Land development; solar canopies in parking areas. Provides that any locality may include in its land development ordinances a provision that requires that an applicant must install a solar canopy over designated surface parking areas. Such provisions shall apply only to nonresidential parking areas with 100 or more new off-street contiguous parking spaces and may require coverage of up to 50 percent of the surface parking area. The bill provides that an ordinance adopted pursuant to this bill shall be subject to various additional requirements and shall allow for deviations, in whole or in part, from the requirements of the ordinance when its strict application would prevent the development of uses and densities otherwise allowed by the locality's zoning or development ordinance or when a property owner shows that the solar canopy, if installed as otherwise required under the ordinance, will generate less than 75 percent of the electricity that would be expected, given the nameplate capacity of the solar modules installed on such canopy, if the canopy were to be installed at another location in the locality without surrounding impediments to insolation such as buildings or shading vegetation. Finally, the bill provides that the applicant or owner may use the electric energy generated from such solar canopy to offset the consumption of the parking lot or adjoining building served under the same account. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill is identical to HB 1234.
Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority; permitting of retail tobacco product retailers; purchase, possession, and sale of retail tobacco products; penalties; report. Transitions and provides a more comprehensive structure for the current licensing and enforcement responsibilities related to liquid nicotine and retail tobacco products from the Department of Taxation to a permitting system administered by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. The bill requires the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage and Control Authority to conduct an unannounced buyer operation at least once every 24 months to verify a permittee, defined in the bill, is not selling retail tobacco products to persons under 21 years of age. Portions of the bill have a delayed effective date of October 1, 2026. This bill is identical to SB 620.
Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority; permitting of retail tobacco product retailers; purchase, possession, and sale of retail tobacco products; penalties; report. Transitions and provides a more comprehensive structure for the current licensing and enforcement responsibilities related to liquid nicotine and retail tobacco products from the Department of Taxation to a permitting system administered by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. The bill requires the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage and Control Authority to conduct an unannounced buyer operation at least once every 24 months to verify that a permittee, defined in the bill, is not selling retail tobacco products to persons under 21 years of age. Portions of the bill have a delayed effective date of October 1, 2026. This bill is identical to HB 308.
Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund; loan and grant program; deferment of interest accrual and repayment obligations. Provides that for funds disbursed to localities, federally recognized tribes, and Virginia recognized tribes primarily for the purpose of implementing flood prevention and protection projects and studies in areas that are subject to recurrent flooding, interest on loans shall not accrue and repayment obligations shall not come into effect for loans or grants until completion of the project or study for which such funds are disbursed. This bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee on Recurrent Flooding.
Department of Housing and Community Development; loans for the construction of mixed income housing; report. Directs the Department of Housing and Community Development, in collaboration with the Virginia Housing Development Authority, to create a two-year pilot program that would provide loan origination and servicing activities for mixed income housing and submit a report on its findings to the General Assembly by November 1 of each year of the pilot program. The bill provides that any funding for the pilot program, subject to the appropriation act, shall be utilized from up to 15 percent of the annual deposit made to the Virginia Housing Trust Fund. This bill is identical to HB 196 and HB 820.
Medical malpractice information disclosures; report. Requires insurers who issue medical malpractice liability insurance polices covering health care providers in the Commonwealth to disclose, for the preceding calendar year, information regarding (i) premiums; (ii) claims activity; (iii) claim payments and litigation costs; and (iv) insurer financial condition. The bill further requires every hospital or health system licensed in the Commonwealth that maintains self-insurance, captive insurance, risk retention arrangements, or other retained financial risk for medical malpractice liability to disclose information regarding (a) the numbers of physicians and health care providers covered under the malpractice liability program; (b) claims activity; (c) malpractice expenditures; and (d) the total malpractice liability expenditures for the reporting year. The bill further requires such insurers, hospitals, and health care systems to provide a list of verdicts during the reporting year in medical malpractice actions in which the jury verdict exceeded the medical malpractice limitation on recovery. The bill provides that such disclosures and information be submitted to the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice and to the ranking Delegate and Senator of the minority party serving on such Committees on or before September 1, 2026, for the 2025 calendar year and on or before March 31 of each year thereafter for the preceding calendar year.
