Va. Code Ann. § 2.2-217

The Secretary shall establish the "Friend of the Bay Award" program. The program shall annually recognize those individuals, businesses, organizations and other entities that have made significant efforts to preserve and enhance the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The program shall make such awards on a noncompetitive basis, using criteria to be developed by the Secretary, in consultation with those agencies within the Secretariat, the Virginia delegation to the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the Citizens Advisory Committee to the Chesapeake Executive Council.