All-terrain vehicles and off-road motorcycles; penalty. Authorizes the use of all-terrain vehicles on secondary state highways if (i) such operation is approved by action of the governing body of a locality for operation on the secondary state highways within such locality and (ii) such all-terrain vehicles, when operated between dusk and dawn, are equipped with two front and two rear lights that render discernible a person or object at a distance of 200 feet.
Virginia State Crime Commission; Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; persons with mental illness; petty crimes; study; report. Directs the Virginia State Crime Commission, in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to conduct a study on the petty crimes that are most frequently committed by persons with mental illness. The bill requires the Commission to submit a report on its findings to the Chairs of the House Committees for Courts of Justice and on Health and Human Services and the Senate Committees for Courts of Justice and on Education and Health by November 1, 2025.
Prohibition of gender reassignment surgery on individuals younger than 18 years of age. Prohibits gender reassignment surgery, as defined in the bill, for individuals younger than 18 years of age. The bill establishes enforcement procedures for violations of the provisions of the bill.
Transportation infrastructure and projects; noise analysis. Requires the Commonwealth Transportation Board or the Department of Transportation to begin a noise analysis within one year of receipt of a valid petition for a noise analysis. The bill also requires a noise analysis for any retrofit noise abatement project undertaken or considered by the Board or the Department.
Temporary funding of federal park operations. Authorizes the Governor to provide funding and execute necessary agreements to allow the temporary operation of any Virginia property controlled by the National Park Service in the event of a federal government shutdown. Such authority shall be contingent on the U.S. Department of the Interior executing an agreement which authorizes the Commonwealth to operate such property. The bill states that the funds may come from the State Park Conservation Resources Fund, voluntary donations, funds allocated to the Department of Conservation and Recreation, or other sources. However, the bill clarifies that no funds originally allocated from the general fund shall be used to operate a federal park for more than 21 days without the approval of the General Assembly.
School crossing zones; institutions of higher education. Expands the definition of "school crossing zone" to include areas surrounding schools where the presence of students reasonably requires a special warning to motorists and provides that the term "school" includes public institutions of higher education and nonprofit private institutions of higher education. Currently, the definition of "school crossing zone" includes only areas surrounding schools where the presence of children requires such warning. The existing provisions of law allowing photo speed monitoring devices to be installed in school crossing zones will apply to any location that meets such expanded definition.
Virginia State Police; Bureau of Homeland Security established; powers and duties; work group; report. Establishes the Bureau of Homeland Security within the Virginia State Police to coordinate efforts in the ongoing assessment of the Commonwealth's vulnerability to and ability to detect, prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism or potential threats to the security of the Commonwealth. The bill directs the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secure and Resilient Commonwealth Panel, the Department of Emergency Management, and the Department of State Police, to convene a work group to study the proper allocation of responsibilities for the detection of, prevention of, preparedness for, response to, and recovery from threats to the security of the Commonwealth and to report the findings of the work group to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Public Safety and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology by November 1, 2025.
Dinwiddie Airport and Industrial Authority; residency requirements. Requires all members of the Dinwiddie Airport and Industrial Authority to be residents of Dinwiddie County and requires the removal by the governing body of the County of any such appointee who ceases to reside within the County. Currently, four of the seven members of the Authority are required to be residents of the County and removal of an appointee for ceasing to reside within the County is at the discretion of the governing body of the County.
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; electric vehicle battery suppliers; certification; penalty. Requires each supplier of electric vehicle batteries operating in the Commonwealth to certify under penalty of perjury to the Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services that no electric vehicle batteries sold in consumer transactions, as defined in the bill, are manufactured in or sourced from African cobalt mines and that the manufacture or sourcing of such electric vehicle batteries involves no child or slave labor. The bill specifies that such certification is required by suppliers by July 1, 2026, and annually thereafter. Under the bill, it is unlawful for an electric vehicle battery supplier to sell, lease, or license any electric vehicle battery without first obtaining a certificate of compliance from the Commissioner, and a violation of this requirement constitutes a violation of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.
Board of Wildlife Resources; trout-fishing access-site registry; income tax credit. Requires the Board of Wildlife Resources to establish and manage a trout-fishing access-site registry through which eligible landowners may register real property to allow valid fishing-license holders access to such property for the sole purpose of fishing trout. The bill authorizes such registrants to claim a nonrefundable income tax credit in the amount of $2,000 for each full tax year that such person had real property registered as a trout-fishing access site with the Board.
Marine Resources Commission; Virginia Institute of Marine Science; study of ecology, fishery impacts, and economic importance of Atlantic menhaden; report. Directs the Marine Resources Commission in collaboration with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and certain stakeholders, as provided in the bill, to conduct a three-year study of the ecology, fishery impacts, and economic importance of the Atlantic menhaden population in the waters of the Commonwealth. The bill requires the Commission to provide a report on its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources no later than October 1, 2028.
Erosion and sediment control for certain localities; bond for sediment basin. Limits the amount of the performance bond that an agency issuing a permit for a land-disturbing activity under the erosion and sediment control laws for certain localities can require when the final site plan includes a stormwater management facility that is built on top of a sediment basin or other sediment trap. The bill also sets a cap on the amount of the security that must be in the form of a letter of credit or cash required for performance for a sediment basin of 25 percent of the estimated cost.
