评估弗吉尼亚州最近改革牡蛎租赁的立法努力

2016年1月, 弗吉尼亚海洋皇冠搏彩APP下载委员会, concerned about reports of conflicts in the Lynnhaven River system between oyster farmers harvesting from leased grounds and upland property owners, 划船的人, and other users and about proposed legislation that would have instituted a moratorium on new leases within that river system, formed a working group to review the matter and make recommendations about how to address the conflicts.  非常迅速地, it became apparent that most of the issues that were being raised were not specific to the Lynnhaven River.  因此, 而发布的报告则针对林恩黑文提出了一些具体建议, it also pointed out problems that would need to be addressed by legislation or regulation throughout the oyster growing region of Virginia.  2018年8月, the governor announced the creation of the "Governor’s Work Group to Promote Sustainable Growth of Virginia’s Clam and Oyster Economy” (这个博客是由彭德的滨水财产法实践小组创建的 & 皇冠线上买球平台 记录了第二组的工作). 

从那以后, little has been accomplished to meaningfully address one of the main problems in this area:  namely, 该州几乎所有理想的牡蛎养殖场都被租出去了, leading new entrants to try to lease less desirable ground or grounds that are in more heavily used waters.  我们的滨水区财产法实践小组在其博客中解释过 how the policies adopted in Virginia have led to a large sprawl of unproductive oyster grounds instead of compact, 高产, oyster grounds appropriately located amid large areas of unleased bottomland available for public use and enjoyment.  这些政策, 反过来, 导致更多有争议的租赁听证会在VMRC之前举行, 哪一个, 随着近年来大量的申请涌入该机构, 负责至今仍未处理的租赁申请积压.  大会对弗吉尼亚州的租赁申请提出了更好的通知要求. 法典第28条.2-606, 要求通知张贴在该机构的网站上，并通过挂号信或挂号信发送到, 等, 附近河岸的业主, 并在弗吉尼亚州明确表示. 法典第28条.2-607 the VMRC’s obligation to consider the same public trust factors it considers in permitting cases when deciding whether to assign leases.  这些变化, 同时，在租约申请发出前，让土地拥有人留意有问题的租约申请, do little to discourage the inefficient use of ideal grounds that make such problematic applications necessary in the first place.  除了, 它改变了续签租约的流程, but those changes likely will do little to address the inefficient use of currently leased ground and, 无论如何, 短期内什么都不会做, 尽管他们可能有助于解决 “恶意”租赁的问题 (i.e. 打算阻止另一项活动的人所寻求的租约, 比如拟建的疏浚工程, 或者干脆拒绝进入竞争对手的牡蛎养殖场).  

这一领域的变化在弗吉尼亚州被编纂. 法典第28条.2-613.  租期仍为10年, 租约期满后仍可续签.  如果有大量的牡蛎生产, 合理种植贝类, or a significant oyster aquaculture operation on the leased ground during any portion of the lease term, 一旦所有者提交续订表单，续订将自动进行.  如果没有，那么如果失败有充分的原因，VMRC可能仍然会续签租约.  修订前, that decision required consideration of the prevalence of the diseases MSX and Dermo and whether the ground has traditionally produced commercial quantities of oysters.  现在, 除了, the Commission is required to also consider whether the renewal will be in the public interest by considering the public trust factors required to be considered in permitting decisions.  然而, this is likely to be largely ineffective in making renewals more difficult to obtain over inefficiently used grounds because it will only arise in those instances where no significant use was made of the leased grounds at any point during the ten-year lease term.  在这个标准下, a lessee could potentially plant on the leased grounds for a single season and still secure automatic approval.  此外，大会指示VMRC为租约续期设定收费结构.  该费用目前在弗吉尼亚州定为150美元. 管理. 法典§20-1350-30(B), 主要是为了帮助支付机构的成本，而不是一项重大费用, 因此，它也不太可能减少续签的数量. 

即使这些改革更有影响力, 它们仍然需要很长时间才能真正生效.  毕竟，现在有效的租赁是国家和承租人之间的合同.  Those contracts are governed by the terms of the statutes and regulations in effect when they are executed.  Any legislative change that comes after the execution of the contract is presumed to apply prospectively only—in other words, the new law will only apply to lease contracts entered into after the effective date of the statute unless the General Assembly makes its intention to the contrary clear.  参见Bailey v. 斯潘格勒, 289 Va. 353, 359, 771 S.E.2d 684, 686(2015)(“出于这个原因, 我们对成文法的解释是前瞻性地适用，除非相反的立法意图是明显的.’”(引用 Bd. 监事v. Windmill Meadows有限责任公司, 287 Va. 170, 180, 757 S.E.2d 837, 843 (2014))).  大会在修正第28条的法案中没有明确表示这种意图.2-613, so the amendments will likely only apply prospectively to leases entered into after the effective date of the amendment.  这 means that the impact of the provisions will only be felt in about ten years when the leases entered into after the effective date of the amendment begin expiring. 

这, 当然, raises the question:  why did the General Assembly fail to include retroactivity language in the amendments?  The likely answer is that doing so could lead to legal challenges brought under the Contracts Clause of the federal Constitution.  Whether such a challenge would be successful will depend largely on how severely any retroactive amendment changes the deal between the state and the leaseholder and whether the change is reasonable and necessary to serve a public purpose.  参见巴尔的摩教师工会诉. 巴尔的摩市长, 6 F.中国科学院学报(自然科学版). 1993) (upholding a city’s reduction in teacher pay as reasonable because it did not reject other methods to secure the public purpose of reducing its budget nor did it impose a more drastic impairment of its contractual obligations than was needed to secure that purpose).  虽然政府肯定能在这样的挑战中获胜, 再一次。, 取决于具体修正案的性质, the General Assembly likely viewed it as better to avoid the costs and uncertainty of any potential challenge. 

直到法院决定实施具有追溯效力的修正案, 大会解决这一问题的选择是有限的.  这意味着承租人之间的冲突, 一方面，一方面, 以及河岸财产所有者和该州水道的其他使用者, 另一方面, 有可能继续增加吗.  Riparian property owners could formerly respond to oyster leases that were too close to their shores by securing a portion of their waterfront as a riparian planting ground assignment if they met the other requirements of the statute, 但弗吉尼亚州最近的修正案. 法典第28条.2-600 that give the VMRC discretion at least as to the location and size of such assignments make this tool somewhat less effective.  看到 Va. 法典第28条.2-600(A) (“The Commissioner shall assign to him only a riparian planting ground that the Commissioner, 在他的谨慎中, 被认为适于覆盖多达半英亩土地的, 但须视乎专员就具体地点而定 ....”).  业主最好的选择是利用新的通知程序, 聘请法律顾问, 并在VMRC面前证明租赁不符合公众利益. 

马特·赫尔 是一个皇冠搏彩APP下载 & 科沃德律师专注于滨水法和土地征用权事务.