefit from the tax credit
when the property is held in the trust's name. LIS > Bill Tracking > HB1309 > 2008 session |
01/09/08 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered; 01/09/08 Referred to Committee on Finance 01/17/08 Assigned Finance Subcommittee 3 02/04/08 Reported from Finance (22-Y 0-N) 02/05/08 Read First time 02/06/08 Read second time and engrossed 02/07/08 Read third time and passed House (99-Y 0-N); Communicated to Senate 02/08/08 Constitutional reading dispensed; Referred to Committee on Finance 02/20/08 Reported from Finance with amendment (16-Y 0-N) 02/21/08 Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) 02/22/08 Read third time; Reading of amendment waived; Committee amendment agreed to; Engrossed by Senate as amended; Passed Senate with amendment (40-Y 0-N) 02/25/08 House: Placed on Calendar 02/26/08 Senate amendment agreed to by House (96-Y 0-N) 02/28/08 Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1309ER); Signed by Speaker 03/02/08 Signed by President 03/07/08 Approved by Governor-Chapter 449 (effective 7/1/08) |
| HB1437** | David L. Bulova | Counties, Cities, Towns | Provides that certain localities may, by ordinance,
require conservation of trees during the development process. The bill
also provides that the tree conservation ordinance may require that the
site plan for any subdivision or development provide for the preservation
and replace-ment of trees on the development site such that the mini-mum
tree canopy or tree cover percentage 10 years after development is projected
to be as follows: (i) 10 percent tree canopy for a site zoned business,
commercial, or industrial; (ii) 10 percent tree canopy for a residential
site zoned 20 or more units per acre; (iii) 15 per-cent tree canopy for
a residential site zoned more than eight but less than 20 units per acre;
(iv) 20 per-cent tree canopy for a residential site zoned more than four
but not more than eight units per acre; (v) 25 per-cent tree canopy for
a residential site zoned more than two but not more than four units per
acre; and (vi) 30 percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned two
or less units per acre. Finally, the bill mandates that any tree conservation
ordinance provide for cer-tain deviations from the canopy requirements. LIS > Bill Tracking > HB1437 > 2008 session |
01/14/08 Presented and ordered printed; Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns 02/08/08 Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with substitute (17-Y 5-N); Committee substitute printed 02/09/08 Read first time 02/11/08 Read second time; Committee substitute agreed to; Engrossed by House - committee substitute 02/12/08 Read third time and passed House (67-Y 32-N); Communicated to Senate 02/13/08 Constitutional reading dispensed; Referred to Committee on Local Government 02/19/08 Reported from Local Government (15-Y 0-N) 02/21/08 Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) 02/22/08 Read third time; Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) 02/25/08 Enrolled; Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB1437ER) 02/26/08 Signed by Speaker 02/28/08 Signed by President 03/04/08 Approved by Governor-Chapter 333 (effective 7/1/08) |
| HB1501 | Kristen Amundson | Militia, Police and Public Safety | Creates a task force, appointed by the Secretary of Public Safety, to develop criteria for the training and certification of all firefighters in Virginia. The bill sets out the membership of the task force and its duties. | 01/17/08 Presented and ordered printed; Referred to Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety 02/08/08 Passed by indefinitely in Militia, Police and Public Safety (15-Y 7-N) |
| HJ148 | Beverly Sherwood | Commending VFPA on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. LIS > Bill Tracking > HJ148 > 2008 session |
01/08/08 Prefiled and laid on Speaker's table; offered; Introduced bill reprinted; Engrossed by House 01/11/08 Agreed to by House by voice vote; Communicated to Senate 01/14/08 Received; Laid on Clerk’s Desk 01/17/08 Agreed to by Senate by voice vote |
|
| SB166** | Louise Lucas | Local Government | Reduces the maturity date from 20 years to 15 years.
