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This session, we saw more than 3,000 bills introduced. The Council staff worked diligently to evaluate, analyze, and influence these bills and either minimize the effect they may have on the industry or help make the bills better for our members and their businesses. Here is a comprehensive list of the bills we worked on this year:
Chesapeake Bay
HB 1422 (Plum) -
Chesapeake Bay. NMP's. Requires any operator of at least 50 acres of cropland in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to submit a nutrient management plan for such cropland by July 1, 2026, to the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). DCR shall review such plans and provide technical assistance, and the operator shall have an affirmative defense if he has applied for cost-share funding and is waiting to receive such funds. The bill requires any person who owns 20 or more bovines in the watershed, beginning July 1, 2026, to install stream exclusion practices that satisfy regulations adopted by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The person shall have an affirmative defense if he has applied for cost-share funding and is waiting to receive such funds, or if his installed stream exclusion practices were damaged or destroyed. The bill authorizes DCR and DEQ to adopt regulations to carry out its provisions. The bill provides that if the Secretary of Natural Resources determines that sufficient numbers of stream exclusion practices or nutrient management plans have been put in place to satisfy the Commonwealth's commitments in the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan, he shall, on or before December 31, 2025, recommend that all or part of the bill be repealed. Amended; becomes effective July 1, 2020
SB 704 (Mason) -
Chesapeake Bay. NMP's. Requires any operator of at least 50 acres of cropland in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to submit a nutrient management plan for such cropland by July 1, 2026, to the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). DCR shall review such plans and provide technical assistance, and the operator shall have an affirmative defense if he has applied for cost-share funding and is waiting to receive such funds. The bill requires any person who owns 20 or more bovines in the watershed, beginning July 1, 2026, to install stream exclusion practices that satisfy regulations adopted by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The person shall have an affirmative defense if he has applied for cost-share funding and is waiting to receive such funds, or if his installed stream exclusion practices were damaged or destroyed. The bill authorizes DCR and DEQ to adopt regulations to carry out its provisions. The bill provides that if the Secretary of Natural Resources determines that sufficient numbers of stream exclusion practices or nutrient management plans have been put in place to satisfy the Commonwealth's commitments in the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan, he shall, on or before December 31, 2025, recommend that all or part of the bill be repealed. Amended; becomes effective July 1, 2020
HB 221 (Mugler)
- Tree Conservation. Adds "Chesapeake Bay watershed tree," as defined in the bill, to the types of tree that a locality with a tree conservation ordinance is authorized to designate individually for preservation. Current law allows individual designation of heritage, memorial, specimen, and street trees. The bill contains technical amendments.
HB 297 (Gooditis) - Goat Grazing. Authorizes a locality that procures and utilizes goats for the temporary grazing of stream buffers to remain in compliance with a resource management plan for pasture land. Such compliance qualifies the locality for matching grants for agricultural best management practices provided through the
Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program. The bill also clarifies that such grazing is not prohibited by certain provisions of the State Water Control Law.
HB 770 (LaRock) - Goat Grazing. Authorizes a locality that procures and utilizes goats for the temporary grazing of stream buffers to remain in compliance with a resource management plan for pasture land. Such compliance qualifies the locality for matching grants for agricultural best management practices provided through the
Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program. The bill also clarifies that such grazing is not prohibited by certain provisions of the State Water Control Law.
SB 648 (Boysko) - Goat Grazing. Authorizes a locality that procures and utilizes goats for the temporary grazing of stream buffers to remain in compliance with a resource management plan for pasture land. Such compliance qualifies the locality for matching grants for agricultural best management practices provided through the
Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program. The bill also clarifies that such grazing is not prohibited by certain provisions of the State Water Control Law.
HB 504 (Hope) - Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas, Mature Trees. Adds the preservation of mature trees, both as a stormwater management tool and as a means of providing other benefits, to the list of activities that the State Water Resources Board is directed to encourage and promote as it adopts criteria for local governments to use as they consider development in Chesapeake Bay Preservation Areas.
HB 520 (Bulova) - DEQ, Tree Planting As Cover, BMP. Directs the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to convene a stakeholder advisory group for the purpose of studying the planting or preservation of trees as a land cover type and as a stormwater best management practice (BMP). The bill provides that the stakeholder group shall be composed of development and construction industry representatives, environmental technical experts, local government representatives, and others and that technical assistance shall be provided to DEQ by the Department of Forestry and the Department of Conservation and Recreation. The bill directs DEQ to
report the findings of the stakeholder group by November 1, 2020, and to include a recommendation as to whether the planting or preservation of trees shall be deemed a creditable land cover type or BMP and, if so, how much credit shall be given for its optional use.
