Administrative Process Act; emergency regulationsfor economic development projects. Provides that an agency mayreceive a waiver, defined in the bill as the approval for the promulgationof emergency regulations or suspension of current regulations, forthe creation of qualifying economic development projects, also definedin the bill, upon consultation with and receipt of the approval ofthe Virginia Economic Development Partnership and Virginia InnovationPartnership Authority and the approval of the Governor that suchregulations are necessary for the achievement of such qualifyingeconomic development project. The bill exempts from such waiver thepromulgation of regulations pursuant to the Virginia OccupationalSafety and Health Program of the Virginia Department of Labor andIndustry and by the Department of Environmental Quality.
Sponsored bills
Energy Innovation Program; established. Establishesthe Energy Innovation Program to foster the development of innovativeenergy projects by allowing Program participants to provide gridservices or other beneficial energy measures. Under the Program,a participant, after obtaining State Corporation Commission approval, is not required to comply with specific state statutes and regulations pertaining to the generation, transmission, or distribution of electricenergy for sale, except for those laws and regulations that are requiredfor worker safety, public safety, or environmental protection, fora period of five years. The bill includes provisions for applicationrequirements, an approval process, Program exit procedures, a testperiod extension process, suspension or revocation of Commissionapproval, consumer protections, Commission investigations, and recordkeepingand reporting requirements.
State Air Pollution Control Board; regulations; low-emissions and zero-emissions vehicle standards. Repeals theState Air Pollution Control Board's authority to implement low-emissionsand zero-emissions vehicle standards that apply for vehicles witha model year of 2025 and later.
Personal property taxation rates; restrictionsand conditions. Restricts differences in the rates of taxationof personal property for taxpayers who are elderly or handicappedto owners of motor vehicles (i) whose income does not exceed thegreater of $80,000 or the median income for the respective localityas published by the U.S. Census Bureau and (ii) whose net financialworth does not exceed $450,000. Thebill provides that certain localities may restrict such differencesto owners of motor vehicles (a) whose income does not exceed thegreater of $130,000 or the median income for the respective localityas published by the U.S. Census Bureau and (b) whose net financialworth does not exceed $750,000. Thebill requires the General Assembly to assess, every four years, whethersuch restrictions require adjustment based on the change in the ConsumerPrice Index.
Use of canines in correctional and juvenilecorrectional facilities; prohibited acts. Provides that it is unlawful for any correctional officer or other employee of a statecorrectional facility or juvenile correctional facility who is permittedto handle canines to use a canine to (i) extract a prisoner from his cell or (ii) intervene in an altercation, fight, or other incidentbetween three or fewer prisoners. The bill provides that the Departmentof Corrections and the Department of Juvenile Justice shall makepublic any policies and regulations relating to (a) the use of canines,(b) training requirements for both canines and the handlers of suchcanines, and (c) the supervision of the officers or employees whoare permitted to handle such canines. The bill requires the Departmentof Corrections and the Department of Juvenile Justice to track allcanine uses of force and all incidents in which canines were presentor requested for assistance but no canine use of force occurred andto make such information available on the Departments' websites.
Law-enforcement officers; protected personalinformation. Provides that any full-time or part-time law-enforcementofficer who provides information relative to a criminal investigationor in proceedings preliminary to a criminal prosecution may refuse,unless ordered by a court, to disclose his residence address, hometelephone number, or any personal information concerning his family.The bill also provides that any full-time or part-time law-enforcementofficer who testifies as a witness in a criminal case may refuseto disclose personal information concerning his family unless itis determined by the court that such evidence is relevant to thecase.
Personal property tax; classification; sunsetdate. Removes the sunset date from the provision of law that authorizes localities to classify most motor vehicles as a class ofproperty subject to a different rate of tax or rate of assessmentfrom the rate applicable to the general class of tangible personalproperty. Under current law, such classification would expire beginningwith taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025.
Public school funds; state share for basic aid;basic aid and supplemental basic aid payment limit. Removes thecap on an adjustment of the state share of aid provided to a schooldivision, which limited such adjustment to the sum of the basic aidpayment and any supplemental basic aid payment appropriated to suchlocality by the 2007 Session of the General Assembly.
Localities; liability for owning or operatingvehicle. Provides that in any case in which a locality is theowner of, or operator through medium of a driver of, or otherwiseis the insured under the policy upon a vehicle involved in an accident,or is self-insured, the defense of governmental immunity shall notbe a bar to action or recovery of damages arising from such accidentagainst such locality.
Department of Wildlife Resources; killing ofdeer, elk, or bear damaging fruit trees, crops, livestock, or personalproperty. Allows the owner or lessee of lands upon which damageto fruit trees, crops, livestock, or personal property utilized forcommercial agricultural production has occurred to solicit the opinionof a district biologist in a neighboring district when, after anassessment by the district biologist for the lands upon which suchdamage has occurred, authorization to kill an animal is not grantedby the Director of the Department of Wildlife Resources or his designee.