The bill also increases the mature canopy coverage from 20 percent to 30
percent for a residential site zoned 10 units or less per acre. LIS > Bill Tracking > SB166 > 2008 session |
01/07/08 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered; Referred to Committee on Local Government 02/05/08 Continued to 2009 in Local Government (14-Y 0-N) |
| SB234 | Mary Margaret Whipple | Agriculture, Conservation, Natural Resources | Requires that the State Air Pollution Control Board
adopt regulations requiring the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from
stationary sources. The regulations would apply only to those sources that
emit more than a de minimis amount of green-house gas and that are already
re-quired to report emissions of other air pollutants. The Board is also
authorized to adopt regulations that require those same parties to report
greenhouse gas emissions from fleets of motor vehicles. Beginning in 2008,
VDOT is required to provide DEQ with data necessary to maintain a greenhouse
gas emissions invent-tory for individual road segments throughout the Commonwealth. LIS > Bill Tracking > SB234 > 2008 session |
01/07/08 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered; Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources 02/04/08 Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with substitute (9-Y 6-N); Committee substitute printed 02/05/08 Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) 02/06/08 Read second time; Reading of sub-stitute waived; Committee substitute agreed to; Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute 02/07/08 Read third time; Passed by for the8/08 Passed by temporarily; Engrossment reconsidered by Senate (40-Y 0-N); Reading of amendment waived; Amendment by Senator Whipple agreed to; Engrossed by Senate-committee substitute with amendment; Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N); Passed Senate (25-Y 15-N); Communicated to House; Printed as engrossed 02/13/08 Placed on Calendar; Read first time; Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor 02/20/08 Assigned C & L sub: 1 |
| SB308* | W. Roscoe Reynolds | Agriculture, Conservation, Natural Resources | Clarifies the right of the State Forester or his
designees to enter and inspect any forest lands or logging operations to
carry out the provisions of Virginia's forestry laws. The law continues
to provide that no action for trespass may lie against the State Forester
or his designees for actions taken in the performance of their duties. LIS > Bill Tracking > SB308 > 2008 session |
01/08/08 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered; Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources 01/14/08 Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (13-Y 0-N) 01/15/08 Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) 01/16/08 Read second time and engrossed 01/17/08 Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 0-N); Communicated to House 02/11/08 Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources 02/20/08 Continued to 2009 in Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources by voice vote |
| SB367** | John C. Watkins | Finance | Provides retirement credits to special forest wardens
of the DOF who participate directly in extinguishing forest fires. Such
persons would receive eight hours of retirement credits for each day or
portion of a day in which they participate directly in extinguishing a
forest fire. The retirement credits could be used to reduce the 30 yrs
of service other-wise required for eligibility for an unreduced service
retirement allowance, but not below 25 yrs of service. The net years and
months of service remaining after application of the retirement credits
would be the years and months of service required of such special forest
warden for eligibility for an unreduced service retirement allowance. Each
month of service would be eliminated at the rate of one month of service
for each 173 hours of retirement credits. No creditable service or compensation
would be allowed or granted for the retirement credits. LIS > Bill Tracking > SB367 > 2008 session |
01/08/08 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered; Referred to Committee on Finance |
| SB448** | J. Chapman Petersen | Local Government | Provides that localities may, by ordinance, require
conservation of trees during the development process. The bill also provides
that the tree conservation ordinance may require that the site plan for
any subdivision or development provide for the preservation and replacement
of trees on the development site such that the minimum tree canopy or tree
cover percentage 10 years after development is projected to be as follows:
(i) 10 percent tree canopy for a site zoned business, commercial, or industrial;
(ii) 10 percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned 20 or more units
per acre; (iii) 15 percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned more
than 10 but less than 20 units per acre; (iv) 20 percent tree canopy for
a residential site zoned more than five but not more than 10 units per
acre; and (v) 30 percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned one to
five units per acre. Finally, the bill mandates that any tree conservation
ordinance provide for reasonable exceptions to or deviations from the canopy
requirements. LIS > Bill Tracking > SB448 > 2008 session |
01/09/08 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered; Referred to Committee on Local Government 01/29/08 Incorporated by Local Government (SB710-Ticer) (15-Y 0-N) |
| SB491** | Emmett W. Hanger, Jr. | Finance | Provides retirement credits to special forest wardens
of the Department of Forestry who participate directly in extinguishing
forest fires. Such persons would receive eight hours of retirement credits
for each day or portion of a day in which they participate directly in
extinguishing a forest fire. The retirement credits could be used to reduce
the 30 years of service otherwise required for eligibility for an unreduced
service retirement allowance, but not below 25 years of service. The net
years and months of service remaining after application of the retirement
credits would be the years and months of service required of such special
forest warden for eligibility for an unreduced service retirement allowance.
Each month of service would be eliminated at the rate of one month of service
for each 173 hours of retirement credits.
