Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Program authority; right of entry; performance bond. Removes the requirement for a Virginia Erosion and Stormwater Management Program (VESMP) authority to have a performance bond with surety, cash escrow, letter of credit, any combination thereof, or such other legal arrangement in order to enter any establishment or upon any property, public or private, for the purpose of initiating or maintaining appropriate actions that are required by conditions imposed by the VESMP authority on a land-disturbing activity when an owner, after proper notice, has failed to take acceptable action within the time specified.
Department of Planning and Budget; Regulatory Budget Program established; report. Directs the Department of Planning and Budget to establish a Regulatory Budget Program under which each executive branch agency subject to the Administrative Process Act shall reduce overall regulatory requirements by 25 percent by January 1, 2029. The bill requires the Department to report to the Speaker of the House of Delegates and the Chair of the Senate Committee on Rules on the status of the Program no later than October 1 of each year, beginning October 1, 2026. Finally, the bill provides that the Department, in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General and the Registrar of Regulations, shall issue guidance for agencies regarding the Program and how an agency can comply with the requirements of the Program. The bill has an expiration date of January 1, 2029.
Genetic sequencing; organ transplants; use of foreign genetic sequencing or genetic sequencer operational and research software; foreign storage of genetic sequencing data; health insurance coverage for certain foreign organ transplants; civil penalty. Prohibits medical care facilities from (i) using genetic sequencers or any operational and research software, as such terms are defined in the bill, produced in a country designated as a foreign adversary by the federal government and (ii) storing genetic sequencing data with a country designated as a foreign adversary by the federal government. The bill requires medical care facilities to certify their compliance with such provisions, under penalty of perjury, annually with the Commissioner of Health and subjects medical care facilities that violate such provisions to civil penalties. The bill also prohibits health insurance carriers from covering human organ transplants that occur in China or other designated foreign countries and subjects carriers that violate this provision to civil penalties.
In-person visitation policies and procedures at certain facilities. Requires training centers operated by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (the Department), hospitals, nursing homes, certified nursing facilities, hospices or hospice facilities, assisted living facilities, and intermediate care facilities to establish certain in-person visitation policies and procedures. The bill (i) requires that such policies and procedures include screening, personal protective equipment, and other infection control protocols for visitors; (ii) prohibits such policies from requiring the visitor to provide proof of immunization or vaccination; (iii) requires such policies and procedures to allow consensual physical contact between the visitor and the resident, client, or patient of the facility; (iv) authorizes the resident, client, or patient to designate an essential caregiver and establishes requirements related to essential caregivers; (v) requires that such policies and procedures allow in-person visitation under certain circumstances; (vi) provides that such policies and procedures may require visitors to agree in writing to follow such policies and procedures; (vii) authorizes facilities to suspend in-person visitation of visitors for violations of such agreement; (viii) requires facilities to make such policies and procedures available to the Department for review when applying for initial licensure, licensure renewal, or change of ownership; and (ix) requires facilities and the Department to make such policies and procedures easily accessible on their websites.
Abortion; born alive infant; treatment and care; penalty. Requires every health care provider licensed by the Board of Medicine who attempts to terminate a pregnancy to (i) exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of a human infant who has been born alive following such attempt as a reasonably diligent and conscientious health care practitioner would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age and (ii) take all reasonable steps to ensure the immediate transfer of the human infant who has been born alive to a hospital for further medical care. A health care provider who fails to comply with the requirements of the bill is guilty of a Class 4 felony and may be subject to disciplinary action by the Board. The bill also requires every hospital licensed by the Department of Health to establish a protocol for the treatment and care of a human infant who has been born alive following an attempt to terminate a pregnancy and for the immediate reporting to law enforcement of any failure to provide such required treatment and care.
Virginia Retirement System; service retirement allowance; return to work. Allows a retired law-enforcement officer to continue to receive his service retirement allowance during a subsequent period of employment by a local law-enforcement agency in a civilian role that does not require law-enforcement certification as a fingerprint examiner, forensics specialist, property and evidence technician, background investigator, or firearms instructor, so long as he has a break in service of at least six calendar months between retirement and reemployment, did not retire under an early retirement program, did not retire under the Workforce Transition Act of 1995, and retired in good standing from his sworn law-enforcement officer position.
Electric utilities; RPS requirements; Air Pollution Control Board; regulations. Delays for 20 years the timeline by which Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy Virginia are required to produce 100 percent of their electric energy from 100 percent renewable resources. Under the bill, the annual percentage requirements are paused after the 2023 compliance year and do not resume until 2044. The bill provides that Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy Virginia are required to meet the 100 percent requirement by 2070 and 2065, respectively. Additionally, the bill provides that the Air Pollution Control Board is required to adopt regulations for the period of 2051 to 2070 to reduce carbon emissions from electric power generating facilities. Under current law, the Board is required to adopt regulations to reduce emissions for the period of 2031 through 2050.
Retirement systems and creditable service. Awards an individual who has reached normal retirement age under the State Police Officers' Retirement System (SPORS) or Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System (VaLORS), as determined by relevant law, one additional year of creditable service for every five full years of creditable service earned (i) as a member of SPORS, (ii) as a member of VaLORS, or (iii) while employed by a locality that has elected to provide SPORS-benefits to its employees. This bill only affects those retirements that take place on or after July 1, 2027.
Releasing of hunting dogs; state or local roadway; hunting, fishing, and trapping special license; penalty. Creates a Class 3 misdemeanor for the release of hunting dogs on or within 15 feet of the edge of a roadway owned or maintained by the Department of Transportation or a locality and provides that a second or subsequent offense is a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill allows a court to prohibit any person who released hunting dogs on or within 15 feet of the edge of a roadway owned or maintained by the Department or locality from hunting, trapping, or fishing in the Commonwealth for a period of up to five years. The bill permits the stopping of a vehicle on a highway for the retrieval of a companion animal from a highway or area adjacent to a highway. The bill allows certain people such as a landowner and other people associated with such landowner, stockholder, tenant, or guest of the landowner in certain circumstances, to apply for a special license to hunt, fish, and trap exclusively on a landowner's property in lieu of other hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses required by state law.
Virginia Institute of Marine Science; Atlantic Menhaden Research Fund established; report. Establishes the Atlantic Menhaden Research Fund to be used by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), in collaboration with Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) and relevant stakeholders, to produce research relating to Atlantic menhaden necessary to inform a scientifically defensible and ecologically meaningful harvest limit for Atlantic menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay and an annual report summarizing such research. VIMS is directed to annually report its progress, findings, recommendations, and a proposal for expenditures and disbursements from the Fund for the following year to the Chairs of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources, the Ecological Reference Point Work Group of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and the Menhaden Management Advisory Committee of VMRC no later than October 1 of each year.
Special fund for emergency medical services; distribution of certain funds to localities. Expands the use of funds by localities from the special emergency medical services fund. The bill allows funds to be used for (i) training of emergency medical services personnel; (ii) the purchase of equipment and supplies; (iii) maintenance of equipment, facilities, and certain vehicles; and (iv) operating expenses deemed necessary by the locality to ensure the provision of emergency medical expenses in such locality. Under current law, funds may only be used for training of personnel and purchase of equipment and supplies.
Maximum number of judges in each judicial district. Increases from five to six the maximum number of authorized general district court judges in theTwenty-sixth Judicial District. This bill is a recommendation of the Committee on District Courts. This bill was incorporated into SB 158.
