Del. David Bulova

Pesticide control exemptions; herbicide applications by unpaid volunteers. Exempts from the provisions of state pesticide laws and regulations any unpaid volunteer who uses any nonrestricted herbicide with the express authorization of a local political subdivision for the sole purpose of controlling invasive plants or noxious weeds on properties owned by such local political subdivision. The bill provides that such unpaid volunteer shall use such herbicide under the direct supervision of a certified commercial applicator and the local political subdivision shall provide instruction by a certified commercial applicator to the unpaid volunteer prior to application on (i) the risks associated with the herbicide utilized, (ii) the proper use of equipment used to apply the herbicide, (iii) the proper use of personal protective equipment, (iv) other information to prevent an unreasonable adverse effect on the environment, and (v) any other information relevant to the specific herbicide utilized.

Early childhood care and education system; need-based and demand-based funding. Requires, for the purpose of addressing family demand and preferences for affordable, high-quality early childhood care and education services, state general funds to be provided to support the provision of services to families for early childhood care and education, as specified in the general appropriation act. The bill requires the Department of Education to report each year by November 15 on the projected general funds needed for the upcoming two fiscal years based on cost of quality rate per child in order to (i) maintain the current number of slots at early childhood care and education programs, (ii) increase the number of slots using a projected growth report, and (iii) increase the number of slots to fully accommodate parent demand and eliminate waitlists. The bill requires such projected general funds to be based on the annual per-child cost, determined as set forth in the bill, for the Virginia Preschool Initiative, the Mixed Delivery Program, and the Child Care Subsidy Program, the current eligibility criteria for such programs, and maximization of certain regularly recurring federal funds. The bill requires each regional entity established by the Board of Education pursuant to applicable law, each local school division, and each locality to annually indicate the number of slots needed, respectively, in the region for the Mixed Delivery Program, the local school division for the Virginia Preschool Initiative, and the locality for the Child Care Subsidy Program. The bill requires the Department of Education to (a) reallocate by July 1 any slots with available funding from the Child Care Subsidy Program and the Mixed Delivery Program, (b) make adjustments based on family preferences following the fall enrollment periods, and (c) first expend all current-year state general funds in providing funding for slots. This bill is identical to SB 54.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; competitive negotiation; exceptions to contractual terms and conditions of the Request for Proposal. Removes the prohibition on a public body from requiring an offeror to state in a proposal any exception to any liability provisions contained in a Request for Proposal for information technology. The bill also requires an offeror to state any exception to any contractual terms or conditions in writing at the time of responding to such Request for Proposal, if so requested by the public body, which exception shall be considered during negotiations, but prohibits the public body from basing the scoring or evaluation on such exceptions when selecting offerors for negotiations. Current law only prohibits a public body from requiring an offeror to state in a proposal any exception to the liability provisions of the Request for Proposal. As introduced, the bill was a recommendation of the Public Body Procurement Work Group. This bill is identical to SB 242.

Virginia Retirement System; plan credits and accounts. Allows members of the Virginia Retirement System to purchase service credit for prior full-time active duty military service of at least 180 consecutive days in any federally established branch of the armed services. Under current law, such purchases are restricted to prior full-time active duty military service of at least 180 consecutive days in the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard. The bill also provides that any funds or other property held in a Virginia Retirement System defined contribution plan, deferred compensation plan, or cash match plan remaining unclaimed for more than five years shall be presumed abandoned under the Virginia Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act and may escheat to the state treasury. Under current law, the Act does not apply to any Virginia Retirement System defined benefit plan funds or other property. This bill is identical to SB 458.

Common interest communities; reserve studies; special assessment rescission or reduction. Removes certain provisions of the Property Owners' Association Act and the Virginia Condominium Act that authorize associations governed by such Acts to rescind or reduce certain assessments necessary for the maintenance and upkeep of the common area or other association responsibilities, including maintenance, repair, and replacement of capital components. The bill also authorizes such associations to borrow money for certain purposes and assign all revenues to be received by such association to its creditors. Finally, the bill defines the term "reserve study" as a capital budget planning tool used to determine the physical status and estimated repair or replacement cost of capital components and an analysis of association funding capacity to maintain, repair, and replace capital components.

Department of Environmental Quality; Department of Health; PFAS; identification; monitoring; PFAS Expert Advisory Council established; report. Requires, for every public water system, as defined in the bill, the Department of Health (VDH) to assist the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) by transferring to the Department quarterly all validated monitoring results available to VDH that indicate PFAS maximum containment level, as defined in the bill, exceedances. In such circumstances, the bill provides that the Department is required to develop and implement a plan to prioritize and conduct PFAS assessments for identifying significant sources of PFAS in such public water system's raw water source or sources. The bill requires any facility, if deemed by the Department to be a potentially significant source of PFAS in the public water system's raw water source, (i) to perform and promptly report the results of quarterly discharge monitoring for one year and (ii) to report to the Department, within 90 days after being directed by the Department, its manufacture or use of PFAS. The bill establishes a PFAS Expert Advisory Committee to assist the Department and VDH in its PFAS-related efforts and requires the Committee to meet at least two times per year through June 30, 2027. The bill requires the Department to annually report certain information to the Governor and the General Assembly by October 1. This bill incorporates HB 245 and is identical to SB 243.

Vacancies in elected local offices; interimappointments; notice requirement. Requires the local governingbody or elected school board making an interim appointment to filla vacancy in the membership of such body or board to hold a publicmeeting at least seven days prior to making such appointment. Thebill specifies that at such meeting, the body or board shall announcethe names of all persons being proposed for the interim appointmentand shall make available for inspection each person's resume andany other materials required by the body or board.

Sewage sludge regulations; relief from administrative requirements; adverse and unusual weather events. Requires the State Water Control Board, with the assistance of the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Department of Health, to adopt regulations that include procedures for addressing administrative, staging, signage, and additional on-site and alternative storage site requirements when routine and on-site storage facility capacity and holding times are anticipated to be exceeded for the purpose of protecting against the release of sewage sludge into state waters and to account for increased intensity, frequency, and duration of storm events. The bill directs the Department of Environmental Quality to form a regulatory advisory panel consisting of certain stakeholders for the purpose of assisting the Board in developing the regulations as required by the bill.

Agricultural best management practices tax credit;agricultural equipment purchase tax credit; sunset date. Extendsfrom January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2030, the sunset date of theindividual and corporate agricultural best management practices incometax credit and extends from January 1, 2026, to January 1, 2030, the sunset date of the individual and corporate income tax credit forthe purchase of conservation tillage and precision agricultural applicationequipment.

Center for Rural Virginia; name change. Renames the Center for Rural Virginia as the Senator Frank M. Ruff, Jr. Center for Rural Virginia. This bill is identical to SB 704.