Virginia's Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act: RPA, RMA, and the 100-Foot Buffer

The statutory setup

• Va. Code § 62.1-44.15:67 et seq. — Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act.
• 9VAC25-830 — Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area Designation and Management Regulations.
• DEQ — state agency administering the program; provides local program technical assistance through the Local Government Liaison Network.
• 84 Tidewater localities — required to implement CBPA through local ordinances, comprehensive plans, and zoning amendments.
• Cooperative state-local structure — DEQ sets the floor; localities implement (and may go further).

Primary source: deq.virginia.gov/our-programs/water/chesapeake-bay/chesapeake-bay-preservation-act.

Resource Protection Area (RPA) — the 100-foot buffer

RPAs are lands adjacent to water bodies with perennial flow that have intrinsic water-quality value. The landward 100-foot buffer is the defining feature:

• Width: 100 feet landward of tidal wetlands, nontidal wetlands connected by surface flow, tidal shores, and other locally-designated waters. Fixed — buffer is not reduced by permitted uses or vegetation clearing.
• Development restriction: Land development generally restricted; permitted only for specific categories — water-dependent facilities, redevelopment, development within an IDA, road/driveway crossings, flood control / stormwater facilities — and only with conditions met.
• Encroachment limits: Encroachments generally cannot extend into the seaward 50 feet of the buffer. Land disturbance >2,500 sf must comply with erosion and sediment control criteria.
• Vegetative mitigation: Encroachments into the 100-foot buffer typically require vegetative mitigation equal to the encroached area, established elsewhere on the lot.
• Exempt activities: Water wells, passive recreation (boardwalks, trails), historic preservation and archaeological activities — subject to local procedures and ESC compliance >2,500 sf.
• Coastal resilience amendments: Recent provisions require localities to consider coastal resilience and sea-level-rise adaptation on proposed development in RPAs, using a potential impact range of at least 30 years. Exceptions can be prohibited where climate impacts aren't considered or where the exception permits encroachment into the seaward 50 feet.

The RPA buffer is not optional guidance — it's a binding development restriction. Projects with site plans crossing into an RPA face substantial redesign or denial.

Resource Management Area (RMA)

The RMA is contiguous to and inland of the RPA, covering land that could significantly degrade water quality or diminish RPA functions if improperly developed:

• Width: No fixed buffer width. Defined by land characteristics — must be "large enough to provide significant water quality protection."
• Typical inclusions: Floodplains; highly erodible soils (including steep slopes); highly permeable soils; nontidal wetlands not in an RPA.
• Development review: All development >2,500 sf of land disturbance in an RMA undergoes a plan of development review.
• Vegetation: Localities may rely on existing ordinances for tree conservation, planting, and replacement to address mature-tree provisions.

Intensely Developed Area (IDA) — optional overlay

IDAs are local-option overlay designations for already-developed portions of CBPAs, intended for redevelopment contexts:

• Designation conditions: At the time of original program adoption, at least one of: >50% impervious; served by public sewer and water (or constructed stormwater drainage system); housing density ≥4 du/acre.
• Buffer flexibility: In IDAs, local governments have discretion on whether to require immediate vegetation establishment in the 100-foot buffer. Phased establishment over time is common.
• Redevelopment focus: IDAs are intended for redevelopment and must comply with redevelopment performance criteria (generally, water quality improvement over the existing baseline).

For urban Tidewater contexts — downtown Norfolk, downtown Richmond, built-out Virginia Beach — IDA designation is the mechanism that keeps redevelopment viable within the CBPA framework.

How CBPA interacts with VSMP

CBPA and VSMP (see our VA VSMP essay) are complementary:

• VSMP Act amendments require CBPA localities to adopt VSMP requirements for "Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act land-disturbing activities."
• Stormwater management plan under 9VAC25-870-55 required for relevant land disturbance; approved by the VSMP authority or non-VSMP locality subject to CBPA. DEQ does not directly review these for CBPA-only projects.
• ESC plan consistent with Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Law must be designed and approved by the VESCP authority or DEQ.
• Long-term maintenance of stormwater management facilities per 9VAC25-870-112.

The practical effect: in Tidewater VA, a site project engages CBPA (RPA/RMA compliance) + VSMP (stormwater + ESC) + local zoning + USBC + any locality-specific requirements. The stacking is real; budget for all of it.

Which VA localities are on the 84-locality list

DEQ maintains the list; the core areas covered include:

• Hampton Roads — Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News, Williamsburg, James City County, York County, Poquoson.
• Middle Peninsula + Northern Neck — Gloucester, Mathews, King William, King and Queen, Essex, Lancaster, Middlesex, Northumberland, Richmond County, Westmoreland.
• Richmond region (coastal plain portions) — Richmond City, Henrico, Chesterfield, Hanover, parts of surrounding counties.
• Eastern Shore — Accomack, Northampton.
• Fredericksburg region — Fredericksburg City, Spotsylvania, Stafford, King George.
• Northern Virginia coastal plain — selected Fairfax, Prince William, Arlington, Alexandria portions.

Non-Tidewater localities (Shenandoah Valley, Southwest VA, most of the Piedmont beyond the coastal plain line) are not on the CBPA list. Project-specific verification matters — the Fall Line roughly delimits CBPA applicability but each locality's designation is authoritative.

What developers should know

• Check parcel against locality's CBPA map as step one. RPA/RMA/IDA designations are on record with the locality.
• The 100-foot RPA buffer is load-bearing. Design around it, not through it. Treat it as un-buildable unless you're in a narrow permitted category.
• Sea-level-rise considerations now required. Build climate-adaptation analysis into RPA-proximate project work.
• RMA 2,500 sf disturbance threshold triggers plan-of-development review. Even modest projects can engage the review process.
• Seaward 50 feet of RPA buffer is especially restrictive. Exceptions allowed in the landward 50 feet don't port to the seaward half.
• Vegetative mitigation is a real obligation. Budget for replacement plantings on the same lot.
• Locality variation. State floor + local implementation; Virginia Beach's CBPA ordinance reads differently from Gloucester's. Verify locally.

How CBPA relates to coastal/shoreline work

CBPA is distinct from — and coexists with — other VA coastal frameworks:

• VA Wetlands Act (Va. Code § 28.2-1300 et seq.) — tidal wetlands regulation by local wetlands boards; separate permit.
• VMRC jurisdiction — subaqueous lands below mean low water; separate permit.
• USACE Section 10/404 — federal navigable waters and wetlands permitting.
• Federal NFIP + local floodplain ordinances — building elevation and flood-zone requirements.
• VSMP — stormwater and ESC.

Waterfront and coastal projects in Tidewater VA typically engage CBPA + one or more of the others. The full stack is substantial.

What to do with this

If you're developing in Tidewater VA: confirm CBPA designation on parcel; map RPA/RMA/IDA; treat the 100-foot RPA buffer as a design constraint from day one.

If you're doing a redevelopment in an urban Tidewater locality: verify IDA designation status — it changes what's feasible.

If you're adjacent to tidal water or connected wetlands: expect layered permits (CBPA + Wetlands + VMRC + USACE + local).

For VSMP interaction, see our VA VSMP essay. For VA contractor licensing, see our VA Class A/B/C essay. For statewide code, see our VA USBC essay.

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