VA HB 846
enactedVirginia Land Conservation Foundation; purposes of foundation, easements.
Virginia · 2026 Regular Session · lower
Quick answers
Did VA HB 846 pass?
Yes. VA HB 846 has been enacted into law as of 2026-04-08. Latest recorded action (2026-04-08): Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0433)
What is VA HB 846 about?
Virginia Land Conservation Foundation. Allows the Virginia Land Conservation Board of Trustees to waive the requirement for a holder of a conservation easement to have such easement jointly held with a public body whenever such holder acquires any interest in land other than a fee simple interest from a grant or transfer from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation, provided that such holder is accredited by the national Land Trust Accreditation Commission or meets a similar set of standards and practices adopted by the Board of Trustees and the easement contains a third party right of enforcement, as defined in relevant law, in favor of the Department of Conservation and Recreation or another public body.
Who sponsors VA HB 846?
Hillary Pugh Kent is the primary sponsor of VA HB 846, joined by 1 cosponsor.
Description
Virginia Land Conservation Foundation. Allows the Virginia Land Conservation Board of Trustees to waive the requirement for a holder of a conservation easement to have such easement jointly held with a public body whenever such holder acquires any interest in land other than a fee simple interest from a grant or transfer from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation, provided that such holder is accredited by the national Land Trust Accreditation Commission or meets a similar set of standards and practices adopted by the Board of Trustees and the easement contains a third party right of enforcement, as defined in relevant law, in favor of the Department of Conservation and Recreation or another public body.
- Introduced
- 2026-01-13
- Latest action
- 2026-04-08 — Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0433)
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Sponsors
- Hillary Pugh Kentprimary
- Amy J. Laufercosponsor
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
2026-01-13
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104916D
filing,introduction
2026-01-13
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources
referral-committee
2026-01-26
Assigned HACNR sub: Natural Resources
referral-committee
2026-01-28
House subcommittee offered
2026-01-28
Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (10-Y 0-N)
substitution
2026-02-04
House committee offered
2026-02-04
Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with substitute (22-Y 0-N)
committee-passage
2026-02-05
Committee substitute printed 26107146D-H1
substitution
2026-02-06
Read first time
reading-1
2026-02-09
Read second time
reading-2
2026-02-09
committee substitute agreed to
substitution
2026-02-09
Engrossed by House - committee substitute
substitution
2026-02-10
Read third time and passed House (98-Y 0-N 0-A)
passage,reading-3
2026-02-11
Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
2026-02-11
Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources
referral-committee
2026-02-16
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB846)
2026-02-24
Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (14-Y 0-N)
committee-passage
2026-02-26
Rules suspended
2026-02-26
Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
2026-02-26
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
2026-02-27
Read third time
reading-3
2026-02-27
Passed Senate (37-Y 0-N 0-A)
passage
2026-03-04
Enrolled
enrolled
2026-03-04
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB846ER)
passage
2026-03-04
Signed by Speaker
passage
