Chesapeake Bay; wastewater treatment; Enhanced Nutrient Removal Certainty Program. Requires the State Water Control Board to adopt by June 30, 2022, regulations establishing a Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan Enhanced Nutrient Removal Certainty Program (ENRC Program), consisting of a number of total nitrogen and total phosphorous waste load allocation reductions assigned to particular water treatment facilities with schedules for compliance. The bill provides that the ENRC Program shall operate in lieu of certain Chesapeake Bay waste load regulations. The bill directs the Board to modify affected discharge permits to incorporate the provisions of the ENRC Program and requires certain compliance plans due from treatment works by February 1, 2023, to address the requirements of the ENRC Program. The bill provides that the funding of certain design and installation costs for implementing nutrient upgrades pursuant to the ENRC Program shall be eligible for grants from the Water Quality Improvement Fund. The ENRC Program is required to proceed regardless of whether such grants will exceed the available funds in the Fund for a given fiscal year. The bill lists the projects and the total nitrogen or total phosphorus waste load allocation reductions that specified facilities are to complete. The bill provides that when grants to finance nutrient removal technology reach a sum sufficient to fund the completion of the ENRC Program at all publicly owned treatment works, certain General Assembly committees shall review funding needs and mechanisms. Finally, the bill directs the State Water Control Board to convene a stakeholder group during the adoption of regulations required to carry out the provisions of the bill and provides that such adoption by the Board shall be exempt from certain procedures of the Administrative Process Act. The bill provides that the priority projects and waste load allocation reductions that it sets forth shall be deemed to implement goals of the Chesapeake Bay Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan.
Sponsored bills
Practice of certified nurse midwives. Eliminatesthe requirement that certified nurse midwives practice pursuant toa practice agreement and provides that certified nurse midwives shall practice in accordance with regulations of the Boards of Medicineand Nursing and consistent with the Standards for the Practice ofMidwifery set by the American College of Nurse-Midwives and shallconsult and collaborate with and refer patients to such other healthcare providers as may be appropriate for the care of the patient.
Fines and costs; accrual of interest; deferralor installment payment agreements. Provides that no interestshall accrue on any fine or costs imposed in a criminal case or ina case involving a traffic infraction (i) for a period of 180 daysfollowing the date of the final judgment imposing such fine or costs;(ii) during any period the defendant is incarcerated; and (iii) fora period of 180 days following the date of the defendant's releasefrom incarceration if the sentence includes an active term of incarceration.Current law prohibits interest from accruing on such fines or costsfor a period of 40 days from the date of the final judgement imposing such fine or costs or during any period the defendant is incarcerated. The bill also removes the requirement thata defendant be unable to make payment of a fine, restitution, forfeiture, or penalty and costs within 30 days of sentencing in order to beeligible to enter into a deferred or installment payment agreementand allows any defendant to enter such payment agreements. The billremoves the one-time fee not to exceed $10 that a court may assesswhen a defendant is unable to make payment within 90 days of sentencingand provides that no fee shall be assessed in connection with a defendant'sparticipation in a deferred or installment payment agreement. Thebill removes the requirement that a defendant make a down paymentupon entering a deferred, modified deferred, or installment paymentagreement.
Rare Disease Council and Rare Disease Council Fund; report. Creates the Rare Disease Council for the purpose of (i) advising the Governor and the General Assembly on the needs of individuals with rare diseases in the Commonwealth; (ii) identifying challenges that such individuals face, including delays in obtaining a diagnosis or the receipt of a misdiagnosis, shortages of medical specialists who can provide treatment, and lack of access to therapies and medication used to treat rare diseases; (iii) funding research related to rare diseases and the development of new treatments for rare diseases; and (iv) funding for supports for persons with rare diseases in the Commonwealth. The bill also creates the Rare Disease Council Fund to be used for the purpose of (a) funding research related to rare diseases and the development of new treatments for rare diseases and supports for persons with rare diseases in the Commonwealth and (b) supporting the work of the Rare Disease Council.
Abolition of the death penalty. Abolishes the death penalty, including for those persons currently under a death sentence. The bill incorporates HB 1779.
Joint Commission on Health Care; sunset. Repeals the sunset provision for the Joint Commission on Health Care.
Virginia Agriculture Food Assistance Programand Fund; established. Requires the Commissioner of Agricultureand Consumer Services (the Commissioner) to establish the VirginiaAgriculture Food Assistance Program (VAFA Program) for Virginia farmersand food producers to donate, sell, or otherwise provide agricultureproducts to charitable food assistance organizations. The bill also creates the Virginia Agriculture Food Assistance Fund to disbursemoneys to such charitable food assistance organizations to reimbursefarmers or food producers for any costs associated with harvesting,processing, packaging, or transporting agriculture products donatedto such charitable food assistance organizations. The bill authorizesthe Commissioner to adopt guidelines and regulations to carry outthe VAFA Program.
Aging services; economic and social need. Provides that, in providing aging services, the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services shall prioritize providing services to older persons with the greatest economic or social need. The bill defines "economic need" as need resulting from an income level at or below the poverty line and "social need" as need caused by noneconomic factors, including (i) physical and mental disabilities, which may include developmental disabilities and human immunodeficiency virus; (ii) language barriers; and (iii) cultural, social, or geographic isolation, including that caused by racial or ethnic status, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation that restricts an individual's ability to perform normal daily tasks or threatens such individual's capacity to live independently.
Telemedicine. Clarifies that nothing shallpreclude coverage of telehealth services by an insurer proposing to issue individual or group accident and sickness insurance policiesproviding hospital, medical and surgical, or major medical coverageon an expense-incurred basis; a corporation providing individualor group accident and sickness subscription contracts; or a healthmaintenance organization providing a health care plan for healthcare services. The bill requires the Board of Medical AssistanceServices to amend the state plan for medical assistance to providefor payment of medical assistance for remote patient monitoring servicesprovided via telemedicine for certain high-risk patients, and providesfor the establishment of a practitioner-patient relationship viatelemedicine for the prescribing of Schedule II through VI controlledsubstances.
Opioid Abatement Authority; established, report. Establishes the Opioid Abatement Authority. The Authority, with the assistance of the Office of the Attorney General, would administer the Opioid Abatement Fund, which would receive moneys from settlements, judgments, verdicts, and other court orders relating to claims regarding the manufacturing, marketing, distribution, or sale of opioids and any other funds received on the fund's behalf that would be used to provide grants and loans to Virginia agencies and certain localities for the purpose of treating, preventing, or reducing opioid use disorder and the misuse of opioids or otherwise abating or remediating the opioid epidemic in the Commonwealth.