HB491

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 3.2-800, 3.2-802, and 3.2-804 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 3.2-800. Definitions.

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:

"Certificate" means a document issued or authorized by the Commissioner indicating that a regulated article is not contaminated with a noxious weed.

"Infested" means the establishment of a noxious weed or exposure to such weed, which would be reasonable cause to believe that establishment could occur.

"Move" means to ship, offer for shipment, receive for transportation, carry, or otherwise transport, move, or allow to be moved.

"Noxious weed" means any living plant, or part thereof, declared by the Board through regulations under this chapter to be detrimental to crops, surface waters, including lakes, or other desirable plants, livestock, land, or other property, or to be injurious to public health, the environment, or the economy, except when in-state production of such living plant, or part thereof, is commercially or such living plant is commercially propagated in Virginia.

"Permit" means a document issued or authorized by the Commissioner to provide for movement of regulated articles to restricted destinations for limited handling, utilization, processing, or for scientific purposes.

"Person" means the term as defined in § 1-230. The term also means any society.

"Quarantine" means a legal declaration by the Board that specifies: (i) the noxious weed; (ii) the articles to be regulated; (iii) conditions governing movement; and (iv) exemptions.

"Regulated article" means any article of any character as described in this chapter or in the quarantine carrying or capable of carrying a noxious weed against which this chapter or the quarantine is directed.

§ 3.2-802. Powers and duties of Board; quarantine; labeling.

A. The Board shall establish by regulation, after a public hearing, those weeds deemed to be noxious weeds not otherwise so declared by the terms of this chapter. Prior to designating a living plant or part thereof as a noxious weed, the Board shall review the recommendations of an advisory committee established by the Commissioner to conduct a scientific risk assessment of the proposed plant. The assessment shall include the degree to which the plant is detrimental to crops; surface waters, including lakes; other desirable plants; livestock; land or other property; public health; the environment; and the economy. The advisory committee shall also include in its recommendations to the Board an analysis of the current and potential in-state commercial of the specific plant species and the economic impact on industries affected by the designation of the plant as a noxious weed.

B. The Board may establish a statewide quarantine and adopt regulations pertaining to regulated articles and conditions governing movement, under which the Commissioner shall proceed to eradicate or suppress and prevent the dissemination of noxious weeds in the Commonwealth, and shall adopt other regulations as are necessary to carry out the purpose of this chapter. The Board may adopt regulations governing the movement of regulated articles entering the Commonwealth from without. Following the establishment of a quarantine, no person shall move any noxious weed or any regulated article described in the quarantine from any regulated area without a valid permit or certificate.

Subsequent to the declaration of a quarantine by the Board, the Commissioner shall limit the application of the regulations pertinent to such quarantine to the infested portion of the Commonwealth and appropriate environs, which would be known as the regulated area and may, without further hearing, extend the regulated area to include additional portions of the Commonwealth upon publication of a notice to that effect in a newspaper distributed in the extended area or by direct written notice to those concerned.

§ 3.2-804. Prohibited acts; noxious weeds.

No person shall violate any provisions of this chapter or any regulation adopted hereunder. Such permit shall be subject to prescribed safeguards.

2. That the amendment to the definition of "noxious weed" in § 3.2-800 of the Code of Virginia, as amended by this act, shall become effective on July 1, 2023.

3. That the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services (the Board) shall adopt regulations defining of "commercially significant," "in-state production," "part thereof," and "commercially propagated. Such regulations shall be in the formal approval process no later than July 1, 2023. In developing such definitions, the Board shall convene a working group composed of representatives of different industry sectors, at least four interested conservation groups, and other groups deemed necessary to develop definitions that are practical and that balance the needs of industry groups and the need to eliminate the sale of plants that are harmful to the Commonwealth's ecosystems.

4. That the Department of Conservation and Recreation shall update its list of invasive plants no later than January 1, 2024, and shall update such list at least every four years thereafter.

5. That no agency of the Commonwealth shall plant, sell, or propagate any plant listed on the Department of Conservation and Recreation's invasive plants list unless necessary for scientific or educational purposes.

6. That the Invasive Species Working Group shall prepare a budget request for the 2023 Session of the General Assembly to support full implementation of its existing Invasive Species Management Plan.

7. That the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall develop regulations requiring landscape designers and contract planting services to inform landowners whenever a planting will include a plant on the Department of Conservation and Recreation's invasive plants list.