No creditable service or compensation would be allowed or granted for
the retirement credits. |
01/09/08 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered; Referred to Committee on Finance 01/29/08 Incorporated by Finance (SB367-Watkins) (16-Y 0-N) |
| SB599** | Thomas K. Norment, Jr. | Finance | Provides additional creditable service for the
following duties performed by special forest wardens in the scope of employment:
(i) fighting forest fires; (ii) participating in fire or firefighter training
conducted by the Department or an agent thereof; (iii) directly participating
in a prescribed burning; (iv) directly conducting an investigation relating
to the cause of a forest fire; and (v) directly participating in fighting
or directly acting to suppress the danger to life or property from other
emergencies such as hurricanes, floods, and ice storms. A special forest
warden would receive eight hours of additional creditable service for each
day, or portion thereof, in which he performed one or more of such duties. The additional creditable service would be retroactive to January 1, 2003, for special forest wardens in service. LIS > Bill Tracking > SB599 > 2008 session |
01/09/08 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered; Referred to Committee on Finance 01/29/08 Incorporated by Finance (SB367-Watkins) (16-Y 0-N) |
| SB632** | Patricia S. Ticer | Local Government | Provides that certain localities may, by ordinance,
require conservation of trees during the development process. The bill
also provides that the tree conservation ordinance may require that the
site plan for any subdivision or development provide for the preservation
and replacement of trees on the development site such that the minimum
tree canopy or tree cover percentage 10 years after development is projected
to be as follows: (i) 10 percent tree canopy for a site zoned business,
commercial, or industrial; (ii) 10 percent tree canopy for a residential
site zoned 20 or more units per acre; (iii) 15 percent tree canopy for
a residential site zoned more than 10 but less than 20 units per acre;
(iv) 20 percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned more than five
but not more than 10 units per acre; and (v) 30 percent tree canopy for
a residential site zoned one to five units per acre. Finally, the bill
mandates that any tree conservation ordinance provide for reasonable exceptions
to or deviations from the canopy requirements. LIS > Bill Tracking > SB632 > 2008 session |
01/09/08 Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered; Referred to Committee on Local Government 01/29/08 Stricken at request of Patron in Local Government (15-Y 0-N) |
| SB679** | W. Roscoe Reynolds | Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources | Allows the recovery of expenses incurred by a locality,
or by any volunteer fire or rescue squad, for fighting or extinguishing
a fire. Expenses recovered on behalf of a locality shall be paid to the
locality, and those recovered on behalf of a volunteer fire or rescue squad
shall be paid to the volunteer fire or rescue squad. LIS > Bill Tracking > SB679 > 2008 session |
01/14/08 Presented and ordered printed; Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources 02/04/08 Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with amendment (15-Y 0-N) 2/5/08 Constitutional reading dispensed(39-Y 0-N) 02/06/08 Read second time; Reading of amendment waived; Committee amendment agreed to; Engrossed by Senate as amended 02/07/08 Read third time and passed Senate (39-Y 0-N); Communicated to House 02/12/08 Placed on Calendar; Read first time; Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources 02/27/08 Referred from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources by voice vote; Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice 02/29/08 Reported from Courts of Justice with substitute (21-Y 0-N) 03/03/08 Committee substitute printed 03/04/08 Read second time 03/05/08 Read third time; Committee substitute agreed to; Engrossed by House; Passed House with substitute BLOCK VOTE (97-Y 0-N) 03/06/08 House substitute rejected by Senate (5-Y 34-N); House insisted on substitute; House requested conference committee; Senate acceded to request (37-Y 0-N); Conferees appointed by Senate (Reynolds, Deeds, Puckett); Conferees appointed by House(Cline, Fralin, Johnson) 03/08/08 Conference report agreed to by House (99-Y 0-N); VOTE: --- ADOPTION (99-Y 0-N); Reading of conference report waived; Conference report agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N) |
| SB710 | Patricia S. Ticer | Local Government | Provides that certain localities may, by ordinance, require conservation of trees during the development process. The bill also provides that the tree conservation ordinance may require that the site plan for any subdivision or development provide for the preservation and replacement of trees on the development site such that the minimum tree canopy or tree cover percentage 10 years after development is projected to be as follows: (i) 10 percent tree canopy for a site zoned business, commercial, or industrial; (ii) 10 percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned 20 or more units per acre; (iii) 15 percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned more than eight but less than 20 units per acre; (iv) 20 percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned more than four but not more than eight units per acre; (v) 25 percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned more than two but not more than four units per acre; and (vi) 30 percent tree canopy for a residential site zoned two or less units per acre. Finally, the bill mandates that any tree conservation ordinance provide for certain deviations from the canopy requirements. | 01/16/08 Presented and ordered printed; Referred to Committee on Local Government 01/29/08 Reported from Local Government with substitute (14-Y 1-N) 01/30/08 Committee substitute printed 01/31/08 Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) 02/01/08 Read second time; Reading of substitute waived; Committee substitute agreed to; Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute 02/04/08 Passed by for the day 02/05/08 Passed by for the day 02/06/08 Read third time; Passed by for the day 02/07/08 Engrossment reconsidered by Senate (39-Y 0-N); Reading of amendment waived; Amendment by Senator Ticer agreed to; Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute with amendment; Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N); Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N); Communicated to House 02/12/08 Placed on Calendar; Read first time; Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns 02/29/08 Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with substitute (15-Y 6-N); Committee substitute printed 03/03/08 Read second time 03/04/08 Read third time; Committee substitute agreed to; Engrossed committee substitute; Passed House with substitute (73-Y 26-N) 03/05/08 House substitute agreed to by Senate (40-Y 0-N) 03/08/08 Enrolled |
| SJR96 | Patricia S. Ticer | Rules | Requests the Board of Forestry to study the provision of ecological services incentives to private landowners to help them hold and preserve their forestland and receive compensation for the ecosystem services their forestlands provide. | 01/09/08 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered; Referred to Committee on Rules 01/25/08 Stricken at request of Patron in Rules (16-Y 0-N) |
Last modified: Thursday, 18-Jun-2009 16:11:58 EDT