HB 1497 (Mugler)
- Fertilizer Contractor-Applicator.
Prohibits the application by a fertilizer contractor-applicator, beginning July 1, 2026, of any regulated product to a farm operation larger than 50 acres unless such application is conducted pursuant to a nutrient management plan. "Regulated product," for purposes of this bill, includes fertilizer, specialty fertilizer, soil amendment, and horticultural growing medium. Passed by for the week in subcommittee
SB 26 (Petersen) - Plastic bag tax in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Imposes a five-cent per bag tax on plastic bags provided to customers by certain retailers in localities located wholly within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and directs revenues to be used to support the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan. The bill also allows every retailer that collects the tax to retain one cent of every five cents collected.
SB 849 (Mason)
- Lawn Fertilizer Contractor-Applicator. Authorizes the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services to enter into an agreement with a locality to provide oversight and data collection assistance related to the requirements of certified lawn fertilizer contractor-applicators. Current law prohibits localities from regulating the registration, packaging, labeling, sale, use, application, storage, or distribution of fertilizers except by ordinance pursuant to certain requirements. The bill also reduces from 100 to 50 the total number of acres of non-agricultural land to which a contractor-applicator may apply lawn fertilizer and lawn maintenance fertilizer annually without submitting an annual report to the Commissioner. The bill increases from $250 to $1,000 the civil penalty imposed on a contractor-applicator for a violation of applicable regulations. Passed; becomes effective July 1, 2020
SB 747 (Hanger)
- Nutrient Credit Transfer. Limits certain transfers of non-point nutrient credits to those credits generated by the private sector. The bill provides that while any locality may, without the involvement of a third party, generate its own nutrient or sediment credits and request that such credits be certified by the Department of Environmental Quality, such certifications shall only be used for the purpose of determining whether the project complies with credit generation requirements.
Employer Related Bills
HB 55 (Carter) - Worker cooperatives. Establishes worker cooperatives as a category of cooperative associations. A worker cooperative is a stock corporation that has elected to be governed by provisions established by this measure.
HB 583 (Guzman) - Farm Minimum Wage. Eliminates the exemptions to
Virginia's minimum wage requirements for persons employed as a farm laborer or farm employee.
Dead
HB 825 (Carroll-Foy) - Paid Family Leave. Requires the
Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January 1, 2023. Under the program, benefits are paid to eligible employees for family and medical leave. Funding for the program is provided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning in 2022. The amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weekly wage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the statewide average weekly wage. The measure caps the duration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year. The bill provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program.
Left in Conference; 2021 Legislation Expected
HB 984 (Delaney) - Misclassification. Authorizes an individual who has not been properly classified as an employee to bring a civil action for damages against his employer for failing to properly classify the employee if the employer had knowledge of the individual's misclassification. The court may award damages in the amount of any wages, salary, employment benefits, including expenses incurred by the employee that would otherwise have been covered by insurance, or other compensation lost to the individual, a reasonable attorney fee, and the costs incurred by the employee in bringing the action. The measure provides that an individual who performs services for a person for remuneration shall be presumed to be an employee unless it is shown that the individual is an independent contractor as determined under the Internal Revenue Service guidelines.
Passed; becomes effective July 1, 2020
HB 805 (Ward) - Employee Health Standards. Heat Illness. Requires the Safety and Health Codes Board to adopt regulations establishing reasonable standards designed to protect employees from heat illness. The measure directs the standards to apply to all indoor and outdoor places of employment and require employers to provide water, shade or a climate-controlled environment, rest periods of 15 to 45 minutes per hour, training, and emergency response procedures. The standards are also directed to require employers in certain industries to implement high-heat procedures when the temperature is 90 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer. The measure requires employers to pay employees one additional hour of pay at his regular compensation for each workday that it fails to provide the employee with a required rest period. The measure authorizes a person to bring a court action based on a violation in which he may seek to obtain injunctive relief; to recover damages of $500 or actual monetary loss, whichever is greater; or both.
SB 7 (Saslaw) - Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $7.25 per hour to $10 per hour, effective July 1, 2020; to $11 per hour, effective July 1, 2021; to $12 per hour, effective July 1, 2022; to $13 per hour, effective July 1, 2023; to $14 per hour, effective July 1, 2024; and to $15 per hour, effective July 1, 2025, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). For July 1, 2026, and thereafter, the annual minimum wage shall be adjusted to reflect increases in the consumer price index.
