                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND PURPOSES (§ 62.1-44.19:12)

The 2000 Chesapeake Bay Agreement and related multistate cooperative and
regulatory initiatives (i) establish allocations for nitrogen and phosphorus
delivered to the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries to meet applicable
water quality standards and (ii) place caps on the loads of these nutrients that
may be discharged into the Chesapeake Bay watershed. These initiatives will
require public and private point source dischargers of nitrogen and phosphorus
to achieve significant additional reductions of these nutrients to meet the cap
load allocations. The General Assembly finds and determines that adoption and
utilization of a watershed general permit and market-based point source nutrient
credit trading program will assist in (a) meeting these cap load allocations
cost-effectively and as soon as possible in keeping with the 2010 timeline and
objectives of the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement, (b) accommodating continued growth
and economic development in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and (c) providing a
foundation for establishing market-based incentives to help achieve the
Chesapeake Bay Program&#8217;s nonpoint source reduction goals.

HISTORY: 2005, cc. 708, 710.