Charter; Town of Pound. Repeals the charter for the Town of Pound in Wise County. The bill has a delayed effective date of November 1, 2023.
Elections; conduct of election; election results; risk-limiting audits. Requires local electoral boards and general registrars to perform certain risk-limiting audits, defined in the bill, under the supervision of the Department of Elections and in accordance with the procedures prescribed by the State Board of Elections with a risk limit of at least 10 percent. The bill provides that localities are required to participate in such audits at least once every five years. The bill also provides that the Department shall submit a report on the results of such audits to the State Board. The provisions of the bill requiring that such audits be conducted (i) for at least one randomly selected contested race for the General Assembly in the year of a general election for members of the General Assembly and (ii) for any other contested race that is necessary to ensure that each locality participates in a risk-limiting audit of an office within its jurisdiction at least once every five years or that the State Board finds appropriate have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2023. The provision of the bill requiring that such audits be conducted for at least one randomly selected contested race for an office that requires certification by the State Board in the year of general election for any local office has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2024. The bill also requires the Department to convene a work group to consider and propose a process and timeline for implementing risk-limiting audits of statewide contests. This bill is identical to SB 370.
Careless driving; vulnerable road users. Provides that a person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor if he operates a vehicle in a careless or distracted manner and causes the death or serious bodily injury of a vulnerable road user. Current law only imposes the penalty if such careless or distracted operation causes serious bodily injury to the vulnerable road user. The bill also allows a court to suspend the driver's license or restrict the driver's license of a person convicted of careless driving for up to six months. This bill is identical to SB 247.
Virginia Literacy Act; early student literacy; evidence-based literacy instruction; science-based reading research. Makes several changes relating to early student literacy, including requiring (i) each education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education or alternative certification program that provides training for any individual seeking initial licensure with an endorsement in a certain area, including as a reading specialist, to demonstrate mastery of science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction, as such terms are defined in the bill; (ii) the literacy assessment required of individuals seeking initial teacher licensure with endorsements in certain areas to include a rigorous test of science-based reading research and evidence-based literacy instruction; (iii) each local school board to establish a divisionwide literacy plan; (iv) each local school board to employ one reading specialist for each 550 students in kindergarten through grade three; and (v) each local school board to provide a program of literacy instruction whereby, among other things, (a) the program provides reading intervention services to students in kindergarten through grade three who demonstrate deficiencies based on their individual performance on the Standards of Learning reading assessment or an early literacy screener provided or approved by the Department of Education; (b) a reading specialist, in collaboration with the teacher of any student who receives such reading intervention services, develops, oversees implementation of, and monitors student progress on a student reading plan; and (c) each student who receives such reading intervention services is assessed utilizing either the early literacy screener provided or approved by the Department or the grade-level reading Standards of Learning assessment again at the end of that school year. The provisions of the bill become effective beginning with the 2024–2025 school year. This bill is identical to SB 616.
Business park electric transmission infrastructure pilot program; location of qualifying projects. Amends the definition of "business park" by adding that a business park may be established by a locality and by removing the requirement that a business park be located in an area of the Commonwealth designated as an opportunity zone by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury via his delegation of authority to the Internal Revenue Service. The bill also removes the requirement that the location of a qualifying project for an existing pilot program to promote economic development in the Commonwealth by allowing Dominion Energy Virginia and Appalachian Power to complete the construction phase of electric transmission infrastructure for up to three business parks prior to the public announcement of a prospective occupant of the business parks be in an opportunity zone and provides that such a qualifying project may be within a business park in Planning District 19.
Secretary of Transportation; commercial driver's licenses. Directs the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation and working with various agencies of the Commonwealth, to promote and implement various initiatives related to commercial driver's licenses. The bill sunsets on July 1, 2023.
Nonrepairable and rebuilt vehicles; sunset. Repeals the sunset clause for certain amendments related to definitions of nonrepairable and rebuilt vehicles. As enacted in 2017, the amendments would have expired on July 1, 2021. However, language in Item 436 of Chapter 552 of the Acts of Assembly of 2021, Special Session I (the Appropriation Act), provided that, notwithstanding any other law, the amendments would remain in place until July 1, 2022. The bill makes the amendments permanent.
Renewable energy certificates; certainrequirements prohibited; minor new source air permit; authority toissue. Prohibits American Electric Power or Dominion Energy Virginiafrom being required (i) to procure and retire renewable energy certificates to comply with a renewable energy portfolio standard program (RPSProgram) prior to January 1, 2025 and (ii) to procure and retirerenewable energy certificates to comply with an RPS Program at anytime from an eligible generating source with a capacity of one megawattor lower. Removes the authority ofthe State Air Pollution Control Board to issue, deny, renew, amend,or extend a minor new source review air permit. The bill providesthat the Executive Director of the Department of Environmental Qualityhas such authority to issue, deny, renew, amend, or extend a minornew source review air permit. The bill provides that any other rulesor regulations governing such permitting process shall continue toapply.
Electric utilities; removal of waste coal from previously mined sites; Commission on Electric Utility Regulation; sunset. Provides that, in furtherance of the need to address the environmental hazards of abandoned coal mines, the removal of waste coal from previously mined sites in the coalfield region of the Commonwealth is in the public interest. The bill extends the sunset date for the Commission on Electric Utility Regulation from July 1, 2022, to July 1, 2024, and provides that the Commission may review information on the approximate volume and number of waste coal piles present in the coalfield region of the Commonwealth and options for cleaning up such waste coal piles.
Volunteer audiologists. Permits out-of-stateaudiologists to volunteer to provide free health care to an underservedarea of the Commonwealth under the auspices of a publicly supportednonprofit organization that sponsors the provision of health careto populations of underserved people if they do so for a period notexceeding three consecutive days and if the nonprofit organizationverifies that the practitioner has a valid, unrestricted license inanother state.