Becomes effective May 1, 2021 - delayed during veto session; similar bills incorporated
SB 73 (Locke) - Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $7.25 per hour to $10 per hour effective July 1, 2020; to $13 per hour effective July 1, 2021; and to $15 per hour effective July 1, 2022, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The measure also provides that the
Virginia minimum wage applies to persons whose employment is covered by the FLSA and to public employees.
SB 81 (Marsden) - Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $7.25 per hour to $9.75 per hour, effective July 1, 2020; to $10.75 per hour, effective July 1, 2021; to $11.75 per hour, effective July 1, 2022; to $12.75 per hour, effective July 1, 2023; to $14 per hour, effective July 1, 2024; and to $15 per hour, effective July 1, 2025, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The measure also provides that the
Virginia minimum wage applies to persons whose employment is covered by the FLSA and to public employees.
SB 770 (Boysko) - Paid Family Leave. Premium Assessed on Employers Beginning 2022. Requires the
Virginia Employment Commission to establish and administer a paid family and medical leave program with benefits beginning January 1, 2023. Under the program, benefits are paid to eligible employees for family and medical leave. Funding for the program is provided through premiums assessed to employers and employees beginning in 2022. The amount of a benefit is 80 percent of the employee's average weekly wage, not to exceed 80 percent of the state weekly wage, which amount is required to be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the statewide average weekly wage. The measure caps the duration of paid leave at 12 weeks in any application year. The bill provides self-employed individuals the option of participating in the program.
Environment
HB 110 (Ware) - Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. This would provides that if the Commonwealth becomes a participant in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or another carbon dioxide cap and trade program with an open auction of allowances, the Department of Environmental Quality shall establish an allowance reserve account for any electric generation facility that operates according to a long-term contract that was executed prior to May 16, 2017, and prohibits the recovery of allowance costs.
HB 723 (Reid) - Pipelines. Mitigating Agriculture Impact. Requires a utility company installing an underground pipeline with an inside diameter greater than 12 inches or an underground electric transmission or distribution line of greater than 115 kV in capacity to mitigate the effects of the project if the project disturbs more than 10,000 square feet of agricultural land. The bill directs the State Corporation Commission to adopt regulations requiring the utility company to remove topsoil from the planned construction site and either redistribute it to graded areas elsewhere on the land of the affected property owner or store it nearby, protected from erosion and compaction, for later redistribution on the disturbed area.
HB 1190 (Poindexter) - Disposal On Ag Lands. Makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to throw or deposit or cause to be deposited upon any land used for agricultural purposes any glass bottle, glass, nail, tack, wire, or can, or any other material or substance, that causes property damage of $200 or more to any machinery or motor vehicle being used in an agricultural operation on such land.
Animal, Dairy, and Livestock
HB 119 (Knight) - Milk Definition. This bill would define milk as the lacteal secretion of a healthy hooved mammal and provide that a food product is unlawfully misbranded if its label states that it is milk and it fails to meet such definition, except for human breast milk. The bill directs the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to implement a plan to ban all products misbranded as milk. As in past years, we will be advocating for a national labeling approach rather than a state-by-state answer to this issue.
Passed, but vetoed by Governor Northam
SB 510 (Reeves) - Milk Definition. Defines milk as the lacteal secretion of a healthy hooved mammal and provides that a food product is unlawfully misbranded if its label states that it is milk and it fails to meet such definition, except for human breast milk. The bill directs the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to implement a plan to ban all products misbranded as milk.
HB 1194 (Lopez/Wilt) - Dairy Margin Cover. Directs the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services to establish and administer the Dairy Producer Margin Coverage Premium Assistance Program (the Program). The bill provides that any dairy farmer that has a resource management plan or nutrient management plan and participates in the federal margin coverage program for dairy producers at the Tier 1 level as contained in the federal Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 is eligible to participate in the Program. Under the bill, each year a Program participant will receive a refund of its annual premium payment paid into the federal program.
HB 1069 (Adams, D.) - Milk Crates. Repeals provisions that make it a Class 4 misdemeanor for any person to (i) buy, sell, or dispose of any milk case or milk crate bearing the name or label of the owner without the written consent of the owner or his designated agent; (ii) refuse, upon written demand of the owner or his designated agent, to return to the owner or his designated agent any milk case or milk crate bearing the name or label of the owner; or (iii) deface, obliterate, erase, cover up, or otherwise remove or conceal any name, label, registered trademark, insignia, or other business identification of an owner of a milk case or milk crate without the consent of the owner, for the purpose of destroying or removing from the milk case or milk crate evidence of its ownership. Struck by the patron
HB 963 (Webert) - Bear Damage to Crops. Requires the Director of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to authorize the killing of bear when they are found to be responsible for damaging crops, including during a harvest. The bill prohibits the Director from authorizing nonlethal control measures unless they are specifically requested by the owner or lessee of the land where the crop damage occurred.
