Virginia Code 62.1-83: Dams across waters of Commonwealth
No person, firm, association or corporation, private or municipal, proposing to construct or reconstruct any dam across or in the waters of the Commonwealth, as defined in § 62.1-81, or a dam in any rivers or streams within the Commonwealth when such dam is for the purpose of generating hydroelectric energy for use or sale in public service, shall begin the construction or reconstruction of any such dam unless and until the provisions of this chapter shall have been complied with, and every such dam shall in every respect be subject to the provision of this chapter and such other general laws of the Commonwealth as may be applicable thereto. Nor shall any dam constructed or reconstructed after July 1, 1932, in any waters, rivers or streams within the Commonwealth, without a license under this chapter, be utilized at any time for the purpose of generating hydroelectric energy for use or sale, directly or indirectly, in public service, unless and until licensed or permitted so to do by order of the State Corporation Commission, after hearing, and finding that the public interest will be thereby promoted or will not be detrimentally affected.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 62.1-83
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- dam: as used in this chapter is intended to include the appurtenant pondage area or any part thereof. See Virginia Code 62.1-84
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- waters of the Commonwealth: as used in this chapter shall mean: (a) Any stream or that portion of any stream in this Commonwealth which prior to June 21, 1932, has been declared navigable by any unrepealed statute of this Commonwealth, or (b) any stream or that portion of any stream in this Commonwealth, the bed of which is owned by the Commonwealth, or (c) those parts of streams or other bodies of water in this Commonwealth which either in their natural or improved condition, notwithstanding interruptions between the navigable parts of such streams or waters by falls, shallows, or rapids, compelling land carriage, are used or suitable for use for the transportation of persons or property in interstate or foreign commerce, including therein all such interrupting falls, shallows or rapids, and also any stream or part thereof in this Commonwealth other than those above mentioned in this subdivision in which the construction of any dam or works as authorized by this chapter would affect the interests of interstate or foreign commerce, or (d) that portion of any river or stream flowing between the high-water mark on the Virginia shore and the low-water mark when such low-water mark constitutes the boundary line between Virginia and another state. See Virginia Code 62.1-81
Code 1950, § 62-71; 1968, c. 659.