Environment

Motor vehicle glass repair and replacement; emissions inspection; penalties. Establishes various notice requirements for motor vehicle glass repair shops, defined in the bill, and provides that a violation of such requirements is a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The bill permits a motor vehicle to qualify for an emissions inspection waiver if such vehicle has failed an inspection and the vehicle's onboard diagnostic system is in a not-ready condition to be tested when presented for reinspection. This bill is identical to HB 312.

Air Pollution Control Board regulations; small renewable energy projects; anaerobic digestion technology; report. Provides that for the purposes of a permit by rule for a small renewable energy project under existing law, a small renewable energy project includes an electrical generation facility in a locality in Planning District 8 with a rated capacity not exceeding 100 megawatts that generates electricity from biomass, energy from waste, or municipal solid waste and its dedicated associated interconnection facilities, provided that such facility is capable of processing the majority of its organic waste, including food waste and municipal sludge, with anaerobic digestion technology by January 1, 2030. The bill directs the Department of Environmental Quality, in coordination with relevant stakeholders, to (i) assess all practicable technologies available to waste-to-energy facilities to reduce carbon dioxide and methane emissions, (ii) assess technologies to create biomethane, and (iii) recommend any legislative changes necessary to create market conditions to ensure the viability of such program. The bill also directs the Department to report its findings to the Air Pollution Control Board by December 1, 2026.

Department of Environmental Quality; special orders; Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program; civil penalties. Increases the maximum civil penalty amount that the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality may assess for any special order to a person to comply with certain related laws, regulations, permits, and certifications from $10,000 to $32,500. The bill increases from $1,000 to $32,500 the maximum civil penalty that a locality authorized to administer a Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Program is able to collect for any one violation of certain regulations, orders, ordinances, program provisions, conditions of land-disturbance approvals, and provisions of state law. The bill also provides, however, that for a land-disturbing activity that (i) disturbs an area measuring at least 10,000 square feet but less than one acre in an area not designated as a Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area and (ii) is not part of a larger common plan of development or sale that disturbs one or more acres of land, the civil penalty shall not exceed $5,000 for each violation, and a series of violations arising from the same set of facts shall not exceed $50,000.

Electric utilities; renewable energy portfolio standard program. Repeals provisions (i) requiring Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power to participate in a renewable energy portfolio standard program that requires each such utility to procure and retire renewable energy certificates and (ii) permitting the recovery of certain costs associated with compliance with such program.

Electric utilities; construction and development of renewable energy facilities; powers of State Air Pollution Control Board; powers of State Corporation Commission. Repeals provisions (i) requiring the State Air Pollution Control Board to adopt regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from any electricity generating unit in the Commonwealth and authorizing the Board to establish an auction program for energy allowances; (ii) prohibiting the State Corporation Commission from approving any new utility-owned generation facilities that emit carbon dioxide as a by-product of energy generation under certain circumstances; (iii) declaring that statutory allowances for energy derived from sunlight, onshore wind, offshore wind, and storage facilities are in the public interest; and (iv) relating to the development of solar and wind generation and energy storage capacity, development of offshore wind capacity, and generation of electricity from renewable and zero-carbon sources. The bill provides that planning and development activities for new nuclear generation facilities are in the public interest.