SB 272 (Bell) - Tethering Animals. Provides that outdoor tethering of an animal does not meet the requirement that an animal be given adequate shelter if it occurs (i) between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., except when the animal is engaged in conduct related to an agricultural activity; (ii) when no owner is on the property; (iii) when the temperature is 32 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, or 85 degrees Fahrenheit or higher; (iv) during a heat advisory; or (v) during a severe weather warning. The bill increases certain minimum tether length requirements to meet the requirement that an animal be given adequate space by requiring that a tether be at least 15 feet in length or four times the length of the animal, whichever is greater. Current law requires the tether to be at least 10 feet in length or three times the length of the animal, whichever is greater. The bill also authorizes the governing body of any locality to adopt, and make more stringent, ordinances that parallel certain state provisions related to care of companion animals.
Aquaculture
HB 126 (Miyares) - Aquaculture. Establishes an individual nonrefundable income tax credit for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, but before January 1, 2025, for the purchase price of aquaculture oyster floats purchased during the taxable year. The amount of credit allowed under this section shall not exceed $500. The total amount of tax credits available under this section for a calendar year shall not exceed $50,000. If the amount of the credit exceeds the taxpayer's tax liability for the taxable year in which the aquaculture oyster floats were purchased, the amount that exceeds the tax liability may be carried over for credit against the income taxes of the taxpayer in the next five taxable years.
Hemp
HB 248 (Lindsey) - Hemp. Lindsay's bill authorizes any locality to adopt ordinances restricting the display by any business that sells hemp products of the symbol of a green cross with arms of equal length on exterior signage. The bill also authorizes the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt regulations restricting such display.
Failed to advance by a 3-3 vote.
HB 249 (Lindsey) - Hemp. This piece of legislation directs the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt regulations prohibiting the use of the term "CBD" in connection with a hemp product, which current law defines to include any lawful product that contains industrial hemp, including oil containing an industrial hemp extract. The bill provides that such regulations shall authorize the use of the term "H-CBD" or "Hemp CBD" instead. The bill authorizes the Board to adopt further regulations governing the labeling and marketing of hemp products.
HB 349 (Davis) - Hemp. Directs the Board of Agriculture and consumer services to adopt regulations prohibiting any person who is not a credentialed medical professional from wearing a white laboratory coat or jacket or other medical attire or device in any hemp product advertisement or marketing material that could reasonably be expected to portray such person as a medical professional. Current law defines "hemp product" to include any lawful product that contains industrial hemp, including oil containing an industrial hemp extract. The bill authorizes the Board to adopt other regulations governing the advertising of hemp products.
HB 484 (Davis) - Hemp. Directs the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt regulations prohibiting the use of the term "CBD" in connection with a hemp product, which current law defines to include any lawful product that contains industrial hemp, including oil containing an industrial hemp extract. The bill provides that such regulations shall authorize the use of the term "H-CBD" or "Hemp CBD" instead. The bill authorizes the Board to adopt further regulations governing the labeling and marketing of hemp products.
HB 491 (Marshall) - VEDP, Hemp Marketing.
Directs the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of the
Virginia
Economic Development Partnership Authority to develop a marketing plan for industrial hemp. The bill requires the Authority to
report
to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources by November 30, 2020, on its marketing plan and its progress toward meeting the goals and objectives stated in the marketing plan.
HB 942 (Marshall, D.) - Hemp. Directs the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to conform the regulations of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to any federal regulation adopted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, immediately upon publication in the Federal Register, that materially expands opportunities for growing, producing, or dealing in industrial hemp in the Commonwealth. The bill exempts such regulatory amendments by the Board from the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.). The bill contains an emergency clause.
SB 827 (Ruff) - Hemp Federal Regulations. Directs the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to conform the regulations of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to any federal regulation adopted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, immediately upon publication in the Federal Register, that materially expands opportunities for growing, producing, or dealing in industrial hemp in the Commonwealth. The bill exempts such regulatory amendments by the Board from the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.). The bill contains an emergency clause.
HB 943 (Marshall, D.) - Hemp Testing. Directs the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, in conducting a required random test of a grower's industrial hemp for compliance with tetrahydrocannabinol limits, to test a sample of industrial hemp that is collected after harvest rather than from within a production field.