2026-03-04
Signed by President
passage
2026-03-05
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB846)
2026-03-10
Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 10, 2026
enrolled,executive-receipt
2026-03-10
Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026
executive-receipt
2026-04-08
Approved by Governor-Chapter 433 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive-signature
2026-04-08
Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0433)
Versions
Documents
Votes
Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute
2026-01-28 · pass · 10-0
Member-level votes (10)
- Kathy K.L. Tran: yes
- Charniele L. Herring: yes
- Jackie H. Glass: yes
- Nadarius E. Clark: yes
- Phil M. Hernandez: yes
- John Chilton McAuliff: yes
- Lily V. Franklin: yes
- R. Lee Ware: yes
- Thomas C. Wright, Jr.: yes
- Hillary Pugh Kent: yes
Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with substitute
2026-02-04 · pass · 22-0
Member-level votes (22)
- Alfonso H. Lopez: yes
- Nadarius E. Clark: yes
- Kathy K.L. Tran: yes
- Shelly A. Simonds: yes
- Rodney T. Willett: yes
- Charniele L. Herring: yes
- Paul E. Krizek: yes
- Jackie H. Glass: yes
- Phil M. Hernandez: yes
- Amy J. Laufer: yes
- Marty Martinez: yes
- John Chilton McAuliff: yes
- Kimberly Pope Adams: yes
- Virgil Thornton: yes
- Lily V. Franklin: yes
- R. Lee Ware: yes
- Thomas C. Wright, Jr.: yes
- Tony O. Wilt: yes
- Michael J. Webert: yes
- Robert S. Bloxom, Jr.: yes
- Hyland F. "Buddy" Fowler, Jr.: yes
- Hillary Pugh Kent: yes
H VOTE:
2026-02-10 · pass · 98-0
Member-level votes (100)
- Jessica L. Anderson: yes
- Bonita G. Anthony: yes
- Alex Q. Askew: yes
- Terry L. Austin: yes
- Jason S. Ballard: yes
- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker: not voting
- Robert S. Bloxom, Jr.: yes
- Gretchen M. Bulova: yes
- Katrina Callsen: yes
- Karen R. "Kacey" Carnegie: yes
- Betsy B. Carr: yes
- Stacey Annie Carroll: yes
- Mike A. Cherry: yes
- Nadarius E. Clark: yes
- Laura Jane Cohen: yes
- Joshua G. Cole: yes
- Nicole Cole: yes
- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler: yes
- Mitchell Cornett: yes
- Rae Cousins: yes
- Will Davis: yes
- Karrie K. Delaney: yes
- Lindsey Dougherty: yes
- Mark C. Downey: yes
- Michael B. Feggans: yes
- Hyland F. "Buddy" Fowler, Jr.: yes
- Lily V. Franklin: yes
- Margaret A. Franklin: yes
- Debra D. Gardner: yes
- Thomas A. Garrett, Jr.: yes
- Jackie H. Glass: yes
- Timothy P. Griffin: yes
- Elizabeth R. Guzman: yes
- Karen Hamilton: yes
- C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr.: yes
- Dan I. Helmer: yes
- Rozia A. Henson, Jr.: yes
- Phil M. Hernandez: yes
- Charniele L. Herring: yes
- M. Keith Hodges: yes
- Patrick A. Hope: yes
- Hillary Pugh Kent: yes
- Karen Keys-Gamarra: yes
- Terry G. Kilgore: yes
- Barry D. Knight: not voting
- Paul E. Krizek: yes
- Amy J. Laufer: yes
- James A. "Jay" Leftwich: yes
- Destiny LeVere Bolling: yes
- Alfonso H. Lopez: yes
- Michelle Lopes Maldonado: yes
- Marty Martinez: yes
- John Chilton McAuliff: yes
- Adele Y. McClure: yes
- Garrett McGuire: yes
- Ellen H. McLaughlin: yes
- Joseph P. McNamara: yes
- Delores L. McQuinn: yes
- Leslie Chambers Mehta: yes
- James W. Morefield: yes
- May Nivar: yes
- Delores Oates: yes
- Israel D. O'Quinn: yes
- Justin Pence: yes
- Eric Phillips: yes
- Kimberly Pope Adams: yes
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price: yes
- Sam Rasoul: yes
- Atoosa R. Reaser: yes
- David A. Reid: yes
- Chris S. Runion: yes
- Charlie Schmidt: yes
- Don Scott: yes
- Phillip A. Scott: yes
- Holly M. Seibold: yes
- Briana D. Sewell: yes
- Irene Shin: yes
- Marcus B. Simon: yes
- Shelly A. Simonds: yes
- JJ Singh: yes
- Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr.: yes
- Anne Ferrell Tata: yes
