---
type: "Bill"
title: "Clinch River; designating segment in Tazewell County as part of the Clinch State Scenic River."
description: "Clinch State Scenic River; Guest State ScenicRiver. Designates segments of the Clinch River in Tazewell, Russell,and Scott Counties as part of the Clinch State Scenic River, a componentof the Virginia Scenic Rivers System. The bill extends the designatedportion of the Clinch River from the confluence with Indian Creekto the Tennessee state line, a distance of about 110 miles. The billrenames a portion of the existing designation of the Clinch-GuestState Scenic River as the Guest State Scenic River. The bill containstechnical amendments."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 478"
citation: "Virginia SB 478 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["A. Benton \"Ben\" Chafin"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 32
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2020-01-07"
last_action: "2020-04-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/10af0f04-a342-474d-80dd-8805676f9825"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB478"
source_hash: "fe748ae928538a020c03b8f5e7dce47a5cd6bd53a161d17f3d5bcc03f4d7a3eb"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 478 (2020) — Clinch River; designating segment in Tazewell County as part of the Clinch State Scenic River.

Clinch State Scenic River; Guest State ScenicRiver. Designates segments of the Clinch River in Tazewell, Russell,and Scott Counties as part of the Clinch State Scenic River, a componentof the Virginia Scenic Rivers System. The bill extends the designatedportion of the Clinch River from the confluence with Indian Creekto the Tennessee state line, a distance of about 110 miles. The billrenames a portion of the existing designation of the Clinch-GuestState Scenic River as the Guest State Scenic River. The bill containstechnical amendments.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0629)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0629)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB478ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB478ER)
3. **Engrossed by Senate - floor substitute SB478S2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB478S2)
4. **Impact statement from DPB (SB478)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB478)
5. **SB478S1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB478S1)

## Votes

- VOTE: Passage (83-Y 16-N) — **82–16** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (18-Y 4-N) — **18–4** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 3-N) — **37–3** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with substitite (12-Y 2-N) — **12–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- A. Benton "Ben" Chafin — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20104971D `introduction`
- **2020-01-07** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-13** Impact statement from DPB (SB478)
- **2020-01-21** Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with substitite (12-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-21** Committee substitute printed 20106281D-S1 `substitution`
- **2020-01-21** Substitute bill reprinted 20106281D-S1
- **2020-01-23** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-24** Passed by for the day
- **2020-01-27** Floor substitute printed 20106769D-S2 (Chafin)
- **2020-01-27** Passed by for the day
- **2020-01-28** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-28** Committee substitute rejected 20106281D-S1
- **2020-01-28** Reading of substitute waived
- **2020-01-28** Substitute by Senator Chafin agreed to 20106769D-S2
- **2020-01-28** Engrossed by Senate - floor substitute SB478S2
- **2020-01-29** Read third time and passed Senate (37-Y 3-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-03** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-03** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-03** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-11** Impact statement from DPB (SB478S2)
- **2020-02-19** Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources (18-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-21** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-02-24** Passed House (83-Y 16-N) `passage`
- **2020-02-24** VOTE: Passage (83-Y 16-N)
- **2020-02-27** Enrolled
- **2020-02-27** Impact statement from DPB (SB478ER)
- **2020-02-27** Signed by President
- **2020-02-27** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-10** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 10, 2020
- **2020-03-10** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-02** Approved by Governor-Chapter 629 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/10af0f04-a342-474d-80dd-8805676f9825`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).