HB 1317 (Aird) - Industrial Hemp. Requires any applicant for registration as a grower of industrial hemp to state either that the growing premises are more than 100 yards from any residential area or that he has complied with pre-registration public notice and comment requirements set by the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The bill directs the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt regulations requiring each registered grower of industrial hemp to maintain a buffer zone from the property lines of the growing premises and to perform odor mitigation at such premises during peak blooming season.
Failed to advance on a 4-4 tie.
HB 962 (Marshall, D.) - Hemp For Smoking. Provides that it shall be legal to produce, distribute, and consume hemp products intended for smoking. Current law is silent on the legality of such products. The bill prohibits the sale to persons under age 21 of hemp products intended for smoking.
HB 1430 (Gooditis) - Hemp Extract. Provides that an industrial hemp extract, as defined in the bill, is a food and is subject to applicable laws and regulations. The bill establishes (i) requirements for the production of an industrial hemp extract or a food containing an extract and (ii) conditions under which a manufacturer of such extract or food shall be considered an approved source. The bill authorizes the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt regulations establishing contaminant tolerances, labeling requirements, and batch testing requirements, and it provides that moneys collected under the chapter shall be deposited in the
Virginia Industrial Hemp Fund, created by the bill. The bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry to
report by November 1, 2020, a plan for the long-term sustainability of funding for the industrial hemp program.
Passed unanimously by Subcommittee, 8-0.
SB 918 (Marsden) - Hemp Extract. Provides that an industrial hemp extract, as defined in the bill, is a food and is subject to applicable laws and regulations. The bill establishes (i) requirements for the production of an industrial hemp extract or a food containing an extract and (ii) conditions under which a manufacturer of such extract or food shall be considered an approved source. The bill authorizes the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt regulations establishing contaminant tolerances, labeling requirements, and batch testing requirements, and it provides that moneys collected under the chapter shall be deposited in the
Virginia Industrial Hemp Fund, created by the bill. The bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry to
report by November 1, 2020, a plan for the long-term sustainability of funding for the industrial hemp program.
Farmers Markets, Urban & Local Food Production
HB 342 (Bell, R.) - Farmers Market Exemption. Exempts from meals tax, which may be imposed by any city or town, and food and beverage tax, which may be imposed by any county, sales by sellers at local farmers markets and roadside stands, when such sellers' annual income from such sales does not exceed $2,500.
SB 854 (Petersen) - Urban Ag
Council. Creates the
Virginia Urban Agriculture Advisory
Council as an advisory
council in the legislative branch of state government to encourage urban agriculture and contribute to building a local food economy. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2023.
HB 1034 (Rasoul) - Farm and Local Food Infrastructure Fund. Establishes the Local Food and Farming Infrastructure Fund and directs the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to establish a Local Food and Farming Infrastructure Grant Program for infrastructure development projects that support local food production and sustainable farming. The bill directs the Department to award grants for projects that include the establishment or maintenance of farmers markets; businesses or organizations that manage the aggregation, distribution, and marketing of food products primarily from local and regional producers; and primarily locally owned processing facilities. The Department is required to adopt project eligibility criteria that favor projects that create infrastructure in proximity to small-scale rural agricultural producers. Passed Subcommittee
HB 1002 (Guzman)
- Ag & Forestry Planning Grants.
Authorizes the Governor to award grants from the existing Governor's Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund to encourage efforts by political subdivisions to support agriculture and forestry. The bill creates the Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Planning Grant Program, authorizes the Governor to award reimbursable grants to political subdivisions through the Program, and directs the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry to administer and develop guidelines for the Program, including a local matching fund requirement.
Tobacco
HB 356 (Lopez) - Child Labor, Tobacco. Prohibits any person from employing a child under the age of 18 to work in direct contact with tobacco plants or dried tobacco leaves unless (i) the owner of the farm or other location at which such work is conducted is the child's parent, grandparent, or legal guardian or (ii) the child's parent or legal guardian has consented in writing to such employment.
Dead
HB 1120 (Hope) - Tobacco Taxes. Provides that tobacco products, defined in the bill, would be subject to tax at rates of $1.80 per pack of cigarettes or 39 percent of the wholesale price for all other tobacco products. Current law imposes taxes of $0.30 per pack of cigarettes, 10 percent of the wholesale price of certain tobacco products, and various weight-based rates that apply to moist snuff and loose leaf tobacco. The bill broadens the definition of "tobacco product" to include electronic smoking devices, which are not taxed under current law.
