---
type: "Bill"
title: "Conservation easements; certain easements be liberally construed in favor of purpose which created."
description: "Conservation easements; construction. Provides that an easement held pursuant to the Virginia Conservation Easement Act or the Open-Space Land Act or by the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation shall be liberally construed in favor of achieving the conservation purposes for which it was created."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 1760"
citation: "Virginia HB 1760 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Michael J. Webert"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 29
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2020-12-17"
last_action: "2021-03-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1461a872-1f98-4bda-929f-45f51dd942bb"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB1760"
source_hash: "28732b595c0d063d38c9a570922b3ad7d5567b6cf114dac6f69008a63374256b"
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 HB 1760 (2021) — Conservation easements; certain easements be liberally construed in favor of purpose which created.

Conservation easements; construction. Provides that an easement held pursuant to the Virginia Conservation Easement Act or the Open-Space Land Act or by the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation shall be liberally construed in favor of achieving the conservation purposes for which it was created.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0317** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0317)
2. **Committee substitute printed 21102392D-H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1760H1)
3. **HB1760ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1760ER)
4. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101159D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1760)

## Votes

- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (11-Y 2-N) — **11–2** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (30-Y 8-N) — **30–8** (pass) · upper
- Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Michael J. Webert — primary (person)
- Wendy W. Gooditis — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-12-17** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101159D `introduction`
- **2020-12-17** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-12** Assigned ACNR sub: Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-20** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-01-20** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-20** Impact statement from DPB (HB1760)
- **2021-01-20** Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-20** Committee substitute printed 21102392D-H1 `substitution`
- **2021-01-21** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-01-22** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-01-22** Committee substitute agreed to 21102392D-H1
- **2021-01-22** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB1760H1
- **2021-01-25** Impact statement from DPB (HB1760H1)
- **2021-01-25** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-01-25** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-26** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2021-01-26** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-05** Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (14-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-16** Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources (11-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-18** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-19** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-19** Passed Senate (30-Y 8-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-24** Enrolled
- **2021-02-24** Impact statement from DPB (HB1760ER)
- **2021-02-24** Signed by President
- **2021-02-25** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-26** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 26, 2021
- **2021-02-26** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-24** Approved by Governor-Chapter 317 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1461a872-1f98-4bda-929f-45f51dd942bb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).