Authority: Title 18.2, Chapters 1 and 5; Title 19.2, Chapters 1, 5 and 7; Title 28.2, Chapters 1 through 10; Title 29.1, Chapter 7; Title 32.1, Chapter 6; Title 33.2, Chapter 1; and Title 62.1, Chapters 18 and 20, Code of Virginia.
A. Out of this appropriation, $54,611 the first year and $54,611 the second year from the general fund is provided for annual membership dues to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
B. Out of this appropriation, $148,750 the first year and $148,750 the second year from the general fund is provided for annual membership dues to the Potomac River Fisheries Commission.
C. Out of the amounts for Marine Life Regulation Enforcement shall be paid into the Marine Patrols Fund, $169,248 the first year and $169,248 the second year, pursuant to § 28.2-108, Code of Virginia. For this purpose, cash shall be transferred from the Commonwealth Transportation Fund.
D. Pursuant to § 58.1-2289 D, Code of Virginia, $144,520 the first year and $144,520 the second year shall be transferred to Marine Life Regulation Enforcement from the Commonwealth Transportation Fund from unrefunded motor fuel taxes for boats and paid into the Marine Patrols Fund.
E.1. Out of this appropriation, $4,000,000 the first year and $4,000,000 the second year from the general fund, and $3,000,000 the first year from nongeneral funds is provided to support oyster replenishment and oyster restoration activities. From these amounts $1,500,000 the first year and $1,500,000 the second year from the general fund shall be used to provide support for oyster restoration.
2. Any unexpended general fund balances designated by the agency for oyster remediation activities remaining in this Item on June 30, 2025, and on June 30, 2026 shall be reappropriated and reallotted to the Marine Resources Commission for expenditure.
3. Out of the amounts provided to support oyster replenishment and oyster restoration activities, the Commission may expend up to $200,000 from the general fund the first year to support the Potomac River Fisheries Commission implementation of an oyster revitalization project in the Potomac River. The funding is contingent on an equal amount of support being provided for the project by the state of Maryland. If the matching funds are not provided, the Commission may use the funding for other oyster replenishment projects.
F. Out of this appropriation, $3,750,000 the first year from the general fund is provided for the non-federal share of costs of an Army Corps of Engineers environmental restoration project at Money Point in the Elizabeth River in the City of Chesapeake. Any remaining balance at year-end shall be carried forward to the subsequent fiscal year.
G.1. Out of amounts in this item, $4,000,000 the second year from amounts transferred to this item pursuant § 3-1.01 M. of this act, the Commission shall award a grant of funds to a qualified applicant or applicants to support a dredging project or projects that have been approved by the Commission. The source of the grant funds shall be the Virginia Waterway Maintenance Fund created pursuant to § 62.1-132.3:3. Applicants shall be limited to political subdivisions and the governing bodies of Virginia localities. The Commission shall develop guidelines establishing an application process as set out in Chapter 642, 2018 Session of the General Assembly. Projects for which the Commission may award grant funding include (i) feasibility and cost evaluations, pre-project engineering studies, and project permitting and contracting costs for a waterway project conducted by the Commonwealth; (ii) the state portion of a nonfederal sponsor funding requirement for a federal project, which may include the beneficial use of dredged materials that are not covered by federal funding; (iii) the Commonwealth's maintenance of shallow-draft navigable waterway channel maintenance dredging and the design, lease, or purchase of upland containment areas where the material can be selectively excavated and used beneficially for environmental restoration or for mitigation of coastal erosion; and (iv) the beneficial use, for environmental restoration and the mitigation of coastal erosion or flooding, of dredged materials from approved waterway dredging projects conducted by the Commonwealth. Special consideration shall be given to any locality which provides a three-to-one match for any requested funding. Any funding remaining at the end of the fiscal year shall be carried forward for the same purpose.
2. Out of the amounts in this paragraph, the Commission may use up to $150,000 each year for administration of the grant program.
H. Notwithstanding § 28.2-1209, Code of Virginia, any city or county duly authorized by the Commission or other state agency to install an underground or underwater utility or facility, shall be deemed to possess a legal interest in the lawful use of state-owned waters, bottoms, or subsurface soils sufficient to qualify for any reimbursement for costs associated with relocation, removal, or abandonment of said utility or facility as a result of the construction or maintenance of any Congressionally approved navigation and flood control project undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers, or other federal agency, to regulate navigable waters or flood control that requires relocation, removal, or abandonment of a permitted utility located on or under state-owned waters, bottoms, or subsurface soils of the Commonwealth.