Sen. Dave Marsden

Virginia Public Procurement Act; preference for energy-efficient and water-efficient goods. Provides that in the course of procuring goods, if a public body receives two or more bids for products that are Energy Star certified, meet Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) designated efficiency requirements, appear on FEMP's Low Standby Power Product List, or are WaterSense certified, such public body may only select among those bids.

Membership on Criminal Justice Services Boardand Committee on Training; law-enforcement training. Requires the social justice organization represented by a member of the CriminalJustice Services Board and a member of the Committee on Trainingbe engaged in advancing inclusion and human rights. The bill containsa technical amendment to compulsory in-service training for law-enforcementofficers.

Broadband services; education. Authorizesschool boards to appropriate funds for the purposes of promoting,facilitating, and encouraging the expansion and operation of broadbandservices for educational purposes. The bill authorizes school boardsto partner with private broadband service providers to promote, implement,and subsidize broadband for educational purposes to the householdsof students who would qualify for (i) a child nutrition program or(ii) any other program recognized or adopted by the local schoolboard as a measuring standard to identify at-risk students.

Solar projects; erosion and sediment control plan review. Requires any locality that does not operate a regulated MS4 and for which the Department did not administer a VSMP as of July 1, 2020, to notify the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) if it decides to have the Department provide the locality with (i) review of a required erosion and sediment control plan and (ii) a recommendation on the plan's compliance with the requirements of the Erosion and Sediment Control Law and the State Water Control Board's regulations, for any solar project and its associated infrastructure with a rated electrical generation capacity exceeding five megawatts. The bill provides certain procedural steps for the Department and VESCP authority for a locality to take in reviewing the plan and making recommendations and decisions. The provisions of the bill are contingent on funding in a general appropriation act.

Public schools; seizure management and action plans; biennial training. Provides for the submission and utilization of seizure management and action plans for students with a diagnosed seizure disorder. The bill requires that school nurses and certain school division employees biennially complete Board of Education-approved training in the treatment of students with seizure disorders. The bill provides immunity from civil liability for acts or omissions related to providing for the care of a student under a seizure management and action plan. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2022.

Government planning; wildlife corridors. Directs various agencies to consider and incorporate, where applicable, wildlife corridors and any recommendation of the Wildlife Corridor Action Plan. The bill directs the Department of Wildlife Resources to publish the Plan and subsequent updates on its website and to assist state agencies and political subdivisions, and by request any federal agency, in considering and incorporating, where applicable, wildlife corridors and the recommendations of the Plan when developing any governmental strategic plan, map, or action.

Dangerous dogs; procedure for adjudication; penalty. Restructures the procedure for adjudication of a dog as a dangerous dog to provide for (i) written notice by an animal control officer to the owner of the dog that he has applied for a summons, and a prohibition on disposal of the dog by the owner for 30 days; (ii) the issuance of a summons with an option rather than a requirement that the officer confine the dog, a prohibition on the disposal of the dog other than by euthanasia, and an authorization for the court to compel the implanting of electronic identification; (iii) the holding of a hearing within 30 days unless good cause is shown; (iv) the authority of the court if deferring further proceedings without adjudicating to compel the implanting of electronic identification; and (v) a limit of 30 days for any appeal of a dangerous dog adjudication. The bill authorizes an officer to obtain a summons for a hearing to determine whether a dog that has been surrendered is a dangerous dog and provides that any dangerous dog not reclaimed from the animal control officer within 10 days of notice shall be considered abandoned. The bill imposes new requirements for the transfer of dangerous dogs, requiring a releasing agency that is transferring or releasing for adoption a dangerous dog in the Commonwealth to notify the receiving party of the legal requirements for keeping a dangerous dog. If the agency is transferring the dog outside the Commonwealth, it is required to notify the appropriate animal control officer of the dog's adjudication as dangerous. An owner who is bringing a dog found to be dangerous in another state to reside in the Commonwealth shall notify the local animal control officer. Any owner who disposes of a dangerous dog by gift, sale, transfer, trade, or surrender shall notify the receiver in writing of the dog's adjudication as dangerous, with a violation penalized as a Class 3 misdemeanor. Finally, the bill provides that if a dangerous dog adjudication occurred within 60 days of the end of the calendar year, the first renewal of the dangerous dog registration shall be included in the initial registration at no additional charge. The bill contains technical amendments.

Building standards for certain state and local buildings. Requires that any executive branch agency or institution or locality entering the design phase for the construction of a new building greater than 5,000 gross square feet in size or the renovation of a building where the cost of the renovation exceeds 50 percent of the value of the building ensure that such building has sufficient electric vehicle charging infrastructure, defined in the bill, and has features that permit the agency or institution to track the building's energy efficiency and carbon emissions. The bill authorizes the Director of the Department of General Services to grant exemptions to such standards, in writing and with certain terms. The bill requires agencies to annually report to the Governor the energy efficiency and carbon emissions metrics for each such building built or renovated. The bill requires localities to design such building projects according to the same or similar standards, or more stringent standards if adopted by ordinance. The bill also requires that localities incorporate appropriate resilience and distributed energy features. The bill requires that any exemption from the standards granted by resolution of the governing body of a locality be made in writing and explain the basis for granting the exemption.

Workers' compensation; presumption of compensability for certain diseases. Provides that the occupational disease presumption for death caused by hypertension or heart disease will apply for salaried or volunteer emergency medical services personnel who (i) have at least five years of service (ii) are operating in a locality that has legally adopted a resolution declaring that it will provide one or more of such presumptions and (iii) meets any minimum hours worked requirements established in such resolution. The provisions of the bill do not apply to any individual who was diagnosed with hypertension or heart disease before July 1, 2021.

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.