Study; Board of Workforce Development; adequacyof the funding model for noncredit workforce credential programs;work group; report. Requests the Virginia Board of WorkforceDevelopment to study the current funding model for noncredit workforcecredential programs offered at comprehensive community colleges inorder to identify areas of inadequacy and make recommendations on options for reforming the funding model to address those inadequaciesand improve the sustainability of offering and providing noncreditworkforce credential programs to ensure that the Virginia CommunityCollege System as a whole is capable of continuing to meet the increasingdemand for highly skilled credentialed workers in the Commonwealth.
Study; Department of Conservation and Recreation;state park in Washington County; report. Requests the Departmentof Conservation and Recreation to study the feasibility of establishinga state park in Washington County at the Mendota Trail and AbramsFalls located within the Holston River Watersheds.
Study; Department of Housing and Community Development; revenue sharing program for localities hosting data center infrastructure; report. Directs the Department of Housing and Community Developmentto study creating a revenue sharing program for localities hostingdata center infrastructure for data centers located in other localities.
Virginia Advisory Committee for Career and Technical Education; recommendations, guidelines, and best practices for incorporationof career and technical education into public elementary schoolcurricula; report. Requires the Virginia Advisory Committee forCareer and Technical Education established by the Board of Educationto develop and submit to the Board of Education, the Governor, andthe General Assembly no later than November 1, 2024, recommendations,guidelines, and best practices for the incorporation of career andtechnical education into public elementary school curricula.
Department of Health; emergency medical servicespersonnel; career fatigue and wellness program; report. Directsthe Department of Health to convene a work group to study the viabilityof establishing or contracting for a professional program for emergencymedical services personnel, both professional and volunteer, thataddresses career fatigue and wellness, including the costs of suchprogram and recommendations for funding. The bill requires the Departmentto report its findings to the Governor and relevant committees ofthe General Assembly by October 1, 2024.
Unpaved secondary highway funds; improvements;report. Provides that improvements to nonsurface treated secondaryhighways may, at the discretion of the locality, include changesother than paving, including enhanced maintenance and capital improvementsto such highway. The bill directs the Department of Transportationto review and consider methods of improving unpaved secondary highwaysother than paving such highways and report its findings and recommendationsto the Chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Transportationby November 1, 2024.
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, MarineResources Commission; study of ecology, fishery impacts, and economicimportance of Atlantic menhaden; report. Directs the VirginiaInstitute of Marine Science (VIMS) in collaboration with the MarineResources Commission and certain stakeholders, as provided in thebill, to conduct a three-year study of the ecology, fishery impacts,and economic importance of the Atlantic menhaden population in thewaters of the Commonwealth. The bill requires VIMS to provide a reporton its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the SenateCommittee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources andthe House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resourcesand the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources no later thanOctober 1, 2027.
Department of Energy; data center energy usage. Requires each data center located in the Commonwealth to make a quarterly energy source report to the Department of Energy's Division of RenewableEnergy and Energy Efficiency that identifies the amount of energy, disaggregated by the source of energy, consumed by the data centerin the previous quarter. The bill requires the Division to publishaggregate deidentified data from such reports on its website. The bill also directs the Secretary of Commerceand Trade to convene a work group to estimate the future energy demandsof the data center industry in the Commonwealth. The bill requiresthe work group to include representatives from the Department ofEnergy, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership Authority,the State Corporation Commission, the data center industry, electricutilities, and other interested stakeholders. The Secretary is requiredto report the findings of the work group to the General Assemblyby November 30, 2024.
Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund; Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority; budget; operating assistance. Providesthat payments and obligations arising from or related to any contractpertaining to employee compensation and work conditions under thenormal operation of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) may be included in the calculation of a WMATA budget increasefor purposes of the cap of such budget increase. Current law providesthat any payment or obligation of any kind arising from or relatedto legal disputes or proceedings between or among WMATA and any otherperson or entity shall not be used in calculating a WMATA budgetincrease.
Study; Department of Taxation; tax policy optionsfor reforming the litter tax; report. Directs the Departmentof Taxation, in conjunction with the Department of Environmental Quality, to study tax policy options for reforming the litter tax.
Commissioner of Health; work group to studythe occurrence of microplastics in the Commonwealth's public drinkingwater; report. Directs the Commissioner of Health to convene awork group to study the occurrence of microplastics in the Commonwealth'spublic drinking water and develop recommendations for the reduction of microplastics in the Commonwealth's public drinking water. Thebill requires the work group to report its findings and recommendationsto the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committees on Agriculture,Chesapeake and Natural Resources and Health, Welfare and Institutionsand the Senate Committees on Agriculture, Conservation and NaturalResources and Education and Health by December 1, 2024.
Study; Department of Social Services; Departmentof Housing and Community Development; unaccompanied minor housingprogram; report. Directs the Department of Social Services andthe Department of Housing and Community Development to convene a workgroup to study the implementation of an unaccompanied minor housingprogram. The bill requires the work group to report its findingsand recommendations to the Governor and the relevant committees ofthe General Assembly no later than December 1, 2024.
