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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>346191</law_id><section_number>10.1-705</section_number><catch_line>Definitions</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2026/" slug="2026" current="TRUE" last_updated="2026-08-02">2026</edition><referred_to_by><reference>10.1-107</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="38" identifier="10.1">Conservation</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="I">Activities Administered by the Department of Conservation and Recreation</unit><unit label="chapter" level="3" order_by="10" identifier="7">Shoreline Erosion and Public Beach Preservation</unit><unit label="article" level="4" order_by="2" identifier="2">Public Beach Conservation and Development Act</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning:</p><p>&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Agency of this Commonwealth</span>&#x201D; includes the <span class="dictionary">government</span> of this Commonwealth and any subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the <span class="dictionary">government</span> of this Commonwealth.</p><p>&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Board</span>&#x201D; means the <span class="dictionary">Board</span> of Conservation and Recreation.</p><p>&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Develop</span>&#x201D; or &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">development</span>&#x201D; means the replenishment and restoration of existing public beaches.</p><p>&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Erosion</span>&#x201D; means the process of destruction by the action of wind, water, or ice of the land bordering the tidal waters of the Commonwealth.</p><p>&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Government</span>&#x201D; or &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">governmental</span>&#x201D; includes the <span class="dictionary">government</span> of this Commonwealth, the <span class="dictionary">government</span> of the <span class="dictionary">United States</span>, and any subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of either of them.</p><p>&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Locality</span>&#x201D; means a county, city or town.</p><p>&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Program</span>&#x201D; means the provisions of the <span class="dictionary">Public Beach</span> Conservation and <span class="dictionary">Development</span> Act.</p><p>&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Public beach</span>&#x201D; means a sandy beach located on a tidal shoreline suitable for bathing in a county, city or town and open to indefinite public use.</p><p>&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Reach</span>&#x201D; means a shoreline segment wherein there is mutual interaction of the forces of <span class="dictionary">erosion</span>, sediment transport and accretion.</p><p>&#x201C;United States&#x201D; or &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">agencies of the United States</span>&#x201D; includes the United States of America, the United States <span class="dictionary">Department</span> of Agriculture, and any other agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of America.</p></section></text><history>1980, c. 428, &#xA7; 10-217; 1984, c. 750; 1985, c. 448; 1988, c. 891; 2003, cc. 79, 89.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