SB 852 (Ebbin) - Tobacco Taxes. Provides that tobacco products, defined in the bill, would be subject to tax at rates of $1.80 per pack of cigarettes or 39 percent of the wholesale price for all other tobacco products. Current law imposes taxes of $0.30 per pack of cigarettes, 10 percent of the wholesale price of certain tobacco products, and various weight-based rates that apply to moist snuff and loose leaf tobacco. The bill broadens the definition of "tobacco product" to include electronic smoking devices, which are not taxed under current law. The bill authorizes all localities to tax all tobacco products with no restriction on the tax rate. Under current law, cities may tax only cigarettes, and the Counties of Arlington and Fairfax may tax cigarettes at a rate no higher than the state rate. The bill dedicates portions of revenue accruing as a result of the tax increases and new taxes established by the bill to the Department of Health for its costs related to Quit Now
Virginia for the purpose of providing free information and coaching to residents who want to quit smoking or using tobacco; to the
Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth to fund initiatives to prevent or reduce youth tobacco use; the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to fund initiatives to educate merchants on the laws governing the sale of tobacco products; and to the general fund.
Hunting
HB 388 (Edmunds) - Elk Hunting License. Authorizes the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries (the Board) to create a special license for hunting elk in the elk management zone that is required in addition to a general hunting license. The bill authorizes the Board to establish (i) quotas and procedures for selection to purchase a special elk license, (ii) a nonrefundable application fee of $15 for residents and $20 for nonresidents and a special elk license fee at no more than $40 for residents and $400 for nonresidents, and (iii) guidelines permitting the transfer of special elk licenses to individuals, cooperators who assist in meeting agency hunting objectives, or wildlife conservation organizations whose mission is to ensure the conservation of
Virginia's wildlife resources. The bill clarifies that a separate special license to hunt elk is not required to hunt elk outside of the designated elk management zone.
SB 262 (Chafin) - Elk Hunting License. Authorizes the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries (the Board) to create a special license for hunting elk in the elk management zone that is required in addition to a general hunting license. The bill authorizes the Board to establish (i) quotas and procedures for selection to purchase a special elk license, (ii) a nonrefundable application fee of $15 for residents and $20 for nonresidents and a special elk license fee at no more than $40 for residents and $400 for nonresidents, and (iii) guidelines permitting the transfer of special elk licenses to individuals, cooperators who assist in meeting agency hunting objectives, or wildlife conservation organizations whose mission is to ensure the conservation of
Virginia's wildlife resources. The bill clarifies that a separate special license to hunt elk is not required to hunt elk outside of the designated elk management zone.
Alcoholic Beverage Control
HB 390 (Knight) - ABC license and fee reform. Reorganizes all alcoholic beverage control licenses pursuant to the three-tier structure and license privileges, consolidates many licenses with common privileges, aligns license fee amounts with enforcement demands, and standardizes quantity limits on alcohol samples. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021.
SB 447 (Reeves) - ABC License Reform. Reorganizes all alcoholic beverage control licenses pursuant to the three-tier structure and license privileges, consolidates many licenses with common privileges, aligns license fee amounts with enforcement demands, and standardizes quantity limits on alcohol samples. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021.
HB 937 (Webert) - ABC, Farm Store License. Defines "farm store" and creates a farm store license that authorizes the licensee to sell wine or beer to persons to whom wine or beer may be lawfully sold for on-premises consumption and in closed containers for off-premises consumption. The bill establishes state and local fees for farm store licenses and provides that in no event shall the sale of wine or beer exceed 25 percent of the total annual gross sales of the farm store.
HB 945 (Webert) - Distiller's License. Allows a licensed distiller who operates a government store for the sale of spirits to (i) conduct tastings and (ii) sell spirits for off-premises consumption at five additional locations designated in the license.
Transportation
HB 490 (Marshall) - Farm Vehicles. Prohibits the nonfarm use of vehicles registered as a farm motor vehicle. Current law permits the use of such vehicles (i) by the owner or his immediate family for attending church or school, securing medical treatment or supplies, and securing other household or family necessities and (ii) by volunteer emergency medical services personnel and volunteer firefighters for responding to calls, reporting for duty, or attending meetings or drills.
HB 1002 (Guzman) - Ag & Forestry Planning Grants. Authorizes the Governor to award grants from the existing Governor's Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund to encourage efforts by political subdivisions to support agriculture and forestry. The bill creates the Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Planning Grant Program, authorizes the Governor to award reimbursable grants to political subdivisions through the Program, and directs the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry to administer and develop guidelines for the Program, including a local matching fund requirement.
Passed Subcommittee with a 8-0 vote.
HB 1348 (Tyler) - Overweight Permits. Clarifies that the definition of forest products for the purpose of qualifying for an overweight permit for hauling forest products includes wood pellets.
