Del. Paul Krizek

Department of Fire Programs; prohibition onthe use of certain oriented strand board in fire service trainingactivities. Prohibits the use by any person, local government,or agency of the Commonwealth of Class A fuel materials that containoriented strand board, defined in the bill, during fire service training activities.

Board for Contractors; exemption from certificationas an elevator mechanic or accessibility mechanic. Provides thatan individual is not required to be certified as an elevator mechanicor accessibility mechanic when working under the direct and immediatesupervision of an elevator mechanic or certified accessibility mechanicwho is certified in the specialty for which work is being performed.

Alcoholic beverage control; operation of governmentstores; sale of low alcohol beverage coolers. Prohibits the Boardof Directors (the Board) of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage ControlAuthority from selling in government stores low alcohol beveragecoolers not manufactured by licensed distillers. Under current law,the Board may sell any low alcohol beverage coolers in governmentstores. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2022.

Produce Rx Program established; report. Directs the Department of Social Services, in cooperation with the Department of Medical Assistance Services, to convene a work group to develop a plan for a three-year pilot Produce Rx program to incentivize consumption of qualifying fruits and vegetables by eligible individuals for whom increased consumption of fruits and vegetables is recommended by a qualified care provider. The bill requires the Department of Social Services to report on the activities of the work group and the elements of the plan to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations by October 1, 2021.

Expanded polystyrene food service containers; prohibition; civil penalty. Prohibits the dispensing by a food vendor of prepared food to a customer in a single-use expanded polystyrene food service container, as defined in the bill. The bill requires certain chain restaurants to stop using such containers by July 1, 2023, and sets the date for compliance by all food vendors as July 1, 2025. The bill exempts nonprofit organizations from the definition of "food vendor" and provides a process by which a locality may grant consecutive one-year exemptions to individual food vendors on the basis of undue economic hardship. The bill provides a civil penalty of not more than $50 for each day of violation, to be collected in a civil action brought by the Attorney General or the relevant locality. The penalties collected are to be deposited in the Litter Control and Recycling Fund or to the treasury of the relevant locality, as appropriate. A portion of the penalties deposited in the Fund are to be used for public information campaigns to discourage the sale and use of expanded polystyrene products. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Environmental Quality to post to its website information on compliance and the filing of complaints. This bill is a reenactment of Chapter 1104 of the Acts of Assembly of 2020.

Highway construction by state or local employees; limit. Increases from $600,000 to $700,000 the value of highway maintenance and construction projects eligible to be performed by state or local employees.

Department of Human Resource Management, alternative application for employment for persons with a disability. Directs the Department of Human Resource Management to create an alternative application process for the employment of persons with a disability. The process must be noncompetitive in nature and provide state agencies using the process an option for converting positions filled through the noncompetitive process into positions that are normally filled through a competitive process. The bill directs the Department of Human Resource Management to develop and disseminate a policy to implement the provisions of the bill.

Child Care Assistance Program; emergency. Provides that regulations governing the Child Care Subsidy Program (the Program) shall be amended to provide that (i) a family shall be eligible for assistance through the Program if the family's income does not exceed 85 percent of the state median income, the family includes at least one child who is five years of age or younger and has not yet started kindergarten, and the family meets all other income and eligibility requirements of the Program and (ii) job search activities shall be considered eligible activities for the purposes of the Program. The bill provides that a family determined to be eligible for assistance through the Program shall be eligible to receive assistance for a period of 12 months or until the family's household income exceeds 85 percent of the state median income, whichever occurs sooner. The Department of Social Services shall administer the program, as amended by the bill, in cooperation with the Department of Education. The bill contains an emergency clause and provides that the provisions of the bill shall be applicable to applications for assistance through the Program received prior to August 1, 2021.

State Air Pollution Control Board; low-emissions and zero-emissions vehicle program. Directs the State Air Pollution Control Board to implement a low-emissions and zero-emissions vehicle program for motor vehicles with a model year of 2025 and later. Regulations adopted by the Board to implement the program are exempt from the Administrative Process Act and shall not become effective prior to January 1, 2024. The bill also authorizes the State Corporation Commission to exclude sales related to such vehicles from certain energy efficiency calculations.

Assistance for certain voters; curbside voting. Clarifies that any voter with a permanent physical disability, temporary physical disability, or injury is entitled to vote outside of thepolling place. The bill further provides that during a declared stateof emergency related to a communicable disease of public health threat,any voter shall be entitled to vote outside of the polling place.The bill requires that the area designated for voting outside ofthe polling place be clearly marked and instructions on how the voteris to notify an officer of election of his request to vote outsideof the polling place be prominently displayed. The bill makes technical amendments for clarity and organizational purposes.