                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

FOREST MITIGATION AGREEMENTS (§ 10.1-1181.15)

A. The Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources, the Secretary of Agriculture
and Forestry, or any agency within those secretariats, or the Virginia Outdoors
Foundation may enter into an agreement with the owner or operator of
construction projects to accomplish forest mitigation. At a minimum, any such
agreement shall:

   1. Document the extent to which the construction project has been designed to
   avoid and minimize adverse impacts to forests;

   2. Provide funding for compensation for impacts that approximates at least no
   net loss of forest acreage and function;

   3. Provide for the payment of such funds by the owner or operator to a
   nonprofit organization, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, or an agency within
   the secretariats of Agriculture and Forestry or Natural and Historic
   Resources. The recipient of the funds shall establish criteria for the
   expenditure of the funds, shall provide such criteria to the public, and shall
   regularly provide to the public updated information on how funds are spent;
   and

   4. Ensure that expenditures of the funds occur in reasonable proximity to the
   forest impacts that are caused by the construction project. Reasonable
   proximity shall be determined by the recipient of the funds and shall be based
   on appropriate ecological boundaries, with consideration given to communities
   adversely affected by the construction project.

B. Nothing in this section shall preclude the expenditure of funds (i) by the
recipient of the funds for the costs of administration of the funds or (ii) for
water quality protection and improvement, land conservation, or environmental
education.

C. No agreement entered into pursuant to this article shall identify any
specific expenditure.

D. No agreement entered into pursuant to this article shall include any waiver
of liability for environmental damage caused by the construction project. No
agreement entered into under this article shall guarantee regulatory approval
for a construction project by any state agency.

E. No forest mitigation agreement entered into pursuant to this article shall
prohibit sustainable forest management on a property receiving funding except as
necessary to comply with a requirement of the Commonwealth that specific
conservation values be protected on such property.

HISTORY: 2020, c. 959; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 401.