Siting of battery energy storage projects; commercial solar photovoltaic generation facilities; permitted accessory use. Deems battery energy storage projects as a permitted accessory use in all zoning districts on any parcel of land that is subject to an approved special exception, as defined in the bill, for a commercial solar photovoltaic generation facility, if such battery energy storage project is located within the boundaries of the parcel covered by the existing special exception and complies with any applicable federal, state, and local safety or fire codes and environmental regulations. The bill prohibits a host locality from requiring a special exception or any other local land use approval on such battery energy storage project. The bill clarifies that nothing in the provisions of the bill shall be construed to (i) limit the authority of a host locality to enforce compliance with applicable codes or ensure the safe operation of the battery energy storage project or (ii) preclude the developer of a battery energy storage project from negotiating a siting agreement with the host locality. The bill also clarifies that any battery energy storage project for which an initial interconnection request has been filed with an electric utility or a regional transmission organization prior to July 1, 2030, and is constructed in accordance with the provisions of the bill shall be subject to the applicable local ordinance and regulation in effect on July 1, 2026. This bill is identical to HB 891.
Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; application; notice, deposit, fee, and additional information. Provides that, prior to requesting or collecting any payment or information about a prospective tenant, a landlord shall first notify the applicant in writing or by posting in a manner accessible to a prospective tenant certain information relating to the rental application process. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027.
Prohibiting certain acts in furtherance of federal immigration enforcement in certain protected areas; exceptions; penalties. Prohibits certain federal civil immigration enforcement activities in certain protected areas including any courthouse, within 40 feet of any polling place or building used as a meeting place for the local electoral board while the electoral board meets to ascertain the results of an election, and any place or facility owned by the Commonwealth that is a hospital or other health care facility, a school or public institution of higher education, or an office of the attorney for the Commonwealth. The bill prohibits any civil arrest in a courthouse pursuant to a civil administrative warrant, subject to certain exceptions such as service or enforcement of an order for failure to pay child support or for any arrest occurring in connection with a court proceeding that is taking place or is scheduled to take place. The bill provides that such provisions shall not apply when such arrest is authorized by a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena.The bill also authorizes a local school board to include in its written school crisis, emergency management, and medical emergency response plan a procedure for notifying school board employees and parents of enrolled students of the presence of certain individuals on school property for immigration investigation or enforcement purposes. The bill requires each public institution of higher education to adopt a policy that requires an individual present on campus to investigate compliance with, enforce, or assist in an investigation or enforcement of any federal immigration law to present a valid judicial warrant or judicial subpoena before accessing any nonpublic area of the campus. This bill incorporates HB 1260, HB 1265, HB 1440, and HB 1442 and is identical to SB 351.
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 53.1-136, 53.1-154, 53.1-154.1, and 53.1-155 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 53.1-151.1, relating to discretionary parole criteria guidelines.
Law-enforcement officers; restrictions on wearing of facial coverings; exceptions; penalty. Prohibits any law-enforcement officer, defined in the bill, from wearing a facial covering, defined in the bill, while engaged in the performance of his official duties. The bill sets out several exceptions to such prohibition, including protective facial coverings to protect against disease, infection, and exposure to toxic substances and facial coverings worn by any law-enforcement officer assigned to a special weapons and tactics team while engaged in the performance of his official duties with such team. The bill subjects the law-enforcement officer to disciplinary action, including dismissal, demotion, suspension, transfer, or decertification, and creates a Class 1 misdemeanor for any law-enforcement officer who wears a facial covering in violation of the provisions of the bill unless the law-enforcement agency that employs such law-enforcement officer has adopted and established a written policy for and restrictions on the use of facial coverings. The bill also directs the Department of Criminal Justice Services to develop a model policy for and restrictions on the use of facial coverings by law-enforcement officers. This bill is identical to SB 352.
Minimum off-street parking requirements in certain areas. Provides that a locality shall not require, as a condition of zoning approval, minimum off-street parking for residential, multifamily, or mixed-use development located within a designated area, as defined in the bill, in amounts exceeding (i) 0.5 parking spaces per dwelling unit for multifamily or mixed-use residential development and (ii) one parking space per dwelling unit for one-family and two-family dwellings and townhouses. The bill also provides that no locality shall adopt or enforce any provision of a zoning ordinance that imposes minimum off-street parking requirements for residential, multifamily, or mixed-use development located within a designated area in excess of such limitations. The bill further provides that any locality with a population greater than 20,000 shall, by ordinance, provide for an administrative reduction of minimum off-street parking requirements of not less than 20 percent for residential, multifamily, or mixed-use development proposed on parcels not located within a designated area. This bill incorporates HB 262.
