republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-706.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Offshore drilling; prohibition on leases, policy.	Offshore oil and gas drilling; prohibition on leases; policy. Prohibits the granting of a lease, easement, or permit on the beds of the coastal waters of the Commonwealth that would allow any infrastructure for conveying to shore oil or gas produced from offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area and removes any oil or gas lease granted on such beds from the mandate that such lease include a royalty payment requirement. The bill removes policy statements supporting federal efforts to permit oil and gas development 50 miles or more off the Atlantic shoreline. This bill incorporates HB 1016.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2020	HB 706	Virginia HB 706 (2020)	bill		enacted	Mark L. Keam	4	35	7	2020-01-06	2020-03-25	openstates	ocd-bill/274f5001-d2e1-42c5-8333-9ca25427e377	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB706	381d91ad01636f5d035eacc7f252d6f3c22f9c8e4ee255d0aafbb4063c036ee3	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia HB 706 (2020) — Offshore drilling; prohibition on leases, policy.

Offshore oil and gas drilling; prohibition on leases; policy. Prohibits the granting of a lease, easement, or permit on the beds of the coastal waters of the Commonwealth that would allow any infrastructure for conveying to shore oil or gas produced from offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area and removes any oil or gas lease granted on such beds from the mandate that such lease include a royalty payment requirement. The bill removes policy statements supporting federal efforts to permit oil and gas development 50 miles or more off the Atlantic shoreline. This bill incorporates HB 1016.

Version chain

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

1. Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0451) (committee substitute) — source
2. Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB706ER) (committee substitute) — source
3. Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB706H1 (committee substitute) — source
4. Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB706H1 (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 2-N) — 6–2 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with amendment (9-Y 6-N) — 9–6 (pass) · upper
• Passed Senate with amendment (23-Y 17-N) — 23–17 (pass) · upper
• VOTE: Adoption (60-Y 37-N) — 59–37 (pass) · lower
• Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with substitute (16-Y 6-N) — 16–6 (pass) · lower
• Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — 40–0 (pass) · upper
• VOTE: Passage (64-Y 34-N) — 63–34 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Mark L. Keam — primary (person)
• Elizabeth R. Guzman — cosponsor (person)
• Mark H. Levine — cosponsor (person)
• Nancy D. Guy — cosponsor (person)
• Shelly A. Simonds — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

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

• 2020-01-06 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20103786D introduction
• 2020-01-06 Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources referral-committee
• 2020-01-14 Assigned ACNR sub: Chesapeake referral-committee
• 2020-01-20 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (6-Y 2-N)
• 2020-01-29 House committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
• 2020-01-29 Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with substitute (16-Y 6-N) committee-passage
• 2020-01-29 Incorporates HB1016 (Guy)
• 2020-01-29 Committee substitute printed 20107040D-H1 substitution
• 2020-01-31 Read first time reading-1
• 2020-02-03 Read second time reading-2
• 2020-02-03 Committee substitute agreed to 20107040D-H1
• 2020-02-03 Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB706H1
• 2020-02-04 Read third time and passed House (64-Y 34-N) passage, reading-3
• 2020-02-04 VOTE: Passage (64-Y 34-N)
• 2020-02-05 Constitutional reading dispensed
• 2020-02-05 Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources referral-committee
• 2020-02-18 Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with amendment (9-Y 6-N) committee-passage
• 2020-02-20 Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
• 2020-02-21 Impact statement from DPB (HB706H1)
• 2020-02-21 Passed by for the day
• 2020-02-24 Read third time reading-3
• 2020-02-24 Reading of amendment waived
• 2020-02-24 Committee amendment agreed to
• 2020-02-24 Engrossed by Senate as amended
• 2020-02-24 Passed Senate with amendment (23-Y 17-N) passage
• 2020-02-26 Placed on Calendar
• 2020-02-26 Senate amendment agreed to by House (60-Y 37-N)
• 2020-02-26 VOTE: Adoption (60-Y 37-N)
• 2020-03-02 Enrolled
• 2020-03-02 Impact statement from DPB (HB706ER)
• 2020-03-02 Signed by Speaker
• 2020-03-03 Signed by President
• 2020-03-12 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
• 2020-03-12 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
• 2020-03-25 Approved by Governor-Chapter 451 (effective 7/1/20) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/274f5001-d2e1-42c5-8333-9ca25427e377. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).