Following Crossover in the Virginia General Assembly, several priority bills are now headed to the opposite chamber – and they hit home for Virginia Beach: stronger tools to stop invasive plants from spreading in our communities, smarter tree conservation during development to cut runoff and heat, added protections for diamondback terrapins in the Bay, expanded offshore wind workforce pathways for Hampton Roads jobs, and a practical fix for bulky consumer waste that clogs landfills and too often ends up as litter in our waterways.
Please take 2 minutes today to email or call your Delegate and Senator and ask them to support these commonsense conservation and resilience measures – small actions in Richmond can mean cleaner water, less flooding, and healthier habitats here at home. For help locating your legislator, click here.
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HB 109 Noxious weeds / invasive plants: Updates Virginia’s noxious-weed law so harmful invasive plants can be designated even if they’re sold commercially, and adds practical tools like phase-out timelines, certain disclosure requirements, and a required Commissioner report (due Nov. 1, 2026). Closer to home, that means fewer invasive are escaping into our wetlands, parks, and waterways – protecting the native habitats that help keep local creeks healthier and shorelines more resilient.
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HB 549 Tree Conservation in development: Expands tree conservation and replacement authority to all localities statewide, enabling stronger local tree standards during development and tightening how exceptions are granted. In a city where shade and stormwater capacity can make or break a neighborhood during heavy rain, protecting the canopy is a low-cost way to cool streets, slow runoff, and reduce erosion that clouds our waterways.
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HB 390 Habitat Policy Oversight Committee: Establishes a Habitat Policy Oversight Committee within the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to advise on aquatic habitat policy and mitigation-related work. For the Virginia Beach communities Lynnhaven River NOW serves, this is about getting habitat decisions right – because healthier marshes, submerged grasses, and shorelines are natural infrastructure that helps buffer flooding and sustain fisheries.
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HB 1013 Diamondback terrapin bycatch reduction: Directs VMRC, in consultation with Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the Crab Management Advisory Committee, to establish terrapin protection areas and require bycatch reduction devices on recreational crab pots in those areas. Protecting terrapins is also protecting the marshes they depend on – those same marshes dampen storm surge, support birds and fish, and keep our coastal ecosystems functioning.
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HB 67 / SB 25 Offshore wind workforce development: Directs the Virginia Department of Energy to develop offshore-wind workforce training resources, with SB 25 adding more detail on pathways, partners, and priorities. In Hampton Roads, this is a “jobs + resilience” win: it helps families access skilled careers while building the clean-energy capacity that strengthens grid reliability and reduces pollution.
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HB 86 Mattress stewardship program: Creates a statewide mattress stewardship system requiring a certified recycling organization to operate a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality-approved plan funded by a visible per-unit recycling fee, with reporting and enforcement. Locally, it tackles the bulky-waste headaches that show up as illegal dumping and litter, which too often end up near ditches and drains that feed straight into our waterways.
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HB 397 / SB 802 Carbon market revenue for flood preparedness: Establishes/maintains a market-based carbon allowance trading framework consistent with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, linking proceeds to clean energy and flood-preparedness investments. The payoff for our coast is straightforward: dedicated funding that can turn plans into projects – raising roads, improving stormwater systems, restoring natural buffers, and protecting homes from recurrent flooding.
We’re disappointed that the menhaden accountability bills – HB 1048, HB 1049, and SB 474 –didn’t survive Crossover, with HB 1048 and HB 1049 left in committee and SB 474 continued to next session. That means meaningful guardrails on the industrial menhaden reduction fishery will have to wait, and we’ll be back next session, ready to resume the fight – stronger, louder, and with even more Virginia Beach voices driving the sense of urgency.