Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the proposed revisions to 9 VAC 15-60 to comport within the requirements of Chapter 688 of the 2022 Virginia General Assembly. 

The Virginia Cattlemen’s Association (VCA) represents thousands of cattle producers and landowners constituting one of the largest private agricultural land uses —across the Commonwealth.  

VCA supported HB 206 in 2022 as it is a tool to help protect vital farm and forestland resources for future generations.   

Chapter 688 defines and adds prime agricultural soils and forest lands to the requirement with an analysis of beneficial and adverse impacts to natural resources. 

Virginia’s farm and forestlands are extremely limited resources. 

Virginia agriculture is more than just the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock; it is the backbone of our economy and a vital component of human survival. It plays a crucial role in ensuring food security, providing livelihoods, and promoting sustainable development.

Over the last 5 years we lost over 500,000 acres and 5000 farms in Virginia.  This rapid rate of conversion is not sustainable. 

We must mitigate the losses and significant damage in order to plan for renewable food supplies for future generations.  

This legislation can assist in “balancing” demands and requirements for regional food and fiber production with needs for regional clean energy. 

We must continue to prioritize additional land uses other than agricultural/forestal for utility solar installation.  This includes large energy user projects, such as data centers, industrial facilities, public buildings, public schools, brownfields, landfills,  and parking lots.

Virginia needs to “balance” the artificial financial incentives created by state and federal government—with financial incentives for farm and forestland protection.  

We support allowing additional options and recommend that in lieu mitigation dollars collected be deposited into the Virginia Department of Forestry’s Office (VDF) of Working Lands. 

Funds deposited at VDF will make a major impact in keeping “working lands” and do the most for the public good to protect operating farm and forest resources long term.  

However it is quite important that all future mitigation using matching easements allow commercial agricultural and silvicultural operations to continue and not impose restrictions which would negatively affect agriculture and forestry enterprises.  

We encourage the Department to continue to focus on protecting “prime” forestland and agricultural land as defined and using the references to forest preservation programs as cited.

We also support and recommend using the State Land Evaluation Advisory Council (SLEAC) for all value calculations. SLEAC is the accepted statewide authority on value for farmland and forestland, and can effectively and efficiently determine these calculations. 

We support Dr. Lee Daniels research and recommendations from Virginia Tech regarding compaction damage and steps to mitigate.  Dr. Daniels is a renowned soil researcher whose work has defined evaluating, repairing, and improving disturbed and compacted soils involving harsh environment sites such as utility solar facilities and strip mines. 

9VAC15-60-60. Mitigation Plan. Section E, Part 3, Table 1:

For Option 2; We support changing the Mitigation Actions Required language to the following:

“Areas with changes in grade due to cut and fill with removal and return of topsoil, decompaction of topsoil to six inches following installation, maintenance of > 75% living vegetative cover for project lifetime, and decompaction to > 24" and surface soil amendment after decommissioning.”

Rationale: The current language specifies decompaction of the subsoil (in addition to topsoil) following installation which is not feasible in many site settings following panel installation. As long as the returned topsoil is decompacted to six inches, a certain amount of improvement in the quality of the subsoil is to be expected over the operational (20 to 30 years) period due to rooting and other processes, assuming 75% living vegetation is maintained. However, the deep ripping/decompaction to > 24 inches will be essential for site decommissioning to ensure reasonable levels of soil productivity for agriculture or forestry.  

From our work with agricultural and forestal stakeholders we believe the proposed regulations adequately reflect the positions of the technical advisory committees.  

Please finalize the HB 206 regulations as intended to insure “green energy projects” do not have unintended consequences and destroy vital agriculture and natural resources in Virginia. 

Protecting farms, our food, our forests, and our drinking water  must be a priority for all Virginia citizens. 

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments and to participate in the processes effecting this important topic. 

Sincerely, 

James E. Riddell

Virginia Cattlemen’s Association