RICHMOND, Va. — There could soon be statewide guidance on how to tackle issues that shape marine policy and advise on habitat, wetlands and coastal resilience policies.

Del. Alex Askew, D-Norfolk, introduced House Bill 390 to form a committee of 10 science, environmental, industry and government experts who review existing habitat policies and recommend improvements. The bill unanimously passed the House of Delegates and would establish a Habitat Policy Oversight Committee within the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, if approved by the Senate.

Virginia’s sea levels are rising more rapidly than the global rate, in part due to melting glaciers and sinking land, according to the state’s first ever comprehensive climate report released last November by George Mason University. The combination accelerates regional flooding, which threatens infrastructure, ecosystems and coastal communities.

Initially members of the new committee would serve two and four year terms that are staggered, before the permanent appointment term of four years. Members will not receive compensation for their services, only reimbursement for committee expenses.

The bill absorbed a previous bill by Del. Rob Bloxom, R-Accomack, who said the Virginia Marine Resources Commission would have a panel of advisers to help inform their votes.

The way the current system operates, the representatives responsible for establishing procedures may lack awareness of the issues shaping marine policy, Bloxom said. With a board of advisers from across the industry, the VMRC could better use Virginia’s resources “to try to make these programs actually function.”

Kelly Hengler, a citizen who opposed the bill during an Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources committee meeting on Feb. 2, said historically, the VMRC has a specific focus on fishery management. Hengler also argued that the term habitat as stated in the bill is not defined in Virginia law.

Bloxom disagreed. The VMRC controls any ocean ground that is not owned by the “upland owner,” or owner of land that is adjacent to submerged land, he said.

The VMRC manages fishing regulations, oyster farming, surveying marshes and overall habitat management, among other things, Bloxom said.

Numerous marine conservation organizations attended the meeting in support of the bill including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, American Rivers, the Virginia Conservation Network, Virginia League of Conservation Voters, Environmental Defense Fund and Wetlands Watch.

Jay Ford, Virginia policy manager at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, expressed urgency for the bill’s implementation.

“The state is facing tremendous flooding and sea level rise issues,” Ford testified. “The habitat committee could play a vital role in helping the commission work through some of the novel technologies for mitigating flood risks that are coming up as well [as] balancing natural resource considerations and mitigation when we’re putting these novel practices on the ground.”

The rates of sea level rising in the lower Chesapeake Bay and Tidewater region of Virginia are among the highest on the Atlantic Coast, according to the GMU 2025 climate report.

Brent McKenzie, director of legislative affairs for Virginia Beach, said the city is a perfect example of how the committee would be beneficial, particularly regarding the challenges and issues they have faced getting permits for flooding projects.

Sea level rise will accelerate across Virginia coasts, and impact ecosystems, shorelines, habitat conversion, groundwater salinization and erosion, according to future projections by GMU.

The bill will use an existing committee in a formal way to tackle “changing environmental conditions with new and innovative solutions,” testified Emily Steinholzer, a representative of the Environmental Defense Fund.

Some of these innovative solutions have already been adopted in other states, according to Steinholzer. The Habitat Policy Oversight Committee will keep Virginia ahead of the game “as we adapt to climate change.”

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is an organization that works to counter impacts of global warming in Maryland, Virginia and Washington. It previously said in a 2020 article that, “there has never been uniform, statewide guidance for how to respond to sea level rise.”

The VRMC would retain ultimate regulatory authority, but give due weight to the committee’s recommendations in decision making processes. The bill was referred to the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources committee, which meets on Tuesdays.

By Paige Frey/Capital News Service

Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Richard T. Robertson School of Communication. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.