Authority: Title 10.1, Chapters 1, 5, 6, 7, and 21.1, Code of Virginia.

A. The amount for Assistance to Soil and Water Conservation Districts 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.

B. The June 30, 2000, June 30, 2001, and June 30, 2002, unexpended general fund balances in Assistance to Soil and Water Conservation Districts are hereby reappropriated.

C.1. Out of the amount for Statewide Non-Point Source Pollution Control, $11,000,000 the first year from the general fund shall be deposited to the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund established under the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Act of 1997, Title 10.1, Chapter 21.1, Code of Virginia. In addition, the Fund shall include $1,000,000 of earned interest. It is the intent of the General Assembly that all funds deposited to the Water Quality Improvement Fund, as required by § 10.1-2128, Code of Virginia, shall be used solely for the purposes established by the Water Quality Improvement Act of 1997 (§ 10.1-2117 et seq., Code of Virginia). The Fund shall not be used for agency operating expenses or for purposes of replacing or otherwise reducing any general, nongeneral, or special funds allocated or appropriated to any state agency.

2. Out of the amount deposited to the Water Quality Improvement Fund, the Department of Conservation and Recreation is authorized to expend $4,563,125 of the first year allocation as the Commonwealth's statewide match for the federal Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. The Department of Conservation and Recreation is authorized to expend funds deposited into the Water Quality Improvement Fund for statewide projects funded through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program in the Potomac-Shenandoah, lower tributaries, and southern river areas.

3. The Director is also authorized to expend a minimum of $2,000,000 the first year from the Water Quality Improvement Fund for the Best Management Practices cost-share program.

4. The Director shall ensure that at least 40 percent of the nonpoint source pollution grants authorized under the Water Quality Improvement Act shall be distributed to areas of the Commonwealth not covered by the tributary plans.

D. Included in the amount for Shoreline Management is $200,000 the first year from the general fund for the City of Norfolk to dredge a channel for boat access in Pretty Lake, a tidal inlet in the northern part of the city. The City shall match the state funds on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

E. Included in the amounts for Assistance to Soil and Water Conservation Districts is $800,000 the first year and $50,000 the second year from the general fund for the Soil and Water Conservation District Dam Maintenance, Repair, and Rehabilitation Fund to address needs of dams operated by Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

F. Out of the amount for Shoreline 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 to continue construction of a system of off-shore breakwaters to provide long-term public beach and property development protection.

G. Out of the amounts for Statewide Non-Point Source Pollution Control the first year from the general fund, the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation is authorized to contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, to expend up to $200,000 for conservation engineering services.

H.1. Out of the amount for Shoreline Management, $230,000 the first year from the general fund shall be deposited to the fund authorized by § 10.1-709 A, Code of Virginia, to provide grants to local governments to cover up to 50 percent of the cost of projects designed to improve, maintain and develop public beaches.

2. Out of the amount for Shoreline Management, $77,581 the first year from the general fund shall be made available to the Board on Conservation and Development of Public Beaches for technical and operational support of the Board.

I. The Department shall transfer $60,000 the first year from the general fund to the fiscal agent of the Rappahannock River Basin Commission, pursuant to § 62.1-69.33, Code of Virginia. The funds shall be matched by nonstate sources. The Commission shall report to the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees on the Commission's activities and accomplishments by November 4 of each year.

J. The funds provided in this Item for the Soil and Water Conservation Districts shall be distributed to the greatest extent possible to the districts in accordance with program, financial and resource allocation policies established by the Soil and Water Conservation Board.