republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-52.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Marine Resources Commission; beneficial use of dredged material."
description: "Marine Resources Commission; beneficial use of dredged material. Provides that, beginning December 1, 2027, it is the policy of the Commonwealth to promote the beneficial use of dredged material, as defined in the bill, and that the Marine Resources Commission shall require the beneficial use of dredged material for all permits involving dredged material unless such approaches are not suitable based on criteria developed by the Commission. The bill also adds the sites of projects that are consistent with the beneficial use of dredged material to the sites that are given priority consideration for the disposal of that portion of dredged material determined to be suitable for such use by the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources. The bill directs the Commission to establish a work group to assist in the development of any regulations or guidance to implement the provisions of the bill. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee on Recurrent Flooding."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 52"
citation: "Virginia HB 52 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Robert S. Bloxom, Jr."]
version_count: 5
action_count: 31
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2025-12-29"
last_action: "2026-04-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3f56a980-115b-4749-9bf6-d5a79b67c7bb"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB52"
source_hash: "204b693b318908ca4e6a57987a48d644c31878e2125cba14940b324db58d6dcc"
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 52 (2026) — Marine Resources Commission; beneficial use of dredged material.

Marine Resources Commission; beneficial use of dredged material. Provides that, beginning December 1, 2027, it is the policy of the Commonwealth to promote the beneficial use of dredged material, as defined in the bill, and that the Marine Resources Commission shall require the beneficial use of dredged material for all permits involving dredged material unless such approaches are not suitable based on criteria developed by the Commission. The bill also adds the sites of projects that are consistent with the beneficial use of dredged material to the sites that are given priority consideration for the disposal of that portion of dredged material determined to be suitable for such use by the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources. The bill directs the Commission to establish a work group to assist in the development of any regulations or guidance to implement the provisions of the bill. As introduced, this bill was a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee on Recurrent Flooding.

## 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/1082174.PDF)
2. **Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1100567.HTML)
3. **Chesapeake Subcommittee Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1097180.HTML)
4. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1100707.PDF)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1210480.PDF)

## Votes

- Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Passage R — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with amendment(s) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Finance and Appropriations — **14–0** (pass) · upper
- H VOTE: — **98–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Robert S. Bloxom, Jr. — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-12-29** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102052D `filing, introduction`
- **2025-12-29** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-19** Assigned HACNR sub: Chesapeake `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-26** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB52)
- **2026-01-26** House subcommittee offered
- **2026-01-26** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (10-Y 0-N)
- **2026-01-28** Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with amendment(s) (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-30** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-02-02** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-02** committee amendments agreed to `amendment-passage`
- **2026-02-02** Engrossed by House as amended
- **2026-02-03** Read third time and passed House (98-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-02-04** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-02-04** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-06** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB52)
- **2026-02-24** Assigned HACNR sub: Water Usage `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-24** Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (13-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-06** Reported from Finance and Appropriations (14-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-09** Rules suspended
- **2026-03-09** Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- **2026-03-09** Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- **2026-03-10** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-03-10** Passed Senate (40-Y 0-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-03-30** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-03-30** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB52ER) `passage`
- **2026-03-30** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-03-31** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-31** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-31** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-02** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB52)
- **2026-04-13** Approved by Governor-Chapter 908 (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/3f56a980-115b-4749-9bf6-d5a79b67c7bb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).