Aboveground storage tanks; Hazardous Substance Aboveground Storage Tank Fund; civil and criminal penalties. Directs the State Water Control Board to regulate aboveground storage tanks that measure more than 1,320 gallons in capacity and are used to contain hazardous substances other than oil. The bill directs the Board to adopt regulations that establish requirements for registration, certification, and inspection, and other requirements of tank owners, and that establish a schedule of fees. The bill authorizes the Board to undertake corrective action, or to require the owner to undertake corrective action, in the event of a discharge of a hazardous substance. The bill requires tank owners to register their tanks, pay certain registration fees, develop release response plans, upgrade certain older tanks, install containment infrastructure for certain aboveground storage tanks, notify certain parties in the event of a release of a regulated substance, and demonstrate their financial responsibility. The bill also creates the Hazardous Substance Aboveground Storage Tank Fund for the administration of the bill and provides for civil and criminal penalties for violations of requirements of the bill, with the moneys received to be deposited into the existing Virginia Environmental Emergency Response Fund.
Sponsored bills
State Corporation Commission; members. Increasesfrom three to five the number of members of the State CorporationCommission. The measure requires that the new members be initiallyelected for a six-year term during the earlier of the 2021 Regular Session of the General Assembly or any special session convened priorthereto.
Land subdivision and development; release of performance guarantees. Prohibits the final complete release of any remaining bond, escrow, letter of credit, or other performance guarantee required of a subdivider or developer by a governing body for the construction of certain public facilities until each common area, if any, is transferred from the subdivider or developer to a property owners' association.
Qualified education loan servicers. Prohibits any person from acting as a qualified education loan servicer except in accordance with provisions established by this bill. The bill requires a loan servicer to obtain a license from the State Corporation Commission (SCC) and establishes procedures pertaining to such licenses. Banks, savings institutions, credit unions, nonprofit institutions of higher education, and farm credit systems are exempt from the licensing provisions. The servicing of a qualified education loan encompasses (i) receiving any scheduled periodic payments from a qualified education loan borrower or notification of such payments; (ii) applying the payments of principal and interest and such other payments, with respect to the amounts received from a qualified education loan borrower, as may be required pursuant to the terms of a qualified education loan; (iii) during a period when no payment is required on a qualified education loan, maintaining account records and communicating with the qualified education loan borrower; and (iv) interacting with a student loan borrower, including conducting activities to help prevent default. Qualified education loan servicers are prohibited from, among other things, (a) misrepresenting the amount, nature, or terms of any fee or payment due or claimed to be due on a qualified education loan, the terms and conditions of the loan agreement, or the borrower's obligations under the loan; (b) misapplying loan payments to the outstanding balance of a qualified education loan; and (c) failing to report both the favorable and unfavorable payment history of the borrower to a nationally recognized consumer credit bureau at least annually if the loan servicer regularly reports information to such a credit bureau. Violations are subject to a civil penalty not exceeding $2,500 and are prohibited practices under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021, but provides that applications shall be accepted, and investigations commenced, by the SCC beginning March 1, 2021. This bill is identical to HB 10.
Driver privilege cards; penalty. Authorizes the issuance of new driver privilege cards by the Department of Motor Vehicles to an applicant who (i) has reported income from Virginia sources or been claimed as a dependent on an individual tax return filed with the Commonwealth in the preceding 12 months and (ii) is not in violation of the insurance requirements for the registration of an uninsured motor vehicle. The bill provides that driver privilege cards shall confer the same privileges and shall be subject to the same provisions as driver's licenses and permits; however, driver privilege cards shall not (a) confer voting privileges, (b) permit an individual to waive any part of the driver examination, or (c) have their issuance be contingent upon the applicant's ability to produce proof of legal presence in the United States. The bill limits the release of certain information stored by the Department. The bill provides for the term "driver's license" to consistently refer to all driver's licenses, permits, driver privilege cards, and special identification cards issued by the Commonwealth or the comparable law of another jurisdiction. The bill allows the issuance of a limited-duration driver's license and special identification card to an applicant presenting valid documentary evidence that a federal court or federal agency having jurisdiction over immigration has authorized the applicant to be in the United States for a period of at least 30 days from the date of application. The bill authorizes the Tax Commissioner to provide to the Commissioner of the Department information sufficient to verify that an applicant for a driver privilege card or permit reported income from Virginia sources or was claimed as a dependent on an individual tax return filed with the Commonwealth in the preceding 12 months. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021. This bill incorporates SB 643 and is identical to HB 1211.