HB 328 (Lucas) - Overweight Permits. Clarifies that the definition of forest products for the purpose of qualifying for an overweight permit for hauling forest products includes wood pellets.
Passed Senate Transportation Committee 15-0.
Taxes & Fees
HB 1021 (Adams, L.) - Personal Property Tax. Farm Machinery. Provides that for the purposes of local personal property tax exemptions, "farm machinery" includes any machinery designed solely for the planting, production, or harvesting of any agricultural product, as defined in § 3.2-6400. The bill removes forest harvesting and silvicultural activity equipment from the list of property that may be classified separately and taxed at a lower rate than general personal property. Forest harvesting and silvicultural activity equipment that is not exempted from property taxes is also added to the list of property separately classified for valuation purposes, but not for rate purposes. The bill contains a nonseverability clause.
SB 637 (Surovell) - Estate Tax Reinstatement. Reinstates the estate tax for persons dying on and after July 1, 2020. No estate tax shall be imposed on a gross estate if the majority of the assets of the estate are an interest in a closely held business or a working farm. The bill designates revenues from the estate tax to be used for health care purposes.
HB 1520 (McQuinn) - Real Property Tax. Permits a taxpayer to defer up to 95 percent of taxes on his homestead, defined in the bill, if the amount of real property tax on his homestead has increased by at least 25 percent since the date of purchase. The amount deferred must be paid upon transfer of the property or the owner's death.
HB 736 (Watts) - Estate
tax; reinstatement.
Reinstates the estate tax for persons dying on and after July 1, 2020. No estate tax shall be imposed on a gross estate if the majority of the assets of the estate are an interest in a closely held business or a working farm. The bill designates revenues from the estate tax to be used for health care purposes.
Carried over to 2021 session.
Plastics
HB 1151 (Lopez) - Single Use Plastics. Tax. Authorizes a locality to prohibit by ordinance the purchase, sale, or provision, whether free or for a cost, of certain single-use products that are not recyclable or compostable and for which there is a suitable and cost-effective compostable or recyclable alternative product available, with certain exceptions. The bill also authorizes any locality to impose a five-cent per item tax on single-use plastics and polystyrene products provided to customers by certain retailers, with certain products being exempt from the tax. The bill directs revenue from the local tax to be used by the locality imposing the tax for cleanup or education programs designed to reduce waste. The bill allows every restaurant or retailer that collects the tax to retain one cent of the five-cent tax if the tax is paid in a timely manner.
HB 1046 (Krizek) - Expanded Polystyrene Food Containers. Prohibits the dispensing by a food vendor of prepared food to a customer in a single-use expanded polystyrene food service container, as defined in the bill, beginning January 1, 2021. The bill exempts certain institutions, including correctional facilities and public schools, from the definition of "food vendor" and provides a process by which a locality may grant consecutive one-year exemptions to individual food vendors on the basis of undue economic hardship. The bill provides a civil penalty of $50 for each day of violation, to be collected in a civil action brought by the Attorney General or the relevant locality. The bill directs the penalties collected to the Litter Control and Recycling Fund or to the treasury of the relevant locality, as appropriate. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Environmental Quality to post on its website information on compliance and the filing of complaints.
HB 1347 (Plum) - Expanded Polystyrene Plastics. Prohibits the dispensing by a food vendor of prepared food to a customer in a single-use expanded polystyrene food service container, as defined in the bill. The bill requires certain chain restaurants to stop using such containers by July 1, 2023, and sets the date for compliance by all food vendors as July 1, 2025. The bill exempts certain institutions, including correctional facilities and public schools, from the definition of "food vendor" and provides a process by which a locality may grant consecutive one-year exemptions to individual food vendors on the basis of undue economic hardship. The bill provides a civil penalty of $50 for each day of violation, to be collected in a civil action brought by the Attorney General or the relevant locality. The penalties collected are to be deposited in the Litter Control and Recycling Fund or to the treasury of the relevant locality, as appropriate. Finally, the bill directs the Department of Environmental Quality to post to its website information on compliance and the filing of complaints.
Energy and Broadband
SB 794 (Lewis) - Utility Easements; location of broadband facilities. Declares that it is policy of the Commonwealth that (i) existing easements for the location and use of electric facilities be used to provide or expand broadband services; (ii) such use of existing easements to provide or expand broadband services is in the public interest; (iii) the use of such existing easements for the provision of broadband services, where no additional poles are erected, does not constitute a change in the physical use of the easement, interfere with or impair any vested rights of the owner or occupier of the servient estate, or place any additional burden on the servient estate; and (iv) the installation and operation of broadband services within an existing electric easement are merely changes in the manner, purpose, or degree of the granted use as appropriate to accommodate a new technology. The measure also establishes that in the absence of any express prohibition on the installation and operation of broadband services in an existing electric easement, the installation and operation of broadband services within the existing electric easement shall be deemed as a matter of law to be permitted uses within the scope of every easement for the location and use of electricity facilities. The measure also limits the damages that a landowner may be awarded in any trespass action against a public utility arising from the installation, maintenance, or operation of any utility poles, wires, conduit, or other infrastructure or fiber optic cabling to the lesser of actual damages or $2,000 per landowner bringing a claim.
