Del. Alfonso Lopez

Motor vehicle weight limits; vehicles powered primarily by electric battery power or fueled primarily by natural gas. Authorizes motor vehicles powered primarily by means of electric battery power to exceed relevant weight limits by 2,000 pounds, provided that such weight is on the power unit and such weight does not exceed 82,000 pounds on an interstate highway. The bill also changes the weight exemption for motor vehicles fueled primarily by natural gas on an interstate highway from the difference between the weight of the natural gas tank and fueling system and a comparable diesel tank and fueling system to up to an additional 2,000 pounds, provided that such weight is on the power unit and does not exceed 82,000 pounds.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; food stamp program; eligibility; postsecondary education. Adds participation in educational activities that lead to a post-secondary credential from an accredited institution of higher education or other postsecondary school licensed or certified by the Board of Education or the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to the list of activities to which a participant in the Virginia Initiative for Education and Work may be enrolled and directs the Board of Social Services to amend the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP benefits program) to (i) establish broad-based categorical eligibility, (ii) set the gross income eligibility standard at 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, (iii) not impose an asset limit for eligibility, and (iv) increase opportunities for self-sufficiency through postsecondary education by allowing SNAP benefits program participants to satisfy applicable employment and training requirements through enrollment in an accredited public institution of higher education or other postsecondary school licensed or certified by the Board of Education or the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

State Corporation Commission; transportation electrification; utility recovery of certain costs; report. Directs the State Corporation Commission (Commission) to report on policy proposals to accelerate transportation electrification in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Commission to submit, no later than May 1, 2022, a report to the General Assembly recommending policy proposals that could govern public electric utility programs to accelerate widespread transportation electrification in the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Commission to utilize a public process, facilitated by a third party with expertise in transportation electrification, in which the Commission, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, the Department of Transportation, and appropriate stakeholders participate. The bill requires that the Commission, in developing its policy recommendations, evaluate (i) areas where utility or other public investment may best complement private efforts to effectively deploy charging infrastructure, with particular focus on low-income, minority, and rural communities; (ii) how smart growth policies can complement and enhance the Commonwealth's transportation electrification goals; (iii) how utility programs, investments, or incentives to customers or third parties to facilitate the deployment of charging infrastructure and related upgrades can support or enhance (a) statewide transportation electrification, including electrification of public transit; (b) the electrification of medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles, school buses, vehicles at ports and airports, personal vehicles, and vehicle fleets; (c) increased access to electric transportation and improved air quality in low-income and medium-income communities; (d) achievement of existing energy storage targets; (e) improvements to the distribution grid or to specific sites necessary to accommodate charging infrastructure; and (f) customer education and outreach programs that increase awareness of such programs and the benefits of transportation electrification. The bill requires that the report also address whether and how transportation electrification can, under current law, (a) reduce total ratepayer rates and costs; (b) assist in grid management and more efficient use of the grid, in a manner that does not increase peak demand, through time-of-use rates, managed charging programs, vehicle-to-grid programs, or other alternative rate designs; (c) utilize increased generation from renewable energy resources; and (d) reduce fueling costs for vehicles. The bill requires that, to the extent that the Commission and stakeholders conclude that transportation electrification cannot currently deliver these benefits, the report include public policy recommendations. Additionally, the bill requires, beginning July 1, 2021, that any approved costs of any investor-owned electric utility associated with investment in transportation electrification be recovered only through the utility's rates for generation and distribution, prohibits recovery of such costs through a rate adjustment clause, and provides that such costs are not eligible for a customer credit reinvestment offset.

Alcoholic beverage control; license application;locality input; corrective action. Adds the chief administrativeofficer of a locality to the list of persons who may be sent noticeof certain license applications by the Board of Directors (the Board)of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. The bill allowslocalities to submit conditional recommendations for the granting of a license and allows the locality to request a 15-day extensionto the 30-day period during which an objection to or recommendationfor a license must be submitted. The bill requires the Board to givereasonable consideration to any objection or recommendation submittedby the locality. The bill also expands the definition of criminalblight, for which the locality may require a property owner to takecorrective action, to include a condition existing on real propertythat endangers public health or safety and is caused by (i) the regularpresence on the property of persons in possession of controlled substances,(ii) the discharge of a firearm under certain conditions, and (iii)repeated violations of state laws or local ordinances involving actsthat pose a risk of danger to persons or private property.

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.

Virginia LGBTQ+ Advisory Board. Establishesthe Virginia LGBTQ+ Advisory Board to advise the Governor regardingthe economic, professional, cultural, educational, and governmentallinks between the Commonwealth and the LGBTQ+ community in Virginiaand sets out the powers and duties of the Board. The Board shallbe composed of 21 nonlegislative citizen members, at least 15 ofwhom shall identify as LGBTQ+, to be appointed by the Governor, andthe Secretaries of the Commonwealth, Commerce and Trade, Education,Health and Human Resources, and Public Safety and Homeland Security,or their designees, who shall serve as ex officio members.

Wetland and stream mitigation banks; proximity of impacted site. Provides that when a water protection permit applicant is required to purchase wetland or stream mitigation bank credits but no credits are available (i) in any mitigation provider's primary service area or (ii) at a cost of less than 200 percent of the price of credits available from a fund dedicated to achieving no net loss of wetland acreage and functions, the applicant may purchase or use credits from a mitigation provider's secondary service area. The bill provides certain requirements that the permit applicant must comply with in order to purchase or use such credits from a secondary service area, including minimum tree canopy requirements.

Naming U.S. Route 29; county manager plan ofgovernment. Authorizes the board of any locality that has adoptedthe county manager plan of government (Arlington County) to name any section of U.S. Route 29 located within the boundaries of thelocality. The bill provides that the Department of Transportation will place and maintain appropriate signs that will be paid for bythe locality.

Certain students in kindergarten through grade3; reading intervention services. Requires reading interventionservices for students in kindergarten through grade three who demonstratedeficiencies based on their individual performance on the Standardsof Learning reading test or any reading diagnostic test that meetscriteria established by the Department of Education to be evidence-basedand aligned with the science of reading and structured literacy approaches,both defined in the bill, and to include the components of effectivereading instruction and explicit, systematic, sequential, and cumulativeinstruction. The bill requires the parent of each student who receivessuch reading intervention services to be notified before the servicesbegin and the progress of each such student to be monitored throughoutthe provision of services. The bill also requires the Departmentof Education, no later than the beginning of the 2021%962022 school year, to compile and provide to each local school division a listof materials, resources, and curriculum programs that are supportedby the science of reading and based on instruction that is explicit,systematic, cumulative, and diagnostic, including (i) evidence-baseddyslexia programs that are aligned to structured literacy or groundedin the Orton-Gillingham methodology and (ii) evidence-based readingintervention programs, including programs that are grounded in thescience of reading.

Small agricultural generators; definition. Expands the definition of small agricultural generator to include any business operating a small agricultural generating facility that has been granted a manufacturer license as a distillery, limited distillery, brewery, limited brewery, winery, or farm winery. Under current law, small agricultural generators include only those businesses operating a small agricultural generating facility as part of an agricultural business. This bill incorporates HB 2215.