Minimum energy and water conservation standards; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning facilities and home appliances; Department of Energy; prohibited practices; penalty. Provides that if any product or product categories under the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (the EPCA) are removed by the U.S. Secretary of Energy or the federal government, the Department of Energy shall adopt energy or water conservation standards that shall be equivalent to the last applicable federal standards with a product compliance date of on or before December 31, 2025. The bill prohibits any such new products from being sold, offered for sale, leased, or rented in the Commonwealth unless such products meet or exceed such standards. The bill excludes any energy or water conservation standards set aside by a court or any product if federal law preempts the application of the minimum energy and water conservation standards to such a product, including any product or product categories where there is a requirement to develop a standard under the EPCA.
Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank; established; report. Creates the Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank to finance clean energy projects, greenhouse gas emissions reduction projects, and other qualified projects through the strategic deployment of public funds in the form of grants, loans, credit enhancements, and other financing mechanisms. An advisory board consisting of nonlegislative citizen members and ex officio members shall oversee the Bank and provide recommendations related to the Bank and its effectiveness. The bill contains provisions for (i) the powers and duties of the Bank, (ii) lending practices, (iii) a strategic plan, (iv) an investment strategy, (v) public outreach requirements, (vi) audits, and (vii) reporting requirements. This bill is identical to HB 1444.
Electric utilities; pilot program for electric energy conservation, generation, and storage. Requires American Electric Power and Dominion Energy Virginia to each petition the State Corporation Commission by December 31, 2026, to conduct a pilot program for electric energy conservation, solar energy generation, and energy storage resources for low-income, elderly, and disabled individuals. The bill directs the Commission to convene a technical conference to evaluate the creation of an energy efficiency program meeting certain requirements by November 1, 2026. Under the bill, if the Commission determines that such a program is feasible for implementation by American Electric Power and Dominion Energy Virginia, the Commission shall require such utilities to petition for approval by May 1, 2027, to implement such programs. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2034. This bill is identical to HB 1062.
Mattress Stewardship Program established; report. Establishes the Mattress Stewardship Program that allows certain industry associations to administer the Program as a mattress recycling organization with the approval and certification from the Department of Environmental Quality. The bill requires certain producers, retailers, and renovators of mattresses to register with a certified mattress recycling organization and requires a producer to identify each mattress brand it sells or offers for sale in the Commonwealth on or before June 1, 2027. Prior to the Program going into effect, the bill requires a mattress recycling organization to submit a plan with certain criteria relating to the collection and recycling of mattresses and the implementation of the Program. The bill establishes annual reporting requirements for the mattress recycling organization. Finally, the bill establishes the powers and duties of the Department as they relate to the bill.
Electric utilities; pilot program for electric energy conservation, generation, and storage. Requires American Electric Power and Dominion Energy Virginia to each petition the State Corporation Commission by December 31, 2026, to conduct a pilot program for electric energy conservation, solar energy generation, and energy storage resources for low-income, elderly, and disabled individuals. The bill directs the Commission to convene a technical conference to evaluate the creation of an energy efficiency program meeting certain requirements by November 1, 2026. Under the bill, if the Commission determines that such a program is feasible for implementation by American Electric Power and Dominion Energy Virginia, the Commission shall require such utilities to petition for approval by May 1, 2027, to implement such programs. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2034. This bill is identical to SB 327.
