VCN
E-NEWS: January 23, 2004
NEWS ITEMS
VCN
LOBBY DAY A HUGE SUCCESS
Over
100 conservationists gathered from every corner of the
state for VCN lobby day. Thanks to all of you who
attended, your presence made a huge difference. There
were meetings with over 50 legislators. Lieutenant
Governor Time Kaine spoke about the importance of reinvesting
in our existing communities. Senator Hanger spoke about
the need to fund natural resources. Issue briefings
were giving on Natural Resources Funding, Adequate Public
Facilities Legislation, Land Use and Transportation in
the I-81 Corridor, Air - multi-pollutant "Clean Smokestack"
Legislation, and Water policy and permitting. For
a list of priority issues and statements of positions
that were distributed at lobby day go to www.vcnva.org
and click on Issues and White Papers.
We
need you to continue your grassroots work!
VCN
POSITIONS
Every
Friday during session the VCN Board will be considering
statements of position on filed legislation and those
statements will be included in the weekly issue VCN E-NEWS..
Below are highlights of the positions the VCN Board took
today - January 23rd . For a list of all positions go
to the VCN website and visit the Issues and White Papers
page.
VCN
supports several bills that would enhance stewardship
of our forests. These included HB 921, Logging and skid
roads to be reseeded; HB 947, Notification of commercial
timber harvesting; HB 1020, pertaining to recovery of
damages created by inappropriate timber cutting; and HB
1021, which requires notification of timbering activities
before they occur. In addition, the Board supports
SJ 75, calling for a study to identify incentives for
preserving forestland.
VCN
opposes the actions contemplated by HB 797 and SB 420,
which authorizes VMRC to convey an easement and right
to use subaqueous lands in the Mattaponi River to Newport
News thus allowing for the construction of a raw water
intake to supply the proposed King William reservoir.
VCN
supports two of the Adequate Public Facilities (VCN Priority
Area) proposals as they most closely fit with the guidelines
in the VCN White Paper on the subject. These bills
are SB 393 (Quayle) which addresses schools, and HB 893
(Sickles) which is comprehensive in nature.
VCN
opposes SB 58 which would remove authority from localities
and give it to VDOT regarding the maintenance of certain
signs. By falling under VDOT standards instead of
local regulations for non-conforming use, outdoor advertising
signs will be allowed to maintain even though they may
be in need of significant repair. [SB 58 was reported
from Senate Transportation, 10-5, on January 22 nd .]
VCN
supports HB 1024, which would allow certain permit fees
to be set by Board of the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.
VCN
supports HB 549, which establishes an additional recordation
fee, on deeds, of $1.00 to be used for open spaces preservation.
(Natural Resources Funding - Priority Area)
VCN
opposes HB 883, which shortens the number of years that
a prospective holder must have offices within Virginia
in order to qualify to receive a conservation easement.
The legislation establishing this program was crafted
after much discussion and compromise and it was felt the
statute should not be subject to changes such as
this.
VCN
opposes HB 685, which provides that the diversion of water
from non-navigable water channels is not to be considered
an impact on instream beneficial uses under certain circumstances.
The bill also addresses processing timeframes.
VCN
opposes SB 432, which allows reapplication for certain
bottomlands permits that have been denied by the VMRC.
VCN
supports SB 445, which would allow for special license
plates for supporters of Virginia Agriculture
Feel
free to contact us about any legislation at 804-644-0283
or David Kovacs
( vcngeneral@aol.com
) or Ellen Shepard ( ellenshepard@yahoo.com
). Also, please visit our website at www.vcnva.org
for up to date information about the session.
THE
WEEK IN REVIEW
Adequate
Public Facilities - Delegate Bob Marshal introduced
a number of adequate public facilities (APF) that deal
with different parts of the problem including adequate
schools, parks, and sewage systems and local water supplies.
Delegate Marshall did this intentionally to try to get
the bills in different committees so there could be more
discussion and fuller exposure of the subject. Normally
APF bills go to Counties, Cities, and Towns where they
have died year after year. However, it appears that
all APF bills will be re-referred to Counties, Cities,
and Towns and then sent to the Growth Commission.
Delegate Albert Pollard introduced a bill that dealt with
the availability of drinking water and how land use decisions
should take into consideration water availability.
His bill was tabled in Counties, Cities, and Towns. At
present, it is hoped there will be meaningful discussion
in the Senate regarding APF.
Rail
authority - SB413 introduced by Senator John
Edwards has gained the support of the Commonwealth Transportation
Board, Governor Warner, Norfolk Southern, and CSX.
Over twenty delegates and senators representing both parties
have signed onto the bill. The bill is on the Local Government
committee docket for Tuesday, January 27. Local Government
meets Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. in Senate Room B. The
bill may be put off until the following week.
King
William Reservoir Bills - On Wednesday, January
21 the Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted 10-5 in
support of SB 420 sponsored by Senator Wagner. SB
420 gives Newport News express permission to build an
intake structure in the Mattaponi River . SB420
will now go to the full Senate. HB747 is an identical
bill in the house with Delegate Oder as the sponsor.
The bill will be before Counties, Cities, and Towns subcommittee
#2 on Wednesday, January 28 at 7:30 a.m in House Room
D. We need your help to oppose these bills for a
variety of reasons. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation
has prepared an alert that we will be emailing to you.
It will also be posted on our website by Monday.
ACTION
ALERTS
Watch for ALERTS on the following topics:
King
William Alert from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation
The
Schools Adequate Public Facilities Bill by Senator Quayle
(SB393)
VCN
E-Alerts will start arriving in your e-mail box soon!
They are then posted on our website, but it may take a
day for them to get there. All the alerts have links to
where you can get more information. Please respond to
the ALERTS and help our member organizations who are following
these critical issues.
CALENDAR
February
1, 2004 is the deadline for grant application for the
Environmental Challenge Fun. Community and environmental
groups are invited to apply. The Columbia Gas of
Virginia and its parent company, NiSource Inc., are sponsoring
the grant. Additional information will be posted on the
VCN website shortly.
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