VASWCD Legislative Committee Report:

Legislative Update

  • HB1472/SB965–Conflict of Interest Act, State Local Government; Prohibited Contracts, Exceptions -This bill patroned Senator Hanger and Delegate Lingamfelter,which successfully passed the House & Senate without opposition and was signed by Governor McAuliffe,clarifies “that the COIA exception applies to all contracts entered into on and after July 1, 2017, and to any contract entered into by an officer or employee or an immediate family member of such officer or employee with a soil and water conservation district to participate in a cost-share program for the installation of best management practices to improve water quality prior to the effective date of this act.”
  • HB1678SB1292 and HB1679/SB1291 – FOIA exemptions for fracking chemicals – Thesebills pertaining to trade secrets for the fracking of natural gas failed to pass. This is an issue that is anticipated to be revisited during the next General Assembly session.

Budget News –The General Assembly reported the following items of budget importance to SWCDs:

  • Agriculture BMP Cost Share Funding - SWCDs can expect an Ag BMP program, including technical assistance, for FY18, beginning July 1, 2017, at roughly $16 million - an estimated $8,274,474 million from Water Quality Improvement Reserve Funds, and an approximate $8 million from recordation fee, an income collected from the fee which is dependent on real estate sales. Of the $8 million from recordation fees, technical assistance levels from this pot will be held at $1.2 million. Of the $8.2 million WQIF reserve funding budget conferees provided for cost share, $500,000 will be used towards CREP, $992,937 shall be used for technical assistance, and $6,781,537 for agriculture BMP cost share assistance. In summation, over $2.1 million will be available for technical assistance for FY18. Note: The Soil & Water Board is responsible for allocating these funds to districts and will be addressing this topic at its spring meetings on March 9, April 20, and May 23.This is separate fromthe VASWCD Quarterly Board meeting to be held March 28 at the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative Bldg in Richmond, VA.
  • SWCD Operational Funding - Though not an issue for the budget conferees we’ve received questions regarding what SWCDs can expect for FY18 in terms of operational funding. Districts can expect to maintain current levels of essential operational funding for FY18. You will recall from the Governor's introduced budget in December, no new essential operational funding was appropriated nor were operational funds cut. Level operation funding remains in the budget. This remains good news considering agencies were forced to implement operational funding cuts. Your submission of SWCD budget template information helped justify our need as well as documented that districts are 30% underfunded currently and as a result prevented SWCDs from cuts that other agencies/organizations are faced with. Note: The Soil & Water Board is responsible for allocating these funds to districts and will be addressing this topic at its spring meetings.
  • Ag BMP FundingStudy - Directs DCR to convene a stakeholder group to include legislators, the Secretary of Natural Resources and stakeholders (including the VASWCD) “to evaluate methods to stabilize the fluctuations in funding for Ag BMPs.” The group will report recommendations to the Chairmen of House Appropriations, Senate Finance, and House and Senate Agriculture Committees by November 15 ,2017.
  • RMP Implementation Study - Directs DCR to convene a stakeholder group including the Secretary and stakeholders (including the VASWCD) “to examine funding, training, and resources needs, as well as explore new incentives, for additional implementation of Resource Management Plans.” The group will report recommendations to the Governor and Chair of House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees by October 1, 2017.

Legislator of the Year Recommendations – If you have recommendations for the 2017 Legislator of the Year, please contact VASWCD staff or your committee chair. Recommendations will be voted on at the June 20-21 summer quarterly board meeting. Recognition will occur at the VASWCD Annual Meeting.

Legislative Committee Plan of Work – In lieu of a formal plan of work the legislative committee will continue use of its current policy, already approved by the membership and incorporated into the VASWCD policy book, to outline it’s work for the year. Goals of the legislative committee are then set per the VASWCD legislative agenda and the following process. The process is noted below as a reminder.

Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts

PROCEDURE FOR APPROVING VASWCD STATE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

  1. At Area meetings in March-April legislative issues for upcoming session should be discussed.
  1. Each district needs a legislative contact or local committee to review proposals and get input from all Directors, staff, and partners.
  1. Each Area Chair should consider having an Area Legislative Meeting or Conference Call to discuss and endorse issues/proposals to be submitted to the VASWCD Legislative Committee by August 15.
  1. Districts shall return recommendations, comments, revisions, etc. to VASWCD Legislative Committee by August 15.
  1. VASWCD Legislative Committee will compile all comments and revisions and make its final report to the Board of Directors during the September/October Board meeting.
  1. Board of directors will debate and approve the legislative agenda at its late September or October meeting.
  1. At the Annual Meeting, the Directors would ratify the actions of the Board of directors, including the legislative agenda. If a legislative item is not ratified, it could still be deleted from the VASWCD legislative agenda.

Rationale:

  1. The current December Annual Meeting time frame precludes the VASWCD from adequately securing General Assembly sponsorship by the 2nd Wednesday in December which is the bill pre-filing deadline.

Rationale: The current year’s legislative agenda may be carried forward in the next session with proper sponsorship.

  1. In order to facilitate securing adequate input from partners, legal advice, etc., the December Annual Meeting would need to be moved back to 2nd week of November. It has been determined that this is not feasible due to: Fall planting, Fall harvest, Veteran’s Day Holiday, Primitive weapons deer season.
  1. Retaining the current Annual Meeting date will necessitate more and greater involvement in our legislative process earlier rather than waiting until the December Annual Meeting.

ADOPTED:2004

CONFIRMED: December 8, 2015

EXPIRES: December 31, 2018