CHAPTER 654

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 21-2, 21-6, as amended, 21-10, 21-11,
as amended, 21-45, as amended, 21-54, 21-55, 21-56, 21-57, 21-59,
21-60, 21-61, 21-62 and 21-64 of the Code of Virginia, relating to soil
conservation districts.

{H 624]

Approved March 31, 1956

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 21-2, 21-6, as amended, 21-10, 21-11, as amended, 21-45, as
amended, 21-54, 21-55, 21-56, 21-57, 21-59, 21-60, 21-61, 21-62 and 21-64 of
the Code of Virginia be amended and reenacted as follows: .

se 21-2. It is hereby declared as a matter of legislative determi-
nation—

‘(a) The condition—That the farm and grazing lands of the State
of Virginia are among the basic assets of the State, and that the preser-
vation of these lands is necessary to protect and promote the health, safety
and general welfare of its people; that improper land-use practices have
caused and have contributed to, and are now causing and contributing to,
@ progressively more serious erosion of the farm and grazing lands of this
State by wind and water; that the breaking of natural grass, plant, and
forest cover have interfered with the natural factors of soil stabilization,
causing loosening of soil and exhaustion of humus, and developing a soil
condition that favors erosion; that the topsoil is being washed out of
fields and pastures; that there has been an accelerated washing of slop-
ing fields; these processes of erosion by water speed up with removal of
absorptive topsoil, causing exposure of less absorptive and less protective
but more erosive subsoil; failure by any land occupier to conserve the soil
and control erosion upon his lands causes a washing of soil from his lands
1004 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY [va., 1956

onto other lands and makes the conservation of soil and control of erosion
on such other lands difficult or impossible. .

_ ..(b) The consequences.—That the consequences of such soil erosion
in the form of soil washing are the silting and sedimentation of stream
channels, reservoirs, dams, ditches, and harbors; the piling up of soil
on lower slopes, and its deposit over alluvial plains; the reduction in pro-
ductivity or outright ruin of rich bottom lands by overwash or poor sub-
soil material, sand, and gravel swept out of the hills; deterioration of
soil and its fertility, deterioration of crops grown thereon, and declining
acre yields, despite development of scientific processes for increasing such
yields; loss of soil and water which causes destruction of food and cover
for wildlife; a washing of soil into streams which silts over spawning
beds, and destroys water plants, diminishing the food supply of fish; a
diminishing of the underground water reserve, which causes water
shortages, intensifies periods of drought, and causes crop failures; an
increase in the speed and volume of rainfall runoff, causing severe and
increasing floods, which bring suffering, disease, and death; impoverish-
ment of families attempting to farm eroding and eroded lands; damage
to roads, highways, railways, farm buildings, and other property from
floods; and losses in navigation, hydroelectric power, municipal water
supply, irrigation developments, farming and grazing.

(c) The appropriate corrective methods.—That to conserve soil re-
sources and control and prevent soil erosion and prevent floodwater and
sediment damages, and further agricultural phases of the conservation,
development, utilization, and disposal of water, it is necessary that land-
use practices contributing to soil wastage and soil erosion be discouraged
and discontinued, and appropriate soil conserving land use practices and
works of improvement for flood prevention or agricultural phases of the
conservation, development, utilization, ana disposal of water be adopted
and carried out; that among the procedures necessary for widespread
adoption, are the carrying on of engineering operations such as the con-
struction of terraces, terrace outlets, check dams, desilting basins, flood-
water retarding structures, channel improvements, floodways, dikes,
ponds, ditches, and the like; the utilization of strip cropping, lister fur-
rowing, contour cultivating, and contour furrowing; land drainage; land
irrigation; seeding and planting of waste, sloping, abandoned, or eroded
lands to water conserving and erosion preventing plants, trees and
grasses; forestation and reforestation; rotation of crops; soil stabiliza-
tion with trees, grasses, legumes, and other thick growing, soil-holding
crops; retardation of runoff by increasing absorption of rainfall; and
retirement from cultivation of steep, highly erosive areas and areas now
badly gullied or otherwise eroded.

(d) Declaration of policy.—It is hereby declared to be the policy of
the Legislature to provide for the conservation of the soil and soil re-
sources of this State, and for the control and prevention of soil erosion,
and for the prevention of floodwater and sediment damages, and for
furthering agricultural phases of the conservation, development, utiliza-
tion, and disposal of water, and thereby to preserve natural resources,
control floods, prevent impairment of dams and reservoirs, assist in main-
taining the navigability of rivers and harbors, preserve wildlife, protect
the tax base, protect public lands, and protect and promote the health,
safety, and general welfare of the people of this State.

