                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

FEES; EXEMPTIONS (§ 28.2-1206)

A. A non-refundable processing fee of $100 shall accompany each application (i)
submitted for a Commission permit for the use of state-owned submerged lands or
(ii) submitted pursuant to &#xA7; 28.2-1203. No such processing fee shall be
required for an application to explore or recover underwater historic property
or to conduct any activity authorized by a Virginia Marine Resources Commission
General Permit.

B. The fee paid to the Commission for issuing each permit to recover underwater
historic property shall be $25.
			The fee paid to the Commission for issuing each permit to use state-owned
bottomlands shall be $100; if the cost of the project is to exceed $10,000 but
not exceed $500,000, the fee paid shall be $300; and if the cost of the project
is to exceed $500,000, the fee paid shall be $600. Riparian owners of (i)
commercial facilities engaged in the business of ship construction or repair,
(ii) commercial facilities providing services relating to the shipping of
domestic or foreign cargo, and (iii) commercial facilities engaged in the
business of selling or servicing watercraft shall be exempt from the payment of
rents and royalties, except as provided in subsection C.

C. When the activity or project for which a permit is requested will involve the
removal of bottom material, the application shall indicate this fact. If
granted, the permit shall specify a royalty of not less than $0.40, nor more
than $0.80, per cubic yard of bottom material removed. In fixing the amount of
the royalty, the Commission shall consider, among other factors, the following:

   1. The primary and secondary purposes for removing the bottom material;

   2. Whether the material has any commercial value and whether it will be used
   for any commercial purpose;

   3. The use to be made of the removed material and any public benefit or
   adverse effect upon the public that will result from the removal or disposal
   of the material;

   4. The physical characteristics of the material to be removed; and

   5. The expense of removing and disposing of the material.

D. Where it appears that the project or facility for which a permit application
is made has been completed or work thereon commenced at the time application is
made, the Commission may impose additional assessments not to exceed an amount
of three times the normal permit fee and royalties, unless such royalties are
prohibited by this chapter.

E. Bottom material removed attendant to maintenance dredging or directional
drilling shall be exempt from any royalty. The Virginia Department of
Transportation shall be exempt from all fees, rents and royalties otherwise
assessable under this section. All counties, cities, and towns of the
Commonwealth shall pay the required permit fee but shall be exempt from all
other fees, rents and royalties assessable under this section if the permit is
issued prior to the commencement of any work to be accomplished under the
permit.

F. All fees, rents and royalties collected pursuant to this chapter on and after
July 1, 2000, shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the Marine
Habitat and Waterways Improvement Fund.

G. Beginning July 1, 2020, and not more frequently than every three years
thereafter, the Commission may increase or decrease fees for marine habitat
applications, permits, leases, rents, and royalties that are authorized by this
chapter, but such increase or decrease shall be no greater than the respective
increase or decrease, expressed as a percentage, in the United States Average
Consumer Price Index for all items, all urban consumers (CPI-U), as published by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, since the date
on which the fee was last set or adjusted.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 62-2.1; 1960, c. 600; 1962, c. 637; 1966, c. 641; 1968,
c. 659, § 62.1-3; 1970, c. 621; 1972, c. 866; 1973, cc. 23, 361; 1974, cc. 92,
385; 1975, c. 431; 1976, c. 579; 1980, c. 253; 1982, c. 102; 1988, c. 868; 1992,
c. 836; 2000, c. 1056; 2004, cc. 899, 1018; 2020, c. 806.