Virginia HB 504: Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas; preservation of mature trees.

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2020 SESSION

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CHAPTER 1207 

An Act to amend and reenact � 62.1-44.15:72 of the Code of 
Virginia, relating to Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas; mature trees. 

[H 504] 

Approved April 22, 2020 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That � 62.1-44.15:72 of the Code of Virginia is amended 
and reenacted as follows:

� 62.1-44.15:72. Board to develop criteria.

A. In order to implement the provisions of this article and to 
assist counties, cities, and towns in regulating the use and development of 
land and in protecting the quality of state waters, the Board shall promulgate 
regulations that establish criteria for use by local governments to determine 
the ecological and geographic extent of Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas. The 
Board shall also promulgate regulations that establish criteria for use by 
local governments in granting, denying, or modifying requests to rezone, 
subdivide, or use and develop land in these areas.

B. In developing and amending the criteria, the Board shall 
consider all factors relevant to the protection of water quality from 
significant degradation as a result of the use and development of land. The 
criteria shall incorporate measures such as performance standards, best 
management practices, and various planning and zoning concepts to protect the 
quality of state waters while allowing use and development of land consistent 
with the provisions of this chapter. The criteria adopted by the Board, 
operating in conjunction with other state water quality programs, shall 
encourage and promote (i) protection of existing high quality state waters and 
restoration of all other state waters to a condition or quality that will 
permit all reasonable public uses and will support the propagation and growth 
of all aquatic life, including game fish, which that might 
reasonably be expected to inhabit them; (ii) safeguarding of the clean 
waters of the Commonwealth from pollution; (iii) prevention of any increase in 
pollution; (iv) reduction of existing pollution; (v) preservation of mature 
trees or planting of trees as a water quality protection 
tool and as a means of providing other natural resource benefits; 
(vi) coastal resilience and adaptation to sea-level rise and climate change; 
and (v) (vii) promotion of water resource conservation in order 
to provide for the health, safety, and welfare of the present and future 
citizens of the Commonwealth.

C. Prior to the development or amendment of criteria, the 
Board shall give due consideration to, among other things, the economic and 
social costs and benefits which that can reasonably be expected 
to obtain as a result of the adoption or amendment of the criteria.

D. In developing such criteria the Board may consult with and 
obtain