2025 SESSION
INTRODUCED
25103047D
HOUSE BILL NO. 1950
Offered January 8, 2025
Prefiled January 6, 2025
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 28.2-104.2, relating to Living Shoreline Grant Fund established.
PatronHernandez
Committee Referral Pending
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 28.2-104.2 as follows:
28.2-104.2. Living Shoreline Grant Fund.
A. There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Living Shoreline Grant Fund, referred to in this section as "The Fund." The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. The Fund shall consist of sums appropriated to it by the General Assembly and such other moneys as may be available from any other source, public or private, including any federal grants solicited or received for the specific purposes of the Fund, and all interest and income from investment of the Fund. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon, at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall be used solely for the purpose of awarding grants pursuant to subsection B. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon written request signed by the Commissioner.
B. The Fund shall be administered by the Commission for the sole purpose of making grants to a local government or any federally recognized tribe in the Commonwealth to match federal or other matching funds. Such grants shall be used for the construction, renovation, or improvement of living shorelines, as defined in 28.2-104.1, that are greater than 1.5 miles in any shore angle direction. The Commission shall develop guidelines for the administration of such grants and shall determine the terms and conditions of any grant from the Fund. In awarding grants, the Commission shall give priority to projects that (i) are located on public lands, (ii) demonstrate the ability for the living shoreline to migrate upland over time through documented control of upland properties, or (iii) are identified as priorities in the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan.