<?xml version="1.0"?>
<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>65612</law_id><section_number>62.1-44.15:68</section_number><catch_line>Definitions</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>15.2-2223.2</reference><reference>45.2-1646</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="62.1">Waters of the State, Ports and Harbors</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="3.1">State Water Control Law</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="2.5">Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>For the purposes of this article, the following words shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them:
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area</span>&#x201D; means an area delineated by a local government in accordance with <span class="dictionary">criteria</span> established pursuant to &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Board to develop criteria" href="/62.1-44.15_72/">62.1-44.15:72</a>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Criteria</span>&#x201D; means <span class="dictionary">criteria</span> developed by the <span class="dictionary">Board</span> pursuant to &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Board to develop criteria" href="/62.1-44.15_72/">62.1-44.15:72</a> for the purpose of determining the ecological and geographic extent of <span class="dictionary">Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas</span> and for use by local governments in permitting, denying, or modifying requests to rezone, subdivide, or use and develop land in <span class="dictionary">Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Daylighted stream</span>&#x201D; means a stream that had been previously diverted into an underground drainage system, has been redirected into an aboveground channel using natural channel design concepts as defined in &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Definitions" href="/62.1-44.15_51/">62.1-44.15:51</a>, and would meet the <span class="dictionary">criteria</span> for being designated as a Resource Protection Area (RPA) as defined by the <span class="dictionary">Board</span> under this article.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Department</span>&#x201D; means the <span class="dictionary">Department</span> of Environmental Quality.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Director</span>&#x201D; means the <span class="dictionary">Director</span> of the <span class="dictionary">Department</span> of Environmental Quality.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Secretary</span>&#x201D; means the <span class="dictionary">Secretary</span> of Natural and Historic Resources.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Tidewater Virginia</span>&#x201D; means the following <span class="dictionary">jurisdictions</span>:
		The Counties of Accomack, Arlington, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Essex, Fairfax, Gloucester, Hanover, Henrico, Isle of Wight, James City, King and Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, New Kent, Northampton, Northumberland, Prince George, Prince William, Richmond, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Surry, Westmoreland, and York, and the Cities of Alexandria, Chesapeake, Colonial Heights, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Hampton, Hopewell, Newport News, Norfolk, Petersburg, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Richmond, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg.</p></section></text><history>1988, cc. 608, 891, &#xA7; 10.1-2101; 2005, c. 41; 2012, cc. 785, 819; 2013, cc. 756, 793; 2015, c. 674; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 401.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
