                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

VIRGINIA WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT FUND ESTABLISHED; PURPOSES (§ 10.1-2128)

A. There is hereby established in the state treasury a special permanent,
nonreverting fund, to be known as the &#8220;Virginia Water Quality Improvement
Fund.&#8221; The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. The
Fund shall consist of sums appropriated to it by the General Assembly which
shall include, unless otherwise provided in the general appropriation act, 10
percent of the annual general fund revenue collections that are in excess of the
official estimates in the general appropriation act and 10 percent of any
unrestricted and uncommitted general fund balance at the close of each fiscal
year whose reappropriation is not required in the general appropriation act. The
Fund shall also consist of such other sums as may be made available to it from
any other source, public or private, and shall include any penalties or damages
collected under this article, federal grants solicited and received for the
specific purposes of the Fund, and all interest and income from investment of
the Fund. Any sums remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon, at the end
of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the
Fund. All moneys designated for the Fund shall be paid into the state treasury
and credited to the Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall be used solely for Water
Quality Improvement Grants. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall
be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon the
written request of the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality or
the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation as provided in
this chapter.

B. Except as otherwise provided under this article, the purpose of the Fund is
to provide Water Quality Improvement Grants to local governments, soil and water
conservation districts, state agencies, institutions of higher education and
individuals for point and nonpoint source pollution prevention, reduction and
control programs and efforts undertaken in accordance with the provisions of
this chapter. The Fund shall not be used for agency operating expenses or for
purposes of replacing or otherwise reducing any general, nongeneral, or special
funds allocated or appropriated to any state agency; however, nothing in this
section shall be construed to prevent the award of a Water Quality Improvement
Grant to a local government in connection with point or nonpoint pollution
prevention, reduction and control programs or efforts undertaken on land owned
by the Commonwealth and leased to the local government. In keeping with the
purpose for which the Fund is created, it shall be the policy of the General
Assembly to provide annually its share of financial support to qualifying
applicants for grants in order to fulfill the Commonwealth&#8217;s
responsibilities under Article XI of the Constitution of Virginia.

C. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2005, $50 million shall be appropriated
from the general fund and deposited into the Fund. Except as otherwise provided
under this article, such appropriation and any amounts appropriated to the Fund
in subsequent years in addition to any amounts deposited to the Fund pursuant to
the provisions of subsection A shall be used solely to finance the costs of
design and installation of nutrient removal technology at publicly owned
treatment works designated as significant dischargers or eligible nonsignificant
dischargers for compliance with the effluent limitations for total nitrogen and
total phosphorus of the Chesapeake Bay TMDL Watershed Implementation Plan or
applicable regulatory or permit requirements. Notwithstanding the provisions of
this section, the Governor and General Assembly may, at any time, provide
additional funding for nonpoint source pollution reduction activities through
the Fund in excess of the deposit required under subsection A.
			At such time as grant agreements specified in &#xA7; 10.1-2130 have been
signed by every significant discharger and eligible nonsignificant discharger
and available funds are sufficient to implement the provisions of such grant
agreements, the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural
Resources, the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on
Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Senate Committee on
Finance and Appropriations shall review the financial assistance provided under
this section and determine (i) whether such deposits should continue to be made,
(ii) the size of the deposit to be made, (iii) the programs and activities that
should be financed by such deposits in the future, and (iv) whether the
provisions of this section should be extended.

HISTORY: 1997, cc. 21, 625, 626; 1999, c. 257; 2001, c. 264; 2005, cc. 704, 707,
709; 2006, c. 236; 2008, cc. 278, 500, 643, 701; 2010, c. 684; 2015, c. 164.