republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2017/sb-964.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Running bamboo; cutting by localities; ordinance prohibiting spread; designation of certain plants."
description: "Authorizes any locality to adopt an ordinance requiring proper upkeep of running bamboo and prohibiting the spread of running bamboo from a landowner's property, with violations punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed $50 for a first violation and not to exceed $200 for a subsequent violation within 12 months. The bill includes running bamboo in the \"other foreign growth\" category that current law allows localities to regulate and in some cases to cut. The bill also directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) to develop a model running bamboo ordinance and, with the Department of Forestry, to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding that clarifies the roles of the VDACS noxious weeds regulations and the work of the Virginia Invasive Species Working Group. Finally, the bill directs VDACS and DCR to examine the eligibility of certain plants for designation as noxious weeds. This bill is identical to"
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 964"
citation: "Virginia SB 964 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Counties", "Cities and Towns"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Emmett W. Hanger, Jr."]
version_count: 4
action_count: 20
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2017-01-03"
last_action: "2017-02-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/05db0b2d-003e-4e1b-ab55-a60d705ee8bd"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+SB964"
source_hash: "ff300e59aedec53e42bfd04188f67ebaefa4beb0d6c0c96bdc3fb4239fb509c5"
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 964 (2017) — Running bamboo; cutting by localities; ordinance prohibiting spread; designation of certain plants.

Authorizes any locality to adopt an ordinance requiring proper upkeep of running bamboo and prohibiting the spread of running bamboo from a landowner's property, with violations punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed $50 for a first violation and not to exceed $200 for a subsequent violation within 12 months. The bill includes running bamboo in the "other foreign growth" category that current law allows localities to regulate and in some cases to cut. The bill also directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) to develop a model running bamboo ordinance and, with the Department of Forestry, to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding that clarifies the roles of the VDACS noxious weeds regulations and the work of the Virginia Invasive Species Working Group. Finally, the bill directs VDACS and DCR to examine the eligibility of certain plants for designation as noxious weeds. This bill is identical to

## Version chain

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

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0213)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+CHAP0213)
2. **Senate: Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB964ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB964ER)
3. **Senate: Committee substitute printed 17104255D-S1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB964S1)
4. **Senate: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17100296D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+ful+SB964)

## Votes

- Subcommittee recommends reporting — **10–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Local Government with substitute — **12–0** (pass) · legislature
- Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns — **21–0** (pass) · legislature
- Read third time and passed Senate — **39–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passed House BLOCK VOTE — **98–0** (pass) · legislature
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **40–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Emmett W. Hanger, Jr. — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-01-03** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/17 17100296D `introduction`
- **2017-01-03** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-20** Passed by for the day
- **2017-01-23** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-01-23** Reading of substitute waived
- **2017-01-23** Committee substitute agreed to 17104255D-S1
- **2017-01-23** Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute SB964S1
- **2017-01-31** Placed on Calendar
- **2017-01-31** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2017-01-31** Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-03** Assigned CC & T sub: Subcommittee #2 `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-13** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2017-02-14** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2017-02-14** Passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2017-02-16** Enrolled
- **2017-02-16** Signed by Speaker
- **2017-02-17** Signed by President
- **2017-02-17** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on 2/17/17
- **2017-02-17** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, February 24, 2017
- **2017-02-23** Approved by Governor-Chapter 213 (effective 7/1/17) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/05db0b2d-003e-4e1b-ab55-a60d705ee8bd`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).