Del. Chris L. Hurst

State Corporation Commission; retirement of coal-fired or natural gas-fired electric generation facilities. Requires the State Corporation Commission to determine the amortization period for recovery of any appropriate costs due to the early retirement of any coal-fired or natural gas-fired electric generation facilities owned or operated by any Phase I or Phase II Utility. The bill requires the Commission, in making such determination, to (i) perform an independent analysis of the remaining undepreciated capital costs; (ii) establish a recovery period that best serves ratepayers; and (iii) allow for the recovery of any carrying costs that the Commission, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate.

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.

GO Virginia grants; matching funds. Allows a locality to use funds awarded from the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission as matching funds for a GO Virginia grant award. No other state funds are authorized to be used as a source of matching funds. The provisions of the bill sunset on July 1, 2021.

Collection of debts by hospitals affiliated with public institutions of higher education. Prohibits the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Authority and the University of Virginia Medical Center from participating in debt collection efforts pursuant to the Virginia Debt Collection Act or the Setoff Debt Collection Act unless all reasonable efforts have been made to determine if the individual with delinquent debt is eligible for financial assistance. The bill requires both hospitals to develop debt collection policies that adhere, at a minimum, to Internal Revenue Service policies regarding financial assistance by tax-exempt hospitals as they were in effect on January 1, 2020.

Coal combustion residuals impoundment; Giles and Russell Counties; closure. Requires the owner or operator of any coal combustion residuals (CCR) unit, defined in the bill to include a coal ash pond or landfill, at the Glen Lyn Plant and the Clinch River Plant in Giles and Russell Counties, respectively, to close such CCR unit by removing all of the CCR for (i) recycling, known as encapsulated beneficial use, or (ii) deposition in a permitted and lined landfill that meets certain federal standards. The measure requires that any owner or operator beneficially reuse such removed CCR if doing so is anticipated to reduce costs. Such a closure project shall be completed within 15 years of the start of excavation and shall be accompanied by an offer by the owner or operator to provide connection to a municipal water supply for every residence within one-half mile or, if such connection is not feasible, to provide water testing for any such residence. The bill provides that if the owner or operator moves the CCR off-site, it shall develop a transportation plan in consultation with any county, city, or town in which the CCR units are located and any county, city, or town within two miles of the CCR units for any truck transportation that minimizes the effects on adjacent property owners and surrounding communities. The bill requires the owner or operator of a CCR unit to accept and review on an ongoing basis sufficiently detailed proposals to beneficially reuse any CCR that are not already subject to a removal contract. The bill requires that any entity conducting the closure or corrective action work (a) identify options for utilizing local workers, (b) consult with the Commonwealth's Chief Workforce Development Officer on opportunities to advance the Commonwealth's workforce goals, and (c) give priority to the hiring of local workers. The bill requires the CCR unit owner or operator to submit two biennial reports beginning October 1, 2023, and continuing until closure of or corrective action at all of its CCR units is complete. One report describes closure plans, progress, a detailed accounting of the amounts of CCR that have been beneficially reused and the amount of CCR that have been landfilled, the utilization of transportation options, water monitoring results, and other aspects of the closure process; the other report contains the beneficial reuse proposals that the owner or operator has received and its analysis of such proposals. The measure provides that all costs associated with closure of a CCR unit shall be recoverable through a rate adjustment clause authorized by the State Corporation Commission (the Commission), provided that (1) when determining the reasonableness of such costs, the Commission shall not consider closure in place of the CCR unit as an option and (2) the annual revenue requirement recoverable through a rate adjustment clause shall not exceed $40 million on a Virginia jurisdictional basis for the Commonwealth in any 12-month period, provided that any under-recovery amount of revenue requirements incurred in excess of $40 million in a given 12-month period shall be deferred and recovered through the rate adjustment clause over up to three succeeding 12-month periods. The bill provides that costs may begin accruing on July 1, 2020, but no approved rate adjustment clause charges shall be included in customer bills until July 1, 2022; any such costs shall be allocated to all customers of the utility in the Commonwealth as a non-bypassable charge, irrespective of the generation supplier of any such customer; and any such costs that are allocated to the utility's system customers outside of the Commonwealth that are not actually recovered from such customers shall be included for cost recovery from jurisdictional customers in the Commonwealth through the rate adjustment clause. The measure prohibits cost recovery for any fines or civil penalties resulting from violations of federal or state law.

School boards; distribution of excess food. Allows public school boards to distribute excess food to students eligible for the School Breakfast Program or National School Lunch Program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture or to students who the school board determines are otherwise eligible to receive excess food. A school board is also allowed to develop a policy for distributing excess food, saving it for later, or donating it.

Hunting license; senior resident lifetime licensefor hunting bear, deer, and turkey. Directs the Board of Gameand Inland Fisheries to provide a senior resident lifetime huntinglicense that shall include both a basic hunting license and a specialbear, deer, and turkey license. The license shall be available onlyto a resident of the Commonwealth who is 80 years of age or older,shall cost $200, and shall be sold through the Internet.

Sales tax exemption; gun safes. Establishes an exemption from retail sales tax for a gun safe with a selling price of $1,500 or less. The bill defines "gun safe" as a safe or vault that is (i) commercially available, (ii) secured with a digital or dial combination locking mechanism or biometric locking mechanism, and (iii) designed for the storage of a firearm or of ammunition for use in a firearm. Under the bill, "gun safe" does not include a glass-faced cabinet. This bill is identical to SB 268.

Virginia Public Procurement Act; statute oflimitations on actions on construction contracts; statute of limitationson actions on performance bonds. Provides that no action maybe brought by a public body on any construction, architectural, orengineering contract, including construction management and design-buildcontracts, unless such action is brought within five years aftercompletion of the work on the project, and provides that no action may be brought by a public body on a warranty or guaranty in suchconstruction contract more than one year from the breach of thatwarranty, but in no event more than one year after the expirationof such warranty or guaranty. The bill also limits the time frameduring which a public body may bring an action against a surety ona performance bond to within one year after completion of the workon the project. Current law allows a public body, other than theDepartment of Transportation, to bring such an action within oneyear after (i) completion of the contract, including the expiration of all warranties and guaranties, or (ii) discovery of the defector breach of warranty that gave rise to the action. The bill contains technical amendments.

Virginia Defense Force; maximum age for recruitment. Permits the Adjutant General of Virginia to recruit members to the Virginia Defense Force who are between the ages of 65 and 75. Under current law, the Adjutant General is only permitted to retain existing members of the Virginia Defense Force once they have attained the age of 65.