republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2024/sb-121.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Trees; conservation during land development process in certain localities."
description: "Conservation of trees during land developmentprocess in certain localities. Expands authority of certain localitiesto adopt an ordinance providing for the planting and replacementof trees during the development process by allowing a tree canopyfund that currently applies to the planting of trees on public propertyto include maintenance of trees on public property and planting andmaintenance of trees on private property. The bill removes a provisionthat requires that any funds collected for the purposes of the treecanopy fund be returned to the original contributor if not spent withinfive years but maintains the requirement that such finds be spentwithin five years. The bill also includes an expansion of the canopycredit and a provision that will require a local tree conservationordinance to meet the standards set out in the statute."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 121"
citation: "Virginia SB 121 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Suhas Subramanyam"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 27
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2024-01-04"
last_action: "2024-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8e4bf3d6-56ba-4031-9a4f-db6e5ca04f66"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+SB121"
source_hash: "92a57fb1c0fdd92416789a2d38dfddbf3af346f17db9fccb8e98e255a7d647c2"
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 121 (2024) — Trees; conservation during land development process in certain localities.

Conservation of trees during land developmentprocess in certain localities. Expands authority of certain localitiesto adopt an ordinance providing for the planting and replacementof trees during the development process by allowing a tree canopyfund that currently applies to the planting of trees on public propertyto include maintenance of trees on public property and planting andmaintenance of trees on private property. The bill removes a provisionthat requires that any funds collected for the purposes of the treecanopy fund be returned to the original contributor if not spent withinfive years but maintains the requirement that such finds be spentwithin five years. The bill also includes an expansion of the canopycredit and a provision that will require a local tree conservationordinance to meet the standards set out in the statute.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0702** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0702)
2. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24102995D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB121)
3. **Printed as engrossed 24102995D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB121E)
4. **SB121ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+SB121ER)

## Votes

- VOTE: Passage (51-Y 49-N) — **50–49** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Local Government with amendment (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns (12-Y 10-N) — **12–10** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Suhas Subramanyam — primary (person)
- Barbara A. Favola — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-04** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24102995D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-04** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-29** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2024-01-29** Reported from Local Government with amendment (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-30** Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
- **2024-01-31** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-01-31** Reading of amendment waived
- **2024-01-31** Committee amendment agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2024-01-31** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB121E
- **2024-01-31** Printed as engrossed 24102995D-E
- **2024-02-01** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-13** Placed on Calendar
- **2024-02-13** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-13** Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-16** Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns (12-Y 10-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-20** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2024-02-21** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-21** Passed House (51-Y 49-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-21** VOTE: Passage (51-Y 49-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-26** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-02-26** Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB121ER) `passage`
- **2024-02-26** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-02-28** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 11, 2024 `enrolled`
- **2024-03-11** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 702 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-04-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0702)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8e4bf3d6-56ba-4031-9a4f-db6e5ca04f66`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).