Del. Alfonso Lopez

Provides that any determination by the State Corporation Commission that an energy efficiency program is not in the public interest shall include with its final order the work product and analysis conducted by the staff of the Commission in making that determination. The measure requires that if the Commission reduces the proposed budget for a program or portfolio of programs, its final order shall include an analysis of the impact such budget reduction has upon the cost-effectiveness of such program or portfolio of programs. An order by the Commission (i) finding that a program or portfolio of programs is not in the public interest or (ii) reducing the proposed budget for any program or portfolio of programs shall adhere to existing protocols for extraordinarily sensitive information. The measure provides that any utility petitioning the Commission for approval of one or more rate adjustment clauses for energy efficiency programs shall include a proposed budget for the design, implementation, and operation of the energy efficiency programs. The bill requires that any rate adjustment clause approved for an energy efficiency program remain in effect until the utility exhausts the approved budget for the energy efficiency program.

Directs the State Corporation Commission to establish a pilot program that affords the opportunity for any locality to participate in net energy metering if it is a retail customer of a certain type of investor-owned electric utility. In order to qualify for the program, the locality is required to own and operate a renewable generating facility with a generating capacity of not more than two megawatts that is located on the municipality's premises and is intended primarily to offset all or part of the locality's own electricity requirements. Under the pilot program, a municipal customer-generator that generates electricity in amounts that exceed the amount of electricity consumed by the municipal customer-generator, determined annually, to credit one or more of the municipality's target metered accounts in order that the generation energy charges on the electric bills of the target's metered accounts are reduced by the amount of excess generation kilowatt hours apportioned to the metered account multiplied by the applicable generation energy rate of the target's accounts. In Appalachian Power's service territory, metered accounts of the public school division of a locality may be target accounts. The amount of generating capacity of all generating facilities that are the subject of a pilot program are limited to (i) five megawatts if Appalachian Power is the pilot program utility, though the utility may increase the amount to up to 10 megawatts or (ii) 25 megawatts if Dominion Power is the pilot program utility. Such aggregated capacities of the generation facilities that are the subject of a pilot program constitute a portion of the existing limit of the utility's adjusted Virginia peak-load forecast of the previous year that is available to municipal customer-generators, eligible customer-generators, eligible agricultural customer-generators, and small agricultural generators in the utility's service area. The duration of the pilot program is six years. This bill is identical to

Extends the duration of an exception, for municipal dredging, to the right of a person to lease oyster-planting grounds, and establishes a procedure for determining compensation to such a leaseholder when his grounds are disturbed by such a dredging project.

Requires the State Water Control Board to evaluate Virginia Water Protection Permits mitigation options for impacts to wetlands on a case-by-case basis with consideration for which option is practicable and ecologically and environmentally preferable, including, in terms of replacement of acreage and functions, which option has the greatest likelihood of success and avoidance of temporal loss of acreage and function.

Requires the Virginia Community College System, in consultation with the Department of Labor and Industry, to develop and deliver uniform, related instruction for registered apprenticeships in high-demand programs, as determined by the Virginia Board of Workforce Development and the Virginia Employment Commission, and for which coursework is not otherwise available. The bill requires such instruction to be available statewide and to be delivered in a face-to-face, online, or blended format.

Authorizes the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) to authorize grants from the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund (the Fund) for the installation of certain wastewater conveyance infrastructure. Any such infrastructure shall (i) divert wastewater from one publicly owned treatment works that is eligible for grant funding to another such eligible treatment works; (ii) divert wastewater to a receiving treatment works that is capable of achieving compliance with its nutrient reduction or ammonia control discharge requirements and that results in a net reduction in total phosphorus, total nitrogen, or nitrogen-containing ammonia discharges; and (iii) result in no more expense to the Fund than would otherwise be incurred to install eligible nutrient removal technology or other treatment technology at the treatment works from which the wastewater will be diverted.

Provides that any associate degree-granting public institution of higher education other than a comprehensive community college and each baccalaureate public institution of higher education may provide a grant for the payment of tuition and certain fees for any Virginia student who (i) (a) has received a high school diploma or has passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education and was in foster care or in the custody of the Department of Social Services or is considered a special needs adoption at the time such diploma or certificate was awarded or (b) was in foster care when he turned 18 and subsequently received a high school diploma or passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education and (ii) meets certain other criteria. Current law requires comprehensive community colleges to provide such grants for such students who are enrolled at comprehensive community colleges.

Adds cancers of the colon, brain, or testes to the list of cancers that are presumed to be an occupational disease covered by the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act when firefighters and certain employees develop the cancer. The measure will become effective if reenacted by the 2020 Session of the General Assembly. The measure also directs the 2020 Session of the General Assembly, in considering and enacting any legislation relating to workers' compensation and the presumption of compensability for certain cancers, to consider any research, findings, and recommendations from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission's review of the Virginia Workers' Compensation program. The provisions of this bill do not become effective unless reenacted by the 2020 Session of the General Assembly. This bill is identical to

Directs the State Board of Elections to promulgate regulations and standards necessary to ensure the security and integrity of the Virginia voter registration system and the supporting technologies utilized by the counties and cities to maintain and record registrant information. The local electoral boards are also required to develop and update annually written plans and procedures to ensure the security and integrity of the supporting technologies. The local electoral boards are further required to report annually to the Department of Elections on their security plans and procedures. The bill authorizes the Department of Elections to limit a locality's access to the Virginia voter registration system if it is determined that the county or city has failed to develop security plans and procedures or to comply with the security standards established by the State Board; such access would be limited as necessary to address and resolve any security risks or to enforce compliance. Records describing protocols for maintaining the security of the Virginia voter registration system and the supporting technologies utilized to maintain and record registrant information are exempted from the Freedom of Information Act and meetings to discuss such protocols are permitted to be closed pursuant to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. The bill requires the State Board of Elections to convene a work group prior to adopting security standards and to establish a standing advisory group of local government IT professionals and general registrars to assist and consult on updates to security standards.