Consumer lending. Replaces references to payday loans with the term "short-term loans." The measure caps the interest and fees that may be charged under a short-term loan at an annual rate of 36 percent, plus a maintenance fee; increases the maximum amount of such loans from $500 to $2,500; and sets the duration of such loans at a minimum of four months, subject to exceptions, and a maximum of 24 months. Short-term loan licensees are required to make a reasonable attempt to verify a borrower's income and may not collect fees and charges that exceed 50 percent of the original loan amount if such amount is equal to or less than $1,500 and 60 percent of the original loan amount if such amount is greater than $1,500. The measure amends the requirements for motor vehicle title loans, including requiring licensed lenders to use a database to determine a prospective borrower's eligibility for a loan and prohibiting loans to a borrower who has an outstanding short-term loan. The measure sets a 36-percent annual interest rate cap on open-end credit plans and allows a $50 annual participation fee. A violation of these provisions is made a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The measure amends provisions of the Consumer Finance Act to, among other things, allow licensed lenders to use the services of access partners and establish requirements that loans be between $300 and $35,000; be repayable in substantially equal installment payments; have a term of no fewer than six and no more than 120 months; charge not more than 36 percent annual interest and a loan processing fee; and require licensees to post a bond. The measure prohibits credit service businesses from advertising, offering, or performing other services in connection with an extension of credit that has an annual interest rate exceeding 36 percent, is for less than $5,000, has a term of less than one year, or is provided under an open-end credit plan. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2021, and requires any person who would be required to be licensed under the provisions of the act to apply for a license by October 1, 2020. This bill is identical to HB 789.
Bicyclists and other vulnerable road users; penalty. Provides that a person who operates a motor vehicle in a careless or distracted manner and is the proximate cause of serious physical injury to a vulnerable road user, defined in the bill as a pedestrian; the operator of or passenger on a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, electric power-assisted bicycle, wheel chair or wheel chair conveyance, skateboard, roller skates, motorized skateboard or scooter, or animal-drawn vehicle or any attached device; or any person riding an animal, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also prohibits the driver of a motor vehicle from crossing into a bicycle lane to pass or attempt to pass another vehicle, except in certain circumstances.
Control of firearms by localities; permitted events. Authorizes any locality by ordinance to prohibit the possession or carrying of firearms, ammunition, or components or any combination thereof in (i) any building, or part thereof, owned or used by such locality for governmental purposes; (ii) any public park owned or operated by the locality; (iii) any recreation or community center facility; or (iv) any public street, road, alley, sidewalk or public right-of-way or any other place of whatever nature that is open to the public and is being used by or is adjacent to a permitted event or an event that would otherwise require a permit. Provisions limiting the authority of localities and state governmental entities to bring lawsuits against certain firearms manufacturers and others are also repealed. The bill also provides that any firearm received by the locality pursuant to a gun buy-back program shall be destroyed by the locality unless the person surrendering such firearm requests in writing that such surrendered firearm be sold. The provisions of the bill do not apply to the activities of a Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program operated at a public or private institution of higher education or (ii) any intercollegiate athletics program operated by a public or private institution of higher education and governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association or any club sports team recognized by a public or private institution of higher education where the sport engaged in by such program or team involves the use of a firearm. The bill contains technical amendments. This bill incorporates SB 450, SB 505, SB 506, and SB 615. This bill is identical to HB 421.
Shared solar programs. Requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program that allows customers of Dominion Virginia to purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility, which is defined in the bill as a facility that, among other criteria, generates electricity by means of a solar photovoltaic device with a nameplate capacity rating that does not exceed 5,000 kilowatts. Under the program, a subscriber receives a bill credit for the proportional output of a share solar facility attributable to that subscriber. Subscribers are required to pay a minimum bill, established by the Commission, that includes the costs of infrastructure and related services. The bill provides that the Commission shall approve a shared solar program of 150 megawatts with a minimum requirement of 30 percent of low-income customers and that the Commission will approve an additional 50 megawatts upon determining that at least 45 megawatts of the shared solar capacity have been subscribed to by low-income customers. This bill is identical to HB 1634.
Public utilities; energy storage capacity in the Commonwealth. Provides that it is the objective of the General Assembly that 2,700 megawatts of aggregate energy storage capacity be placed into service on or before July 1, 2030. The bill provides that energy storage facilities with an aggregate capacity of 2,700 megawatts are in the public interest and that prior to January 1, 2030, (i) the construction by a public utility of one or more energy storage facilities located in the Commonwealth, having in the aggregate a rated capacity that does not exceed 2,700 megawatts, or (ii) the purchase by a public utility of energy storage facilities described in clause (i) owned by persons other than a public utility or the capacity from such facilities is in the public interest. The bill requires that at least 65 percent of the energy storage capacity placed in service on or after July 1, 2020, located in the Commonwealth and found to be in the public interest is from the purchase by a public utility of energy storage facilities owned by persons other than a public utility or the capacity from such facilities. The bill provides that such purchases shall be subject to competitive procurement, provided that a public utility may select energy storage facilities without regard to whether such selection satisfies price criteria if the selection of the energy storage facilities materially advances non-price criteria, including favoring geographic distribution of generating facilities, areas of higher employment, or regional economic development, if such facilities do not exceed 25 percent of the utility's energy storage capacity. The bill provides that an integrated resource plan (IRP) should include recommended plans for utilizing energy storage facilities to meet forecasted demand and assure adequate and sufficient reliability of service and requires that in preparing an IRP, each electric utility shall systematically evaluate and may propose developing a long-term plan to integrate new energy storage facilities into existing generation and distribution assets to assist with grid transformation. Finally, the bill requires the State Corporation Commission, in the annual report required by legislation enacted in the 2018 Session, to assess the aggregate annual new construction and purchase of energy storage facilities.