Collective bargaining by public employees; public transportation providers. Permits the governing body of a public transportation provider, as defined in the bill, to adopt a resolutionauthorizing such public transportation provider to (i) recognizea labor union or other employee association as a bargaining agentof public officers and employees and (ii) collectively bargain orenter into a collective bargaining contract with such union or associationor its agents with respect to any matter relating to such transportationdistrict or its employees.
Common interest communities; pesticides; prohibitionon use. Clarifies that common interest community associationsmay ban the use of pesticides in or upon any common area or commonelement, as defined in relevant law. The bill also allows such associationsto establish reasonable restrictions on the use of pesticides withinthe common interest community if such use might reasonably affectany lot, common area, unit, or common element.
Reports relating to PFAS; Department of Environmental Quality; one-time report. Requires all facilities that have engaged since January 1, 2021, in the manufacture of or knowing use in the production process of one or more chemicals listed as PFAS target analytes to produce a one-time report on the use of such chemicals. The report shall be limited to facilities that discharge to (i) a surface water under a Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) or (ii) a publicly owned treatment works under an industrial pretreatment program permit or other written authorization issued by a local permit control authority. The report shall be submitted to the Department and, if such facility discharges to a publicly owned treatment works, also to the local permit control authority no later than October 1, 2024. The bill also requires certain facilities to perform a limited PFAS discharge characterization during the one-year period from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025, for each waterway discharge outfall consisting of representative quarterly monitoring using the applicable laboratory test method, as specified in the bill. Such facilities shall report results to the Department and, if the facility discharges to a publicly owned treatment works, also to the local permit control authority, within 30 days after the end of each quarter. This bill was incorporated into SB 243.
Board of Pharmacy; use of automated dispensing systems and remote dispensing systems in certain facilities. Defines "remote dispensing system" as a profile-driven automated drug dispensing system that performs operations or activities relative to the storage, packaging, labeling, or dispensing of medications employing bidirectional and audio-visual technology to facilitate pharmacist communication with a patient, an authorized agent of a patient, or a person licensed to administer drugs, and collects, controls, and maintains all transaction information. The bill allows for the use of remote dispensing systems in hospitals, state facilities licensed pursuant to Title 37.2, services licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services as a site-based crisis stabilization unit, and any other facility authorized by the Board of Pharmacy in regulation wherein drugs are administered only by persons licensed to administer drugs and where the pharmacist-in-charge can ensure the security and environmental integrity of the drugs and devices. The bill extends the use of automated drug dispensing systems from use only in hospitals to use in each such facility listed above. This bill was incorporated into HB 1336.
Drug Control Act; Schedule I; Schedule II; Schedule IV; Schedule V. Adds certain chemicals to Schedules I, II, IV, and V of the Drug Control Act. The Board of Pharmacy has added these substances in an expedited regulatory process. A substance added via this process is removed from the schedule after 18 months unless a general law is enacted adding the substance to the schedule. This bill was incorporated into HB 1333.
Delivery network companies; portable benefit accounts. Requires a delivery network company, defined in the bill as a business entity that maintains an online-enabled application or platform used to facilitate delivery services, to contribute an amount equal to four percent of an eligible driver's earnings in the immediately preceding quarter earned through that delivery network company. Additionally, the eligible driver may make voluntary contributions to the portable benefit account. The bill provides that a delivery driver is eligible for the portable benefit account if the driver earned $1,000 delivering in a quarter. Under the bill, funds in a portable benefit account may be used to (i) compensate for lost income due to (a) an illness or accident, (b) the birth or adoption of a child of the driver, (c) a state of emergency, or (d) an earnings loss; (ii) transfer funds to an individual retirement account; or (iii) cover expenses incurred for premiums for health insurance coverage in the individual market. The bill provides that a portable benefit account is exempt from taxation, and contributions to the portable benefit account are not included in the driver's gross income. The bill requires the delivery network company to purchase insurance to cover medical expenses and lost income resulting from injuries suffered while the driver was engaged on a delivery network company's online-enabled application or platform. Additionally, the bill prohibits a delivery network company from discriminating against drivers based on certain classes. The bill provides that delivery drivers are classified as independent contractors, notwithstanding the provision of benefits required by the bill. The bill also provides that jurisdiction in all matters concerning delivery network companies and app-based delivery drivers shall be exclusively vested in the state. Finally the bill provides that its provisions regarding the classification of delivery drivers as independent contractors are not severable.
Sales and use tax exemption; data centers. Requires data center operators to meet certain energy efficiency standards in order to be eligible for the sales and use tax exemption for data center purchases. Under the bill, a data center operator shall be eligible for the exemption only if such operator demonstrates that (i) its facilities either (a) have a power usage effectiveness score of no greater than 1.2 or (b) for data centers co-located in buildings with other commercial uses, achieve an energy efficiency level of no less than the most efficient 15 percent of similar buildings constructed in the previous five years and (ii) it will procure carbon-free renewable energy and associated renewable energy certificates from facilities equal to 90 percent of its electricity requirements or that its electricity will be otherwise derived from non-carbon-emitting, renewable sources.
Virginia Consumer Protection Act; recycling information on products. Prohibits the sale or offering for sale of any product that indicates on the product's container or packaging that such container or packaging is recyclable unless such container or packaging is made out of a material that is recyclable under a majority of regional and local waste management plans. The bill requires the Virginia Waste Management Board to maintain a list of all materials that are recyclable under a majority of regional and local waste management plans adopted in the Commonwealth and to make such list available on the Department of Environmental Quality's website.
Department of Environmental Quality; groundwater and surface water withdrawal permits; five-year moratorium. Requires the Department of Environmental Quality to enforce a five-year moratorium on the issuance of any new groundwater or surface water withdrawal permits beginning July 1, 2024, except for any such permits that are for the purpose of providing drinking water for human consumption.
Renewable energy portfolio standard; eligibilityof hydrogen and nuclear resources. Provides that, for the purposesof the renewable energy portfolio standard, eligible sources include(i) hydrogen resources that are produced from zero-carbon generatingfacilities located in the Commonwealth and (ii) zero-carbon nucleargenerating facilities located in the Commonwealth that were placedinto service after July 1, 2024.
Reimbursement of expenses incurred in responding to terrorism hoax incident, bomb threat, malicious activation of fire alarm, or false emergency communication to emergency personnel. Allows a locality that has an ordinance requiring any person over 18 years of age convicted of false emergency communication to emergency personnel to reimburse such locality at the time of sentencing or in a separate civil action to bill a flat fee of $2,500 or a minute-by-minute accounting of actual costs incurred. The bill also allows a locality that has an ordinance requiring any person under 18 years of age convicted of false emergency communication to emergency personnel to reimburse such locality at the time of sentencing or in a separate civil action to bill a flat fee of $2,500 or a minute-by-minute accounting of actual costs incurred, not to exceed $2,500. Current law allows a flat fee of $250 or a minute-by-minute accounting of actual costs incurred, in an amount not to exceed $2,500.
Planning districts; King George County.Moves King George County from Planning District 16 (George WashingtonRegional Commission) to Planning District 17 (Northern Neck PlanningDistrict Commission). The bill requires the Department of Housingand Community Development to assist with this transition.
