                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

AGENCY COORDINATION; CONDITIONS OF GRANTS (§ 10.1-2129)

A. If, in any fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2005, there are
appropriations to the Fund in addition to those made pursuant to subsection A of
§ 10.1-2128, the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources shall distribute
those moneys in the Fund provided from the 10 percent of the annual general fund
revenue collections that are in excess of the official estimates in the general
appropriation act, and the 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, as follows:

   1. Seventy percent of the moneys shall be distributed to the Department of
   Conservation and Recreation and shall be administered by it for the sole
   purpose of implementing projects or best management practices that reduce
   nitrogen and phosphorus nonpoint source pollution, with a priority given to
   agricultural best management practices. In no single year shall more than 60
   percent of the moneys be used for projects or practices exclusively within the
   Chesapeake Bay watershed; and

   2. Thirty percent of the moneys shall be distributed to the Department of
   Environmental Quality, which shall use such moneys for making grants for the
   sole purpose of designing and installing nutrient removal technologies for
   publicly owned treatment works designated as significant dischargers or
   eligible nonsignificant dischargers. The moneys shall also be available for
   grants when the design and installation of nutrient removal technology
   utilizes the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act
   (&#xA7; 56-575.1 et seq.).

   3. Except as otherwise provided in the Appropriation Act, in any fiscal year
   when moneys are not appropriated to the Fund in addition to those specified in
   subsection A of &#xA7; 10.1-2128, or when moneys appropriated to the Fund in
   addition to those specified in subsection A of &#xA7; 10.1-2128 are less than
   40 percent of those specified in subsection A of &#xA7; 10.1-2128, the
   Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources, in consultation with the
   Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, the State Forester, the Commissioner of
   Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Directors of the Departments of
   Environmental Quality and Conservation and Recreation, and with the advice and
   guidance of the Board of Conservation and Recreation, the Virginia Soil and
   Water Conservation Board, and the State Water Control Board, and following a
   public comment period of at least 30 days and a public hearing, shall allocate
   those moneys deposited in the Fund, but excluding any moneys deposited into
   the Virginia Natural Resources Commitment Fund established pursuant to &#xA7;
   10.1-2128.1, between point and nonpoint sources, both of which shall receive
   moneys in each such year.

B. 1. Except as may otherwise be specified in the general appropriation act, the
Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources, in consultation with the Secretary
of Agriculture and Forestry, the State Forester, the Commissioner of Agriculture
and Consumer Services, the State Health Commissioner, and the Directors of the
Departments of Environmental Quality and Conservation and Recreation, and with
the advice and guidance of the Board of Conservation and Recreation, the
Virginia Soil and Water Conservation Board, and the State Water Control Board,
shall develop written guidelines that (i) specify eligibility requirements; (ii)
govern the application for and the distribution and conditions of Water Quality
Improvement Grants; (iii) list criteria for prioritizing funding requests; and
(iv) define criteria and financial incentives for water reuse.

   2. In developing the guidelines, the Secretary shall evaluate and consider, in
   addition to such other factors as may be appropriate to most effectively
   restore, protect and improve the quality of state waters: (i) specific
   practices and programs proposed in the Chesapeake Bay TMDL Watershed
   Implementation Plan, and the associated effectiveness and cost per pound of
   nutrients removed; (ii) water quality impairment or degradation caused by
   different types of nutrients released in different locations from different
   sources; and (iii) environmental benchmarks and indicators for achieving
   improved water quality. The process for development of guidelines pursuant to
   this subsection shall, at a minimum, include (a) use of an advisory committee
   composed of interested parties; (b) a 60-day public comment period on draft
   guidelines; (c) written responses to all comments received; and (d) notice of
   the availability of draft guidelines and final guidelines to all who request
   such notice.

   3. In addition to those the Secretary deems advisable to most effectively
   restore, protect and improve the quality of state waters, the criteria for
   prioritizing funding requests shall include: (i) the pounds of total nitrogen
   and the pounds of total phosphorus reduced by the project; (ii) whether the
   location of the water quality restoration, protection or improvement project
   or program is within a watershed or subwatershed with documented water
   nutrient loading problems or adopted nutrient reduction goals; (iii)
   documented water quality impairment; and (iv) the availability of other
   funding mechanisms. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection E of &#xA7;
   10.1-2131, the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality may approve
   a local government point source grant application request for any single
   project that exceeds the authorized grant amount outlined in subsection E of
   &#xA7; 10.1-2131. Whenever a local government applies for a grant that exceeds
   the authorized grant amount outlined in this chapter or when there is no
   stated limitation on the amount of the grant for which an application is made,
   the Directors and the Secretary shall consider the comparative revenue
   capacity, revenue efforts and fiscal stress as reported by the Commission on
   Local Government. The development or implementation of cooperative programs
   developed pursuant to subsection B of &#xA7; 10.1-2127 shall be given a high
   priority in the distribution of Virginia Water Quality Improvement Grants from
   the moneys allocated to nonpoint source pollution.

HISTORY: 1997, cc. 21, 625, 626; 1999, c. 509; 2005, cc. 41, 704, 707, 709;
2006, c. 236; 2008, cc. 643, 701; 2010, c. 684; 2011, c. 189; 2012, cc. 785,
819; 2015, c. 164; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 401.