                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

GRANTING EASEMENTS IN, PERMITTING THE USE OF, OR LEASING THE BEDS OF CERTAIN
WATERS (§ 28.2-1208)

A. The Commission may, with the approval of the Attorney General and the
Governor, grant easements over or under or lease the beds of the waters of the
Commonwealth outside of the Baylor Survey. Every easement or lease executed
pursuant to this section shall be for a period not to exceed five years, except
in the case of offshore renewable energy leases described in clause (ii), in
which case the period shall not exceed 30 years, and shall specify the rent and
such other terms deemed expedient and proper. Such easements and leases may
include the right to renew the same for an additional period not to exceed five
years. Any lease that authorizes grantees or lessees to (i) prospect for and
take from the bottoms covered thereby specified minerals and mineral substances
or (ii) generate electrical energy from wave or tidal action, currents, offshore
winds, or thermal or salinity gradients, and transmit energy from such sources
to shore shall require a royalty. Except for offshore renewable energy leases,
purchase payment for any easement granted to a public service corporation,
certificated telephone company, interstate natural gas company, or provider of
cable television or other multichannel video programming service shall be $100
and shall be for a period of 40 years. However, no easement or lease shall in
any way affect or interfere with the rights vouchsafed to the people of the
Commonwealth concerning fishing, fowling, and the catching and taking of oysters
and other shellfish in and from the leased bottoms or the waters above.

B. All easements granted and leases made pursuant to this section shall be
executed for, and in the name and on behalf of, the Commonwealth by the Attorney
General and shall be countersigned by the Governor.

C. All mineral royalties collected from such easements or leases on and after
July 1, 2000, shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the Marine
Habitat and Waterways Improvement Fund. All royalties collected as a result of
the generation or transmission of electrical or compressed air energy from
offshore renewable sources, including wave or tidal action, currents, offshore
winds, and thermal or salinity gradients, shall be paid into the state treasury
and appropriated to the Fisheries Innovation for Sustainable Harvest Fund
established pursuant to &#xA7; 28.2-208.3.

D. Prior to December 1 of each year, the Commissioner and the Attorney General
shall make reports to the General Assembly on all easements and leases executed
pursuant to this section during the preceding 12 months.

E. The Commission shall, in cooperation with the Division of Geology and Mineral
Resources of the Department of Energy and with the assistance of affected state
agencies, departments, and institutions, including the Virginia Coastal Energy
Research Consortium, maintain a State Subaqueous Minerals and Coastal Energy
Management Plan that shall supplement the State Minerals Management Plan set
forth in § 2.2-1157 and the Virginia Energy Plan (§ 45.2-1710 et seq.). The
State Subaqueous Minerals and Coastal Energy Management Plan shall include
provisions for (i) the holding of public hearings, (ii) public advertising for
competitive bids or proposals for mineral and renewable energy leasing and
extraction activities, (iii) preparation of environmental impact reports to be
reviewed by the appropriate agency of the Commonwealth, and (iv) review and
approval of leases by the Attorney General and the Governor as required by
subsection A. The environmental impact reports shall address, but not be limited
to:

   1. The environmental impact of the proposed activity;

   2. Any adverse environmental effects that cannot be avoided if the proposed
   activity is undertaken;

   3. Measures proposed to minimize the impact of the proposed activity;

   4. Any alternative to the proposed activity; and

   5. Any irreversible environmental changes which would be involved in the
   proposed activity.
   				For the purposes of subdivision 4, the report shall contain all
   alternatives considered and the reasons why the alternatives were rejected. If
   a report does not set forth alternatives, it shall state why alternatives were
   not considered.

F. Neither the Commission nor the Department of Energy shall grant any lease,
easement, or permit allowing on the beds of any of the coastal waters of the
Commonwealth any infrastructure for conveying to shore oil or gas produced from
an offshore oil or gas lease in the portion of the Atlantic Ocean identified as
the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Planning Area by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management. For purposes of this section, the term
&#8220;infrastructure&#8221; includes pipelines, gathering systems, processing
facilities, and storage facilities. The provisions of this subsection shall not
apply to any infrastructure in existence as of July 1, 2020.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 62-3; 1958, c. 290; 1962, c. 637; 1968, c. 659, §
62.1-4; 1986, c. 488; 1992, c. 836; 1993, c. 644; 2000, c. 1056; 2004, cc. 899,
1018; 2008, c. 369; 2009, c. 766; 2020, cc. 451, 452; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 532;
2024, cc. 198, 246.