Department of Wildlife Resources; premature separation and hybridization of mammalian wildlife prohibited; exceptions. Makes it unlawful to prematurely separate any mammalian wildlife offspring born in captivity from the mother prior to the offspring turning four months of age, except that wildlife offspring may be prematurely separated if a medical necessity exists pursuant to a written order from a veterinarian with appropriate species-specific experience and expertise licensed to practice in the Commonwealth. The bill excludes the following from its provisions: (i) agricultural animals; (ii) noncommercial transfers or trades between accredited zoological facilities; (iii) an accredited zoological facility, as defined in the bill, that retains the mammalian wildlife offspring separated by such zoological facility; (iv) the Department of Wildlife Resources, a person operating under a wildlife rehabilitator, scientific collection, or endangered and threatened species permit approved by the Department, or a person operating under a species recovery plan approved by the Department; (v) the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; or (vi) any person rendering emergency neonatal aide, including the temporary separation of up to 72 hours until a licensed veterinarian can be engaged for assessment and treatment. The bill also makes it unlawful to intentionally and for commercial purposes propagate mammalian wildlife of different species, also known as hybridization. This bill is identical to HB 112.
Clean energy and community flood preparedness; market-based trading program. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality and the State Air Pollution Control Board to establish and maintain a market-based trading program consistent with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative program, as defined in existing law, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generating units in the Commonwealth. This bill is identical to HB 397.
Wildlife Corridor Grant Fund established; voluntary contributions; report. Establishes the Wildlife Corridor Grant Fund to provide grants for projects that conserve or enhance wildlife corridors prioritized by the Wildlife Corridor Action Plan and associated wildlife crossing infrastructure projects. The Director of the Department of Wildlife Resources shall administer the Fund in collaboration with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Department of Forestry, and the Department of Transportation. The Director of the Department of Wildlife Resources shall submit a report to the General Assembly by November 1 of each odd-numbered year concerning the amount of public and private funding received by the Fund, the awarding of grants from the Fund, and the progress of funded projects, including data on the use of project infrastructure by wildlife. The bill also provides mechanisms for individuals to make voluntary contributions to the Fund through a Department of Motor Vehicles electronic transaction and an individual income tax return.
Conservation and replacement of trees during development process; work group; report. Expands certain existing local government authority to plant or replace trees during the development process by expanding such authority statewide. The bill allows localities to establish higher tree canopy replacement percentages based on density per acre. The bill also alters the current process for granting exceptions to a local ordinance by modifying a provision that requires the granting of an exception when the strict application of the ordinance would result in unnecessary or unreasonable hardship to the developer, and replacing it with a requirement that the locality concur with such a determination. The bill permits localities to monitor and assess the condition and coverage of tree canopies at development sites during a period of up to 20 years after the trees are planted. The bill also allows any town within Planning District 8 belonging to an eight-hour nonattainment area for air quality standards to require, by ordinance, that a subdivision or development provide for the preservation or replacement of trees on the development site such that the minimum tree canopy or cover 10 years after development is projected to meet specified coverage criteria. Under current law, the criteria apply to tree canopy coverage 20 years after development. Finally, the bill directs the Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience to convene a work group to conduct a comprehensive review of the tree canopy laws and regulations and report the work group's findings and recommendations to the Chairs of the House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns and Senate Committee on Local Government by November 1, 2026. This bill incorporates HB 995 and is identical to SB 589.
Land development; solar canopies in parking areas. Provides that any locality may include in its land development ordinances a provision that requires that an applicant must install a solar canopy over designated surface parking areas. Such provisions shall apply only to nonresidential parking areas with 100 or more new off-street contiguous parking spaces and may require coverage of up to 50 percent of the surface parking area. The bill provides that an ordinance adopted pursuant to this bill shall be subject to various additional requirements and shall allow for deviations, in whole or in part, from the requirements of the ordinance when its strict application would prevent the development of uses and densities otherwise allowed by the locality's zoning or development ordinance or when a property owner shows that the solar canopy, if installed as otherwise required under the ordinance, will generate less than 75 percent of the electricity that would be expected, given the nameplate capacity of the solar modules installed on such canopy, if the canopy were to be installed at another location in the locality without surrounding impediments to insolation such as buildings or shading vegetation. Finally, the bill provides that the applicant or owner may use the electric energy generated from such solar canopy to offset the consumption of the parking lot or adjoining building served under the same account. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2027. This bill incorporates HB 457 and is identical to SB 26.
