Subcommittee backs wetlands task force bill to coordinate state, academic and stakeholder planning

Delegate Simons presented House Bill 2034, a proposed policy task force to evaluate Virginia’s wetlands protection programs and recommend coordinated policy and planning tools. Simons said the bill would draw on nonprofit, academic, industry and agency expertise and would complement the administration’s coastal‑resilience efforts.

Speakers in favor included Jay Forbes of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Steve Carter Lovejoy of the Virginia Sierra Club, Ian Blair of Wetlands Watch, Pat Calvert of the Virginia Conservation Network, and Jake Taber of the Virginia Farm Bureau. Witnesses emphasized that the Commonwealth’s Coastal Resilience Master Plan projects substantial wetland loss without additional policy changes; Forbes said the plan forecasts significant loss of tidal and nontidal wetlands by the end of the century and described the task force as a mechanism to coordinate policy improvements.

Committee members asked whether the task force would consider subsidence along with sea‑level rise; Simons and other witnesses confirmed both drivers would be considered. Discussion also touched on wetlands mitigation and federal roles; witnesses said federal mitigation is a different regulatory regime and that Virginia’s policy role is to assess and improve state processes and coordination.

The subcommittee accepted a line amendment to add the Virginia Farm Bureau as a stakeholder representative in the bill’s membership and then voted to report the bill with that amendment; the clerk recorded the measure as reported, 10‑0.

The task force as proposed would not itself change regulatory authority; rather it would convene practitioners and policy experts to produce analysis and recommendations for state agencies and the General Assembly.

Provenance: See sponsor introduction at the transcript block starting 1697.415 and committee action reporting the bill with amendment at block starting 2212.1091.