# Virginia SB353: Consultation with federally recognized tribes; permits and reviews, etc. Virginia SB353, Consultation with federally recognized tribes; permits and reviews, etc., is a 2027 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Ryan T. McDougle (Republican); status in committee, last action 2026-07-21 (Continued from last session) (as of 2026-10-11). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB353-2027 - As of: 2026-10-11 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Virginia SB353 - State: Virginia - Session: 2027 Regular Session - Title: Consultation with federally recognized tribes; permits and reviews, etc. - Status: in committee - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2026-01-13 - Last action: 2026-07-21, Continued from last session - Sponsor: Ryan T. McDougle (Republican) - Cosponsors: 0 - Subjects: Finance and Appropriations - Touches household money: no - Economic provisions PRIA read: 0 ## Summary Consultation with federally recognized tribes; permits and reviews with potential impacts on environmental, cultural, and historic resources. Adds to the duties of the Ombudsman for Tribal Consultation requirements to (i) facilitate communication between federally recognized tribes and relevant state agencies and local governments to ensure an opportunity for meaningful and timely consultation on environmental, cultural, and historical permits and reviews; (ii) assist the Department of Transportation in developing consultation policies; (iii) make recommendations to the Governor on the basis of communications with federally recognized tribes about (a) circumstances under which tribal consent should be required for issuance of certain permits and (b) additional agencies that should develop policies and procedures to ensure meaningful, timely, and appropriate consultation with federally recognized tribes; (iv) provide training at least once a year to certain state agency personnel on issues of concern to the federally recognized tribes to support effective communication, collaboration, and positive government-to-government relations between the Commonwealth and the federally recognized tribes; and (v) submit an annual report to the Secretary of the Commonwealth on the activities undertaken to implement such provisions and the issues that have arisen in that pursuit. The bill also requires the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Historic Resources, Department of Transportation, and Marine Resources Commission to engage in consultation with federally recognized tribes on certain issues. During such consultation, the burden is on the agency to show that it has made a good faith effort to elicit meaningful and timely feedback, including formal communication between agency employees and the federally recognized tribe. When a burial permit will result in the disturbance of a burial site of an individual that has a cultural affiliation with a particular federally recognized tribe, the bill requires the Department of Historic Resources to acquire the consent of such federally recognized tribe before issuing a permit for the archaeological excavation of human remains. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on Updating Virginia Law to Reflect Federal Recognition of Virginia Tribes. ## Bill overview No economic impacts identified for this bill. ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Ryan T. McDougle (Republican), Senate ## Actions (7) - 2026-07-21: Continued from last session (Senate) - 2026-02-12: Continued to 2027 in Finance and Appropriations (9-Y 6-N) (Senate) - 2026-02-11: Reported from General Laws and Technology with amendments and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N) (Senate) - 2026-02-11: Senate committee offered (Senate) - 2026-01-26: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB353) (Senate) - 2026-01-13: Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology (Senate) - 2026-01-13: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26103025D (Senate) ## Bill text - Amendment, 2026-02-12: [HTML](https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20271/SB353) - Introduced, 2026-01-13: [HTML](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1231153.HTML), [PDF](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1231152.PDF) ## Related bills - SB844: Licensed clinical psychologists; prescriptive authority; report. (in committee) - HB1535: Individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities; admissibility of statements. (introduced) - HB1534: School service providers; deletion of student and family personal information. (introduced) - SB843: Data centers; state permitting, local approval, moratorium, sunset. (in committee) - SB842: High school student athletes; eligibility, enrollment. (in committee) - SB840: Corrections, Director of the Department of; placement of inmates, Red Onion State Prison. (in committee) ## Sources - [Amendment (HTML)](https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20271/SB353) - [Introduced (HTML)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1231153.HTML) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1231152.PDF) ## Related - [SB844: Licensed clinical psychologists; prescriptive authority; report.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB844-2027) - [HB1535: Individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities; admissibility of s…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1535-2027) - [HB1534: School service providers; deletion of student and family personal information.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-HB1534-2027) - [SB843: Data centers; state permitting, local approval, moratorium, sunset.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB843-2027) - [SB842: High school student athletes; eligibility, enrollment.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB842-2027) - [SB840: Corrections, Director of the Department of; placement of inmates, Red Onion Sta…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB840-2027) - [Virginia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia/bills) - [Virginia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/virginia) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/VA-SB353-2027 (as of 2026-10-11).