- Joshua E. Thomas: yes
- Virgil Thornton: yes
- Luke E. Torian: yes
- Kathy K.L. Tran: yes
- H. Otto Wachsmann, Jr.: yes
- Wendell S. Walker: yes
- Jeion A. Ward: yes
- R. Lee Ware: yes
- Vivian E. Watts: yes
- Michael J. Webert: yes
- Madison Whittle: yes
- Bill Wiley: yes
- Rodney T. Willett: yes
- Wren M. Williams: yes
- Tony O. Wilt: yes
- Thomas C. Wright, Jr.: yes
- Scott A. Wyatt: yes
- Eric R. Zehr: yes
Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources
2026-02-24 · pass · 14-0
Member-level votes (15)
- David W. Marsden: yes
- Mark D. Obenshain: yes
- Richard H. Stuart: not voting
- William M. Stanley, Jr.: yes
- David R. Suetterlein: yes
- T. Travis Hackworth: yes
- Angelia Williams Graves: yes
- Russet Perry: yes
- Stella G. Pekarsky: yes
- Timmy French: yes
- Saddam Azlan Salim: yes
- Tammy Brankley Mulchi: yes
- Danica A. Roem: yes
- Kannan Srinivasan: yes
- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker: yes
Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading)
2026-02-26 · pass · 40-0
Member-level votes (40)
- Lashrecse D. Aird: yes
- Lamont Bagby: yes
- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker: yes
- Jennifer B. Boysko: yes
- Jennifer D. Carroll Foy: yes
- Luther Cifers, III: yes
- Christie New Craig: yes
- R. Creigh Deeds: yes
- Bill DeSteph: yes
- J.D. "Danny" Diggs: yes
- Tara A. Durant: yes
- Barbara A. Favola: yes
- Timmy French: yes
- T. Travis Hackworth: yes
- Christopher T. Head: yes
- Michael J. Jones: yes
- Emily M. Jordan: yes
- Mamie E. Locke: yes
- L. Louise Lucas: yes
- David W. Marsden: yes
- Ryan T. McDougle: yes
- Jeremy S. McPike: yes
- Tammy Brankley Mulchi: yes
- Mark D. Obenshain: yes
- Mark J. Peake: yes
- Stella G. Pekarsky: yes
- Russet Perry: yes
- Todd E. Pillion: yes
- Bryce E. Reeves: yes
- Danica A. Roem: yes
- Aaron R. Rouse: yes
- Saddam Azlan Salim: yes
- Kannan Srinivasan: yes
- William M. Stanley, Jr.: yes
- Richard H. Stuart: yes
- Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.: yes
- David R. Suetterlein: yes
- Scott A. Surovell: yes
- Schuyler T. VanValkenburg: yes
- Angelia Williams Graves: yes
Passage R
2026-02-27 · pass · 37-0
Member-level votes (40)
- David W. Marsden: yes
- Ryan T. McDougle: yes
- Jeremy S. McPike: yes
- Tammy Brankley Mulchi: yes
- Mark D. Obenshain: yes
- Mark J. Peake: yes
- Stella G. Pekarsky: not voting
- Russet Perry: yes
- Todd E. Pillion: yes
- Bryce E. Reeves: yes
- Danica A. Roem: not voting
- Aaron R. Rouse: yes
- Saddam Azlan Salim: yes
- Kannan Srinivasan: yes
- William M. Stanley, Jr.: yes
- Richard H. Stuart: yes
- Glen H. Sturtevant, Jr.: yes
- David R. Suetterlein: yes
- Scott A. Surovell: yes
- Schuyler T. VanValkenburg: yes
- Angelia Williams Graves: yes
- Lashrecse D. Aird: yes
- Lamont Bagby: yes
- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker: yes
- Jennifer B. Boysko: yes
- Jennifer D. Carroll Foy: yes
- Luther Cifers, III: yes
- Christie New Craig: yes
- R. Creigh Deeds: yes
- Bill DeSteph: yes
- J.D. "Danny" Diggs: yes
- Tara A. Durant: not voting
- Barbara A. Favola: yes
- Timmy French: yes
- T. Travis Hackworth: yes
- Christopher T. Head: yes
- Michael J. Jones: yes
- Emily M. Jordan: yes
- Mamie E. Locke: yes
- L. Louise Lucas: yes
Related bills
No related bills recorded for this bill.
Official source
Attribution
Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T05:35:59.552682Z
Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:
Use this data
Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=VA&identifier=HB 846. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.
Known limitations
- Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
- Committee referrals are not yet captured.
See the methodology page for data sources and limitations.