---
type: "Bill"
title: "Intentional discharge of untreated sewage onto land or into waters of the Commonwealth; penalty."
description: "Intentional discharge of untreated sewage onto land or into waters of the Commonwealth; civil penalty. Establishes a maximum civil penalty of $50,000 per violation for any person found to have intentionally discharged untreated sewage onto land or into waters of the Commonwealth."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 453"
citation: "Virginia SB 453 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Richard H. Stuart"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 36
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2026-01-13"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3acc274e-379a-4eaf-badd-f949da338950"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/SB453"
source_hash: "1b1037dc851ae29db83eaf68d3cc7359b35158fc078f34b0c445be052b6bfac3"
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 453 (2026) — Intentional discharge of untreated sewage onto land or into waters of the Commonwealth; penalty.

Intentional discharge of untreated sewage onto land or into waters of the Commonwealth; civil penalty. Establishes a maximum civil penalty of $50,000 per violation for any person found to have intentionally discharged untreated sewage onto land or into waters of the Commonwealth.

## Version chain

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

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1090340.PDF)
2. **Finance and Appropriations Substitute** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1145750.PDF)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1201456.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Appropriations — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 3rd reading) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- H VOTE: — **95–0** (pass) · lower
- Passage R — **38–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Richard H. Stuart — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26100087D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-20** Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (1/20/2026 1:50 pm)
- **2026-01-26** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB453)
- **2026-01-27** Assigned HACNR sub: Water Usage `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-03** Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-11** Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-12** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-12** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-12** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-02-13** Committee substitute printed 26107803D-S1 `substitution`
- **2026-02-13** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-13** Finance and Appropriations Substitute agreed to
- **2026-02-13** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute Block Vote (Voice Vote) `substitution`
- **2026-02-13** Rules suspended
- **2026-02-13** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 3rd reading) (38-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-02-13** Read third time and passed Senate Block Vote (38-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-13** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB453)
- **2026-02-18** Placed on Calendar
- **2026-02-18** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-18** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-25** Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and referred to Appropriations (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-25** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB453)
- **2026-02-26** Assigned HAPP sub: Commerce Agriculture & Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-02** Reported from Appropriations (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-04** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-03-05** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-05** Passed House (95-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-11** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-11** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB453ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-11** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB453)
- **2026-03-11** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-12** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-14** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 14, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-14** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 946 (effective 7/1/2026) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3acc274e-379a-4eaf-badd-f949da338950`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).