Water in the 2007 Virginia General Assembly

Abstract

The 2007 Virginia General Assembly convened January 10, adjourned February 24, and held a reconvened (“veto”) session on April 4. During the session, the Assembly considered 3427 measures (3069 introduced in this session and 358 continued from the 2006 session). This year’s “short session” Assembly also considered amendments to the 2006-08 biennial state budget. In this article, Virginia Water Central lists 150 measures in the 2007 Assembly that dealt with water resources or with land activities with a relatively direct impact on water. The list also includes some bills that may affect water resources indirectly, such as certain bills about air pollution, electricity generation, or transportation. Water Central’s list comes from the Legislative Information Service (LIS) Web site, at http://leg1.state.va.us. Most measures were located by searching the following LIS subject categories: Budget; Conservation; Energy Conservation and Resources; Fisheries and Habitat of Tidal Waters; Game, Inland Fisheries and Boating; Water and Sewer Systems; and Waters of the State, Ports and Harbors. Water Central’s list is organized alphabetically by these LIS categories. A few bills found in other categories are included under “Miscellaneous” at the end of the list (with the LIS category indicated). Bills are listed under only one category, even if LIS listed them more than once. Within each category, bills are listed in order of their bill number, using the following abbreviations: HB = bill started in House of Delegates; HJ = joint resolution started in the House; SB = bill started in the Senate; and SJ = joint resolution started in the Senate. Detailed information about the bills is available at the LIS Web site. Water Central does not claim that out list includes all bills that potentially could affect Virginia’s water resources.