                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

VIRGINIA ESTUARINE AND COASTAL RESEARCH RESERVE SYSTEM CREATED; PURPOSE;
VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE TO ADMINISTER (§ 28.2-1103)

A. There is hereby created the Virginia Estuarine and Coastal Research Reserve
System (the System) for the purpose of establishing a system of protected sites
representative of the Commonwealth&#8217;s estuarine and coastal lands in which
research and long-term monitoring will be conducted in support of the
Commonwealth&#8217;s coastal resource management efforts.

B. The System shall be established and administered by the Virginia Institute of
Marine Science of The College of William and Mary in Virginia. The Institute
shall consult with and seek the advice of the Virginia Coastal Program and of
those state agencies responsible for administering programs of the Virginia
Coastal Program; the Marine Resources Commission; the Department of Wildlife
Resources; the Department of Conservation and Recreation; the Department of
Health; and the Department of Environmental Quality.

C. Sites included within the System shall be within any jurisdiction included in
Tidewater Virginia as defined in &#xA7; 62.1-44.15:68.

D. The Institute may accept the dedication, by voluntary act of the owner, of
areas it deems suitable for the System. Dedication may include transfer of fee
simple title or other interest in land to the Commonwealth or may be in the form
of voluntary agreement with the owner to include the area within the System.
Estuarine and Coastal Research Reserve System sites may also be acquired by
gift, grant, or purchase.

E. The instrument of dedication may:

   1. Contain restrictions and other provisions relating to management, use,
   development, transfer, and public access, and may contain any other
   restrictions and provisions as may be necessary or advisable to further the
   purposes of this article;

   2. Define, consistent with the purposes of the article, the respective rights
   and duties of the owner and of the Commonwealth and provide procedures to be
   followed in case of violations of the restriction;

   3. Recognize and create reversionary right, transfers upon conditions or with
   limitations, and gifts over; and

   4. Vary in provisions from one System site to another, in accordance with
   differences in the characteristics and conditions of the several areas.

F. Public departments, commissions, boards, counties, municipalities,
corporations, and institutions of higher education and all other agencies and
instrumentalities of the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions may enter
into agreements with the Institute to dedicate suitable areas within their
jurisdictions as Estuarine and Coastal Research Reserve System sites.

G. Subject to the approval of the Governor and the Attorney General, the
Commonwealth may enter into amendments to the instrument of dedication upon
finding that the amendment will not permit an impairment, disturbance, use, or
development of the area that is inconsistent with the provisions of this
article. If a fee simple estate in the Estuarine and Coastal Research Reserve
System is not held by the Institute under this article, no amendment may be made
without the written consent of the owner of the other interests therein.

H. The Institute is empowered to enter into agreements with federal agencies
holding title to lands within Tidewater Virginia to include suitable portions of
agency holdings in the Virginia Estuarine and Coastal Research Reserve System.

I. All lands within the system shall be used primarily for research and
education. Other public uses such as hunting and recreation on those research
reserve lands owned by the Institute shall be allowed, consistent with these
primary uses. Improvements and alterations to research reserve lands owned by
the Institute shall be limited to those consistent with these uses.

HISTORY: 1999, c. 553; 2005, c. 41; 2020, c. 958.