Transportation electrification; integrated resource planning; fast-charging stations; cost recovery by electric utilities. Permits Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Company to file a proposed tariff with the State Corporation Commission (the Commission) to provide utility owned and operated electrical distribution infrastructure to support electric vehicle charging stations. The bill requires Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Company to file transportation electrification plans with the Commission by February 1, 2028, and every three years thereafter, and includes requirements for information to include in such plans. Under the bill, Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Company are required to seek recovery of necessary and appropriate expenditures for transportation electrification only through their rates for generation and distribution services.The bill prohibits Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Company from petitioning for approval of expenditures to own and operate electric vehicle fast-charging stations unless such stations are located at or beyond a radial distance as determined by the Commission relative to the location of any privately owned fast charging station. The bill also directs the Commission to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to determine the appropriate radial distance for such utility-owned fast-charging stations from privately-owned fast charging stations, to enter its final rule in such proceeding no later than December 31, 2027, and to review such final rule by December 31, 2029. Provisions of the bill restricting the radial distance of utility owned and operated fast-charging stations expire on July 1, 2031. This bill is identical to HB 1225.
Lane filtering; motorcycles; penalty. Authorizes the operator of a two-wheeled motorcycle to pass another vehicle that is stopped or traveling at no more than 10 miles per hour in the same lane or on the shoulder, provided that there are at least two lanes of travel in each direction, such motorcycle does not exceed a speed of 20 miles per hour, and the operator executes such passing with ordinary care. The bill makes intentionally impeding or attempting to impede the operator of a motorcycle from lawfully engaging in lane filtering a traffic infraction punishable by a fine of $300. The bill requires the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles to implement a statewide education campaign to alert drivers and the public that motorcycles may lawfully engage in lane filtering. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.
Motor vehicles; use of safety belt systems; certain emergency medical services personnel. Exempts from the requirements for the use of safety belt systems emergency medical services personnel while in the patient compartment of an emergency medical services vehicle providing necessary care, as defined in the bill, to a patient. The bill also provides that, for seats that are subject to such requirements for the use of safety belt systems, such personnel shall use safety belt systems while the vehicle is in motion and such personnel is not providing necessary care to a patient.
Study; Virginia Department of Transportation; alternatives to use of Sodium Chloride to treat and pretreat roadways for winter weather; report. Directs the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to conduct a study on safe and environmentally sensitive alternatives to using Sodium Chloride, or rock salt, to treat and pretreat roadways for winter weather. Such study shall measure the impact of current treatment and pretreatment substances on infrastructure and the environment and their corrosive effects on personal property and compare such impacts with those of potential alternatives, including nonchemical substances and new technologies. VDOT is directed to submit a report to the chairs of the House and Senate Committees on Transportation by November 15, 2026, on its findings and include in such report an accounting of the annual spending by the state and local governments since 2020 on treating and pretreating activities and the amounts budgeted for 2026-2028.
School bus video-monitoring systems; enforcement; sworn or affirmed certificates. Authorizes, for enforcement of violations related to passing a stopped school bus via video-monitoring system, the use of a certificate, or a facsimile thereof, sworn to or affirmed by a law-enforcement officer or a retired sworn law-enforcement officer, as defined in the bill, based on recorded images produced by the video-monitoring system as prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein.
Transit-oriented housing overlay districts. Requires certain localities to establish one or more transit-oriented housing overlay districts covering qualifying areas, as defined in the bill, within their boundaries. The bill provides that within such overlay districts, the locality shall permit, by right, a minimum height of six stories and a minimum average density of 30 units per acre within one-quarter of a mile of a major transit stop and allow two units per lot and four units per corner lot between one-quarter of a mile and one mile from a such a stop. The bill further provides that applications for such housing development shall be approved ministerially by the zoning administrator or other designated official and that no public hearing is required for approval. The bill allows certain areas within a locality to be excluded from its provisions and sunsets on September 1, 2030. The bill has a delayed effective date of September 1, 2027.
Driver improvement clinics; motorcycle driver improvement clinics; Motorcycle Driver Improvement Clinic Fund; created. Creates motorcycle driver improvement clinics, defined in the bill, as a subset of existing driver improvement clinics and provides requirements and parameters for the instruction and administration of the motorcycle driver improvement clinics. The bill authorizes courts to direct defendants who have committed violations while operating a motorcycle to attend a motorcycle driver improvement clinic and satisfy the requirements thereof. The bill also creates the Motorcycle Driver Improvement Clinic Fund for the operation and administration of motorcycle driver improvement clinics. The bill specifies that priority be given to the creation of motorcycle driver improvement clinics that operate as computer-based clinics.
Sales and use tax on taxable services and digital personal property; taxes levied in certain transportation districts; funding for transportation. Decreases the retail sales and use tax from 4.3 percent to four percent and expands such tax to taxable services, defined in the bill, and digital personal property, also defined in the bill, beginning on January 1, 2027. Additionally, the bill imposes (i) an additional retail sales and use tax in any county or city that is a member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission at the rate of 0.385 percent; any county or city that is embraced by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority but that is not a member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission at the rate of 0.615 percent; and any county or city that is a member of the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission at the rate of 0.2 percent; (ii) a retail delivery fee in the amount of 20 cents upon each retail delivery, defined in the bill, made in any county or city located within the Northern Virginia Transportation District or the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission; and (iii) a regional highway use fee on all vehicles in the Commonwealth that are subject to the existing highway use fee.
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 33.2-359, 33.2-371, 33.2-1526, 33.2-1526.1, 33.2-3102, 33.2-3401, 33.2-3402, 33.2-3403, 33.2-3502, 46.2-774, and 46.2-2099.48 of the Code of Virginia; to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 2 of Chapter 19 of Title 33.2 a section numbered 33.2-1904.1, by adding in Article 11 of Chapter 19 of Title 33.2 a section numbered 33.2-1937, by adding in Chapter 24 of Title 33.2 a section numbered 33.2-2402, by adding in Chapter 7 of Title 46.2 a section numbered 46.2-775, by adding a section numbered 58.1-603.3, and by adding in Chapter 17 of Title 58.1 articles numbered 13, 14, and 15, consisting of sections numbered 58.1-1749, 58.1-1750, and 58.1-1751; and to repeal § 33.2-3100.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to transportation funding.
Virginia Public Procurement Act; additional public works contract requirements. Provides that public bodies shall require the contractor and its subcontractors for any capital outlay project, as defined in the bill, to complete certain safety training programs, maintain records of compliance with applicable laws, and participate in approved apprenticeship training programs. The bill provides exemptions from such requirements for reasons related to lack of availability of apprentices and high costs. The provisions of the bill do not apply to transportation-related construction projects. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027.
