republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-723.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Underground pipelines and electrical transmission lines; agriculture."
description: "Underground pipelines and conduit and electrical transmission lines; agriculture. Requires a utility company installing an underground pipeline or conduit with an inside diameter greater than 12 inches or an underground electric transmission or distribution line of greater than 115 kilovolts in capacity to mitigate the effects of the project if the project disturbs 10,000 square feet or more of agricultural land. The bill directs the State Corporation Commission to adopt regulations requiring the utility company to remove topsoil from the planned construction site and either redistribute it to graded areas elsewhere on the land of the affected property owner or store it nearby, protected from erosion and compaction, for later redistribution on the disturbed area."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 723"
citation: "Virginia HB 723 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["David A. Reid"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 27
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-06"
last_action: "2020-04-06"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0340cd0e-e138-4e9f-b53d-1eb855a4d11e"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB723"
source_hash: "0b1010a99e6ea5c6654ec59470aa09e0077c0437826179d5925b895cbfb2896c"
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 723 (2020) — Underground pipelines and electrical transmission lines; agriculture.

Underground pipelines and conduit and electrical transmission lines; agriculture. Requires a utility company installing an underground pipeline or conduit with an inside diameter greater than 12 inches or an underground electric transmission or distribution line of greater than 115 kilovolts in capacity to mitigate the effects of the project if the project disturbs 10,000 square feet or more of agricultural land. The bill directs the State Corporation Commission to adopt regulations requiring the utility company to remove topsoil from the planned construction site and either redistribute it to graded areas elsewhere on the land of the affected property owner or store it nearby, protected from erosion and compaction, for later redistribution on the disturbed area.

## Version chain

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

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0666)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0666)
2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB723ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB723ER)
3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB723H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB723H1)
4. **Impact statement from SCC (HB723)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB723)

## Votes

- Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (9-Y 0-N) — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Commerce and Labor (14-Y 0-N) — **14–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- David A. Reid — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-06** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102155D `introduction`
- **2020-01-06** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-16** Assigned L & C sub: Subcommittee #3 `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-17** Impact statement from SCC (HB723)
- **2020-01-23** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (9-Y 0-N)
- **2020-01-28** Committee substitute printed 20106632D-H1 `substitution`
- **2020-01-28** Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-30** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-01-31** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-01-31** Committee substitute agreed to 20106632D-H1
- **2020-01-31** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB723H1
- **2020-02-03** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-03** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-04** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2020-02-04** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-07** Impact statement from SCC (HB723H1)
- **2020-03-02** Reported from Commerce and Labor (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-03-04** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2020-03-05** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-03-05** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled
- **2020-03-12** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-12** Signed by President
- **2020-03-13** Impact statement from SCC (HB723ER)
- **2020-03-17** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 17, 2020
- **2020-03-17** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 666 (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/0340cd0e-e138-4e9f-b53d-1eb855a4d11e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).