§ 21-6. There is established, to serve as an agency of the State and
to perform the functions conferred upon it in this chapter, the State Soil
Conservation Committee. The Committee shall consist of not less than *
eight and not more than * nine members. The following shall serve, ex
officio, as members of the Committee: the Director of Conservation and
Development, the director of the State agricultural extension service, the
CH. 653] ACTS OF’ ASSEMBLY 1005

director of the State agricultural experiment station located at Blacksburg,
and the State Commissioner of ‘Agriculture and Immigration. One member
of the Committee shall be appointed by the Governor to serve at the pleas-
ure of the Governor, for a term coincident with that of the Governor mak-
ing the appointment; vacancies in the office of such appointed member shall
be filled by the Governor. Three members of the Committee shall be farmers,
appointed by the Governor from a list of six qualified nominees submitted
by the Executive Committee of the Association of Soil Conservation Dis-
tricts and the State Soil Conservation Committee in joint session, each
for a term of three years; provided that those first appointed shall serve
for one, two and three years respectively ; an appointment to fill a vacancy
shall be made in the same manner as described above, except that such
appointment shall be for the unexpired term only. The Committee may
invite the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States of America to
appoint one person to serve with the above-mentioned members as a
member of the Committee; the term of any member so appointed shall
be for one year, except that an appointment to fill a vacancy shall be for
the unexpired term. The Committee shall keep a record of its official
actions, shall adopt a seal, which seal shall be judicially noticed, and may
perform such acts, hold such public hearings, and promulgate such rules
and regulations as may be necessary for the execution of its functions
under this chapter.

§ 21-10. In addition to the duties and powers hereinafter conferred
upon the State Soil Conservation Committee, it shall have the following
duties and powers:

(1) To offer as a gift or loan such financial and other assistance
as May be appropriate to the supervisors of soil conservation districts,
organized as provided hereinafter, in the carrying out of any of their
powers and programs.

(2) To keep the supervisors of each of the several districts organized
under the provisions of this chapter informed of the activities and expe-
rience of all other districts organized hereunder, and to facilitate an
interchange of advice and experience between such districts and coopera-
tion between them.

_, (3) To coordinate the programs of the several soil conservation
districts organized hereunder so far as this may be done by advice and
consultation.

(4) To secure the cooperation and assistance of the United States
“wae of its agencies, and of agencies of this State, in the work of such

cts.

_ (5) To disseminate information throughout the State concerning the
activities and programs of the soil conservation districts, organized here-
under, and to encourage the formation of such districts in areas where
their organization is desirable.

21-11. In addition to the other powers and authority conferred
and the duties imposed upon it by this chapter, the Committee is author-
ized and it is its duty to purchase, operate and maintain necessary machin-
ery and other equipment suitable for engineering and other operations
incident to soil conservation and other purposes of the Committee to the
extent of the appropriation therefor. The Committee shall have the cus-
tody and control of the machinery and other equipment, and shall provide
storage for it, and it shall be available to the districts upon such terms
as the Committee prescribes, provided that in addition to such other terms
as the Committee may from time to time prescribe, it shall have authority
to execute rental-purchase contracts with individual districts with respect
to the equipment, whereby the title to machinery and other equipment
purchased under authority of this law may be transferred to such district
when approved by the Committee; and provided further, that it may, in
1006. ACTS OF ASSEMBLY [va., 1956

tts discretion sell the same to any person upon such terms and conditions
as it may deem proper. The income derived from the sale or rental pro-
vided for in this section and in § 21-65 shall be paid into the State treas-
ury, segregated, and placed in a revolving fund for use for the mainte-
nance, storage, repairs and replacements of the machinery and other
equipment.

§ 21-45. The term of office of each supervisor shall be three years,
except that the supervisors who are first appointed shall be designated to
serve for terms of one and two years, respectively, from the date of their
appointment. A supervisor shall hold office until his successor has been
elected or appointed and has qualified. * The selection of successors to fill
* a full term, shall be made in * accordance with § 21-27 or the preceding
sections of this article, whichever is applicable. Vacancies shall be filled
for the unexpired term. The Committee may fill vacancies in elective
supervisor positions by appointment for the unexpired term. _.

§ 21-54. They shall have power to conduct surveys, investigations,
and research relating to the character of soil erosion and floodwater and
sediment damages, and to agricultural phases of the conservation, develop-
ment, utilization, and disposal of water, and the preventive and control
measures and works of improvement needed, to publish the results of such
surveys, investigations, or research, and to disseminate information con-
cerning such preventive and control measures and works of improvement;
provided, however, that in order to avoid duplication of research activities,
no district shall initiate any research program except in cooperation with
the government of this State or any of its agencies, or with the United
States or any of its agencies. .

