SB185: Impact fees; grants authority to high-growth localities

Overview of House Bill 913 (Click here to view the bill as a PDF) Summary as introduced: Regulation of arborists. Prohibits any person from using the titles "arborist" and "consulting arborist" unless he possesses the proper certification. The bill provides for injunctive relief to restrain the invalid use of the titles and exempts any person who is not certified to perform arboriculture, defined as the specialized field involving the cultivation of trees and shrubs especially for ornamental purposes, if the person does not represent himself to the public as being an arborist or a consulting arborist.

State Delegate David Bulova, State Senator Patsy Ticer, State Senator Louise Lucas, and State Senator Chapman Petersen have introduced the following tree conservation bills at the 2008 Virginia General Legislative Assembly:

Overview of House Bill 1437 (Click here to view the bill as a PDF) This bill proposes to amend existing § 15.2-961 to allow Virginian jurisdictions with air pollution problems the option to shift the focus of their local tree canopy ordinance from tree replacement to tree preservation. However, HB1437 proposes many more incentives for developers to provide higher quality tree canopy along with increased authority to create tree banks and tree funds for providing off-site tree conservation projects.

Overview of Senate Bill 632 (Click here to view the bill as a PDF) The text of Senator Patsy Ticer's bill is a duplicate of what she submitted in SB939 last year. It is my understanding that the current text is a placeholder that will be replaced with the same or similar text as contained in HB1437 already discussed above.

Overview of Senate Bill 166 (Click here to view the bill as a PDF) This bill proposes to amend the main text of § 15.2-961 so local ordinances can adopt a 15-year canopy system, along with increased requirements (30%) for low-density residential sites.

Overview of Senate Bill 448 (Click here to view the bill as a PDF) This is a duplicate of SB632. All 3 senate bills may be merged into one bill at some point in the near future.