Del. David Bulova

Stormwater management; proprietary best management practices. Directs the State Water Control Board to adopt regulations providing for the use of a proprietary best management practice (BMP) only if another state, regional, or national certification program has verified and certified its nutrient or sediment removal effectiveness. The bill requires any proprietary BMP that is included on the Virginia Stormwater BMP Clearinghouse website prior to July 1, 2020, to provide documentation to the Department of Environmental Quality showing that its effectiveness has been verified by another state, regional, or national certification program and prohibits any such proprietary BMP that fails to provide such documentation from being used in any stormwater management plan submitted on or after January 1, 2022.

Governing boards of public institutions of higher education; acceptance of terms and conditions associated with donations, gifts, and other private philanthropic support. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education to establish a policy for the acceptance of terms and conditions associated with any donation, gift, or other private philanthropic support. The bill requires each such policy to include an administrative process for reviewing, accepting, and documenting terms and conditions associated with (i) gifts that direct academic decision-making and (ii) gifts of $1 million or more that impose a new obligation on the institution of higher education, excluding gifts for scholarships or other financial aid. The bill requires each public institution of higher education to retain documentation of such terms and conditions in compliance with the Virginia Public Records Act and provides that such documentation shall be subject to the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

Coal ash ponds; private wells and public water supply wells; resident notification. Requires a utility, defined in the bill as the owner or operator of a coal ash pond in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, to complete a survey of all private wells and public water supply wells within 1.5 miles of each of its ponds by October 1, 2020, and to notify residents via mail and a local newspaper posting that the survey will be conducted.

Line of Duty Act; eligible dependents. Provides that children born or adopted after the death or disability of an employee covered by the Line of Duty Act are eligible for health insurance coverage if their birth or adoption occurred after the time of the employee's death or disability, but prior to July 1, 2017. Under current law, such children are not eligible unless they were adopted pursuant to a preadoptive agreement entered into prior to the death or disability. This bill is identical to HB 51.

Electric vehicle charging stations; operation by state agencies. Authorizes any agency of state government to locate and operate a retail fee-based electric vehicle charging station on property the agency controls. The bill exempts state agencies from being considered a public utility solely because of the sale of electric vehicle charging service or the ownership or operation of an electric vehicle charging station and further exempts such service from constituting the retail sale of electricity. Currently, state-operated charging stations may be operated by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Department of General Services, Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Transportation, and public institutions of higher education.

Private student loan providers; certain disclosures. Requires any provider of private student loans to disclose to any student attending an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth, prior to issuing a qualified education loan to such student, the contact information for the Office of the Qualified Education Loan Ombudsman and a summary of the student loan information applicable to private student loans that may be found on the State Council of Higher Education's website. The bill provides that any such disclosure may be made in conjunction with or incorporated into another disclosure to such student prior to issuing the qualified education loan. The bill requires the summary to be developed by the Office of the Qualified Education Loan Ombudsman in consultation with relevant stakeholders. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021.

Tax credit for participating landlords; eligible housing areas. Expands the definition of "eligible housing area" for the housing choice voucher tax credit to include Virginia census tracts in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area in which less than 10 percent of the population lives below the poverty level. Landlords who rent qualified housing units within such areas are eligible for an income tax credit. Current law only applies to such areas within the Richmond and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metropolitan Statistical Areas.The bill establishes a 2025 sunset date on the credit. The bill incorporates HB 1014 and is identical to SB 200.

Department of Environmental Quality; tree planting as land cover type, best management practice; stakeholder advisory group. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to convene a stakeholder advisory group for the purpose of studying the planting or preservation of trees as an urban land cover type and as a stormwater best management practice (BMP). The bill provides that the stakeholder group shall be composed of development and construction industry representatives, environmental technical experts, local government representatives, and others and that technical assistance shall be provided to DEQ by the Department of Forestry and the Department of Conservation and Recreation. The bill directs DEQ to report the findings of the stakeholder group by November 1, 2020, and to include a recommendation as to whether the planting or preservation of trees shall be deemed a creditable land cover type or BMP and, if so, how much credit shall be given for its optional use.

Department of Professional and OccupationalRegulation; Real Estate Board; death or disability of a real estatebroker. Clarifies that upon the death or disability of a licensedreal estate broker who was the only licensed broker in a businessentity, the Real Estate Board shall grant approval to certain personsenumerated by law to carry on the business of such broker for 180days following the death or disability of the broker solely for thepurpose of concluding the business of the broker. Currently, the lawonly addresses the death or disability of the sole licensed brokerin a corporation or partnership.

Wildlife Corridor Action Plan; road construction projects. Directs the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, in collaboration with the Department of Transportation and the Department of Conservation and Recreation, to create a Wildlife Corridor Action Plan (the Plan). The Plan shall identify wildlife corridors, defined as areas connecting fragmented wildlife habitats that are separated by human activities or infrastructure, and recommend wildlife crossing projects intended to promote driver safety and wildlife connectivity. The bill requires the Plan to be submitted to the Chairs of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources by September 1, 2022, and every four years thereafter. The bill also provides that the Department of Transportation shall (i) include the impact on any wildlife corridor identified in the Plan in any environmental impact report for a highway construction project and (ii) consider measures for the mitigation of harm caused to wildlife by a highway in the design options for the construction of such highway. This bill is identical to SB 1004.