Authority: Title 10.1, Chapters 1, 5, 6, and 7, Code of Virginia.

A. Out of the amounts for Financial Assistance for Land Management, $450,000 the first year from the general fund shall be transferred to the Flood Prevention and Protection Assistance Fund (§ 10.1-603.17, Code of Virginia). These funds shall be available to the City of Buena Vista to meet the non-federal cost share for construction of a flood control project by the federal government. This amount constitutes sixth year funding of a six year commitment by the Commonwealth to provide fifty percent of the non-federal portion of this project. There is hereby appropriated an amount from the unappropriated balance derived by subtracting the general fund appropriations from the projected general fund revenues in this act to supplement this appropriation, should the amounts provided in this item be insufficient to meet the Commonwealth's commitment to the City of Buena Vista.

B. Out of the amounts for Shoreline Management, $150,000 the first year from the general fund shall be transferred to the fund authorized by § 10.1-709.A, Code of Virginia, to provide grants to local governments to cover up to fifty percent of the cost of projects designed to improve, maintain and develop public beaches.

C. The agency shall not reduce general fund and nongeneral fund amounts for the Natural Heritage Program below the level provided in fiscal year 1995-96.

D. Out of the amounts for Financial Assistance for Land Management, $300,000 the first year from the general fund, to be matched equally by the City of Norfolk, shall be transferred to the City in accordance with § 10.1-709 A., Code of Virginia, to construct a system of off-shore breakwaters to provide long term public beach and property development protection.

E. Out of the amounts for Financial Assistance for Land Management, $180,000 the first year from the general fund shall be transferred to the Flood Prevention and Protection Assistance Fund (§10.1-603.17, Code of Virginia). These funds shall be available for repair of the Marrowbone Flood Control Dam in Henry County owned by the Blue Ridge Soil and Water Conservation District.

F. Out of the amounts for Financial Assistance for Land Management, $50,000 the first year from the general fund shall be transferred to the Flood Prevention and Protection Assistance Fund (§10.1-603.17, Code of Virginia). These funds shall be paid to Rockbridge County for the non-federal share of an emergency flood control and repair project.

G. This item includes $280,000 the first year and $280,000 the second year from the general fund for Soil and Water Conservation Districts to coordinate and assist in the implementation of local Tributary Strategies under the Chesapeake Bay Program.

H. It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Department of Conservation and Recreation manage Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Implementation Grant. To that end, the amounts for Nonpoint Source Pollution Control and Financial Assistance for Land Management in each year of the biennium shall equal or be greater than the appropriation in fiscal year 1995-96, unless the federal government reduces funding for the state's portion of the Chesapeake Bay Implementation Grant.

I. In addition, the agency shall not reduce general fund or nongeneral fund amounts for Soil and Water Conservation District activities provided prior to July 1, 1996, below the level of resources appropriated in fiscal year 1995-96.

J. Out of the amounts for Financial Assistance for Land Management, $50,000 the first year from the general fund shall be awarded on a competitive basis to planning district commissions, soil and water conservation districts, and nonprofit conservation organizations for education, restoration, or watershed planning activities affecting the Rappahannock River Basin.

K. Out of this appropriation, the Department shall conduct a study to identify and recommend potential revenue sources to supplement the funding for the Soil and Water Conservation Districts. If the Department determines that imposition of a statewide waste disposal fee merits consideration as a potential revenue source, then the agency, after receiving data and comments from the Department of Environmental Quality on the following issues, must take into account: 1) the position of local governments on the advisability of imposing the fee, as well as their position on collecting the fee and the use of the fee; 2) the financial and contractual impacts on the public and private sector operators of all types of landfills and incinerators, as well as the position of such operators on the advisability of imposing such fee; 3) the position of business and residential generators of solid waste on the advisability of imposing the fee, as well as the financial impact of such a fee on such generators; and 4) the appropriateness and reliability of the fee as a source of funding for soil and water conservation districts. The study shall be submitted by December 15, 1996, to the Chairmen of the House Conservation and Natural Resources and Appropriations Committees and to the Chairmen of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and Finance Committees.