All Roll Calls
Yes: 299 • No: 164
Sponsored By: Saddam Azlan Salim (Democratic)
Became Law
Conservation and replacement of trees during development process; work group; report. Expands certain existing local government authority to plant or replace trees during the development process by expanding such authority statewide. The bill allows localities to establish higher tree canopy replacement percentages based on density per acre. The bill also alters the current process for granting exceptions to a local ordinance by modifying a provision that requires the granting of an exception when the strict application of the ordinance would result in unnecessary or unreasonable hardship to the developer, and replacing it with a requirement that the locality concur with such a determination. The bill permits localities to monitor and assess the condition and coverage of tree canopies at development sites during a period of up to 20 years after the trees are planted. The bill also allows any town within Planning District 8 belonging to an eight-hour nonattainment area for air quality standards to require, by ordinance, that a subdivision or development provide for the preservation or replacement of trees on the development site such that the minimum tree canopy or cover 10 years after development is projected to meet specified coverage criteria. Under current law, the criteria apply to tree canopy coverage 20 years after development. Finally, the bill directs the Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience to convene a work group to conduct a comprehensive review of the tree canopy laws and regulations and report the work group's findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns and Senate Committee on Local Government by November 1, 2026. This bill is identical to HB 549.
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6 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 4 mixed.
The Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience convenes a stakeholder work group to review Virginia’s tree canopy laws and guidance. The group studies policies, incentives, parity across localities, and cost‑effective ways to increase canopy. The Institute reports findings to legislative committee chairs by November 1, 2026.
Local rules set minimum tree canopy that sites must reach 20 years after build. Business, commercial, and industrial sites must reach 10%. Residential sites must reach 10% at very high density, then 15%, 20%, 25%, or 30% as density drops. Exact density cutoffs differ by ordinance type. Cemeteries must reach at least 10%. Dedicated school sites and playing fields may use 10% at 20 years. Areas of lakes, ponds, and the water area of stormwater basins are exempt. Williamsburg and some towns in Planning District 8 may require these targets at 10 years instead of 20.
Your site plan must show pre‑development canopy edges, disturbance limits, and tree‑protection fencing. It must include 20‑year canopy calculations on the local worksheet and a planting and landscape schedule with species, sizes, and total canopy. The existing canopy percent at plan submission sets the minimum part you must preserve, unless you get a deviation. You may request a deviation with a justification letter; arborists and engineering reviewers check it, and arboricultural letters must be signed by a Certified or Registered Consulting Arborist. Localities can monitor sites for up to 20 years without entering property, and violations face the same penalties as zoning violations. Credited trees that die or become hazards can be required to be replaced, using the same credit rules. Canopy counts use the law’s definition: plants taller than five feet, with maturity measured at 10 or 20 years as the ordinance specifies.
You can earn extra canopy credit for preserved trees and forest stands, up to 1.25×, 1.5×, 2×, or 3× the area, based on what you preserve and the documentation. You can also get 1.25× or 1.5× credit for certain plantings, like native species, air‑quality or energy‑saving trees, and water‑quality plantings. Local rules list allowed species and set a 20‑year canopy value for each. Seedlings can be used in large open areas at about 400 per acre; shrubs or native seed mixes can cover up to 33% of that area, and no single species can exceed 10%. Credits cannot be stacked without limits, and trees must have trunks fully on the site to count. Planted trees must meet nursery standards and state‑approved planting specs, and localities may ban risky or harmful species.
Localities with at least 75 people per square mile, or within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, may adopt tree rules for development. Population density uses University of Virginia Cooper Center estimates. Local rules under this law cannot be stricter than the state requirements. Pre‑1990 local ordinances, and Williamsburg’s 10‑year canopy rules, remain in force. In Planning District 8 localities that met the 2008 ozone nonattainment test, a conservation‑only ordinance is allowed and cannot also impose replacement rules. Legitimate forestry (silviculture) practices remain protected.
If you cannot meet canopy on your site, your locality may let you use a tree canopy bank or a tree canopy fund. Banking must preserve trees in perpetuity with an easement or deed restriction and occur in the same nonattainment area as the approving locality. A fund can collect fees based on the average cost of two‑inch caliper nursery trees and must spend collected money within five years. Localities must also allow reasonable exceptions for hardships, like farmland or wetlands.
Saddam Azlan Salim
Democratic • Senate
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
All Roll Calls
Yes: 299 • No: 164
House vote • 3/14/2026
Conference report agreed to by House
Yes: 64 • No: 33
Senate vote • 3/14/2026
Conference report agreed to by Senate
Yes: 22 • No: 17
Senate vote • 3/14/2026
Senate acceded to request for second conference committee
Yes: 22 • No: 17
Senate vote • 2/23/2026
Senate acceded to request
Yes: 38 • No: 0
Senate vote • 2/18/2026
House substitute rejected by Senate
Yes: 0 • No: 38
House vote • 2/16/2026
Passed House with substitute
Yes: 64 • No: 34
House vote • 2/13/2026
Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with substitute
Yes: 16 • No: 5
Senate vote • 1/29/2026
Read third time and passed Senate
Yes: 24 • No: 16
Senate vote • 1/28/2026
Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote)
Yes: 0 • No: 0
Senate vote • 1/27/2026
Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading)
Yes: 39 • No: 0
Senate vote • 1/27/2026
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
Yes: 0 • No: 0
Senate vote • 1/26/2026
Reported from Local Government
Yes: 10 • No: 4
Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0511)
Approved by Governor-Chapter 511 (effective 7/1/2026)
Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026
Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026
Signed by Speaker
Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB589ER)
Enrolled
Signed by President
Conference report agreed to by Senate (22-Y 17-N 0-A)
Conference report agreed to by House (64-Y 33-N 0-A)
Conference Report released
House Conferees: Hope, McClure, Tata
Conferees appointed by House
Senate acceded to request for second conference committee (22-Y 17-N 0-A)
Senate Conferees: Salim, Srinivasan, Suetterlein
Second conferees appointed by Senate
House requested second conference committee
Conference Report released
House Conferees: Hope, McClure, Tata
Conferees appointed by House
Senate acceded to request (38-Y 0-N 0-A)
Senate Conferees: Salim, Srinivasan, Suetterlein
Conferees appointed by Senate
House requested conference committee
House insisted on substitute
Chaptered
4/8/2026
Enrolled
3/30/2026
Conference Report
3/14/2026
Substitute
3/14/2026
Conference Report
3/13/2026
Substitute
3/13/2026
Substitute
2/13/2026
Introduced
1/14/2026
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