§ 21-55. They shall have power to conduct demonstrational projects
within the district on lands owned or controlled by this State or any of its
agencies, with the consent and cooperation of the agency administering
and having jurisdiction thereof, and on any other lands within the district
upon obtaining the consent of the owner and occupier of such lands or the
necessary rights or interests in‘such lands, in order to demonstrate by
example the means, methods, and measures by which soil and soil resources
may be conserved, and soil erosion in the form of soil washing may be
prevented and controlled, and works of improvement for flood prevention
or agricultural phases of the conservation, development, utilization, and
disposal of water may be carried out.

§ 21-56. They shall have power to carry out preventive and control
measures and works of improvement for flood prevention or agricultural
phases of the conservation, development, utilization, and disposal of water
within the district including, but not limited to, engineering operations,
methods of cultivation, the growing of vegetation, changes in use of land,
and the measures listed in subsection (c) of § 21-2, on lands owned or
controlled by this State or any of its agencies, with the consent and co-
operation of the agency administering and having jurisdiction thereof,
and on any other lands within the district upon obtaining the consent of
the owner and occupier of such lands or the necessary rights or interests
in such lands.

§21-57. They shall have power to cooperate, or enter into agree-
ment with, and within the limits of appropriations duly made available
to it by law, to furnish as a gift or loan or otherwise financial or other aid
to any agency, governmental or otherwise, or any occupier of lands within
the district, in the carrying on of erosion-control and prevention opera-
tions and works of improvement for flood prevention or agricultural
phases of the conservation, development, utilization, and disposal of water
within the district, subject to such conditions as the supervisors may
deem necessary to advance the purposes of this chapter.

§ 21-59. They shall have power to make available, on such terms as
CHS. 654, 655] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 1007

it shall prescribe, to land occupiers within the district, agricultural and
engineering machinery and equipment, fertilizer, seeds and seedlings and
such other material or equipment, as will assist such land occupiers to
carry on operations upon their lands for the conservation of soil resources
and for the prevention and control of soil erosion and for flood prevention
or agricultural phases of the conservation, development, utilization, and
disposal of water. .

§ 21-60. They shall have power to construct, improve, oper ate and
maintain such structures as may be necessary or convenient for the per-
formance of any of the operations authorized in this chapter. |

§ 21-61. They shall have power to develop comprehensive plans for
the conservation of soil resources and for the control and prevention of
soil erosion and for flood prevention or agricultural phases of the conser-
vation, development, utilization, and disposal of water within the district,
which plans shall specify in such detail as may be possible, the acts, pro-
cedures, performances, and avoidances which are necessary or desirable
for the effectuation of such plans, including the specification of engineer-
ing operations, methods of cultivation, the growing of vegetation, cropping
programs, tillage practices, and changes in use of land; and, after such
plans have been approved by the State Soil Conservation Committee, to
publish such plans and information and bring them to the attention of
occupiers of lands within the district.

21-62. They shall have the power to acquire by purchase, lease,
or other similar means, and to administer, any soil conservation, flood
prevention, drainage, irrigation, agricultural water management, eroston
control, or erosion prevention project, or combinations thereof, located
within its boundaries undertaken by the United States or any of its agen-
cies, or by this State or any of its agencies; to manage, as agent of the
United States or any of its agencies, or of this State or any of its agencies,
any soil conservation, flood prevention, drainage, irrigation, agricultu
water management, erosion control or erosion prevention project, or
combinations thereof, within its boundaries; to act as agent for the United
States, or any of its agencies, or for this State or any of its agencies, in
connection with the acquisition, construction, maintenance, operation, or
administration of any soil conservation, flood prevention, drainage, irriga-
tion, agricultural water management, erosion control, or erosion preven-
tion project, or combinations thereof, within its boundaries; to accept
donations, gifts, and contributions in money, services, materials, or other-
wise, from the United States or any of its agencies, or from this State or
any of its agencies or from any other source, and to use or expend such
moneys, services, materials, or other contributions in carrying on its
operations.

§ 21-64. As a condition to the extending of any benefits under this
chapter to, or the performance of work upon, any lands not owned or
controlled by this State or any of its agencies, the supervisors may require
contributions in money, services, materials, or otherwise to any operations
conferring such benefits, and may require land occupiers to enter into and
perform such agreements or covenants as to the permanent use of such
lands as will tend to prevent or control erosion and prevent floodwaters
and sediment damages thereon. z