Authority: Title 10.1, Chapter 21, Code of Virginia.

A. The amounts provided to localities and planning district commissions for financial assistance in implementing the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act shall be distributed on a competitive basis. Consideration shall be given to the availability of local resources, with more funding provided to localities with the greatest needs and where the greatest water quality benefits can be generated.

B. The June 30, 2003 and June 30, 2004 unexpended balances for grants to localities and planning district commissions are hereby reappropriated.

C. Of the amounts in the Land Management program, the Department may expend a portion of its general fund appropriation for a water quality monitoring project in Caroline County.

D. The Secretary of Natural Resources shall develop a plan to merge the operations of the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Department within the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Soil and Water. The Secretary of Natural Resources shall submit this plan to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committees on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and Finance by November 1, 2002.

E. In anticipation of the passage of legislation during the 2003 Session of the General Assembly amending the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, Title 10.1, Chapter 21, Code of Virginia, the Director, Department of Planning and Budget, shall submit an operating plan to merge the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Department, as a separate division, into the Department of Conservation and Recreation to the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees no later than July 1, 2003.

F. It is the intent of the General Assembly that legislation be introduced in the 2004 Session of the General Assembly to amend the Code of Virginia to effect the reorganization contained in this Item.