HB 831 (Carroll Foy) - Utility easements; location of broadband and other communications facilities. Declares that it is the policy of the Commonwealth that easements be used to provide communications services, that such use is in the public interest, and that such use of the easements where no new poles are erected does not constitute a change in the physical use of the easement or interfere with, impair, or take any vested or other rights of the owner or occupier of the servient estate, or place any additional burden on the servient estate. The measure further provides that the installation and operation of communications services within any such electric easements are merely changes in the manner, purpose, or degree of the granted use as appropriate to accommodate a new technology, and absent any express prohibition contained in the easement itself, will be deemed, as a matter of law, to be a permitted use within the scope of every easement for the location and use of electric utility facilities. The measure limits the damages that may be recovered in any trespass action arising from such use of an easement to the lesser of actual damages based on any reduction in the value of the land as a result of the existence, installation, construction, maintenance, modification, operation, repair, or replacement of communications facilities, or $2,000 per tract of land.
HB 1067 (Kory) - Net Energy Metering. Declares that an electrical generating facility located on real property owned by the customer that is at a location that is separated by a right-of-way or other easement from the location on the customer's real property where the electrical generation facility is connected to the customer's meter or where the customer consumes the electricity generated from the electrical generating facility shall be deemed to be located on the customer's premises. Currently, in order to be eligible to participate in a net energy metering program, a customer's electrical generating facility is required to be located on the customer's premises and be connected to the customer's wiring on the customer's side of its interconnection with the distributor. The bill states that its provisions are declarative of existing law.
HB 1171 (Poindexter) - Solar Farms. Directs the
Virginia Solar Energy Center to compile an annual
report that lists (i) the total acreage of solar farm or utility-scale solar facility development projects completed in the prior calendar year and (ii) the total acreage of qualified donations of less-than-fee interests accepted by any public or private conservation agency, as reported by the Department of Conservation and Recreation pursuant to existing law. The Center is required to submit the
report by December 15 of each year to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations, House Committee on Finance, and Senate Committee on Finance.
Pollinators, Pesticides and Fertilizers
HB 1204 (Tran) - Fall Cankerworm. Prohibits localities from spraying pesticides intended to suppress an infestation of the fall cankerworm on any property unless the owner of the property requests such spraying through an opt-in program operated by the locality.
Dead
HB 1205 (Tran) - Deleterious Discharge. Decreases from 24 hours to eight hours the time frame for any person who unlawfully discharges any deleterious substance into state waters to give notice to the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) or the local coordinator of emergency services. The bill also requires DEQ to give the reported discharge information to the
Virginia Department of Health, local newspapers, television stations, and radio stations, and disseminate via commonly used social media platforms and email notification lists within eight hours of receipt of such information. Current law only requires certain of these disclosures and only when the
Virginia Department of Health determines that the discharge may be detrimental to the public health or the State Water Control Board determines that the discharge may impair beneficial uses of state waters. The bill also requires the Department of Environmental Quality, if the
Virginia Department of Health determines that the discharge may be detrimental to the public health, to provide information regarding such determination to the same recipients within eight hours of receipt of such determination.
HB 1192 (Lopez) - Above Ground Storage Tanks. Directs the State Water Control Board to regulate aboveground storage tanks that measure more than 1,320 gallons in capacity and are used to contain hazardous substances other than oil. The bill directs the Board to adopt regulations that establish requirements for registration, certification, and inspection, and other requirements of tank owners, and that establish a schedule of fees. The bill authorizes the Board to undertake corrective action, or to require the owner to undertake corrective action, in the event of a discharge of a hazardous substance. The bill requires tank owners to register their tanks, pay certain registration fees, develop release response plans, upgrade certain older tanks, install containment infrastructure for certain aboveground storage tanks, notify certain parties in the event of a release of a regulated substance, and demonstrate their financial responsibility. The bill also creates the Hazardous Substance Aboveground Storage Tank Fund for the administration of the bill and provides for civil and criminal penalties for violations of requirements of the bill, with the moneys received to be deposited into the existing
Virginia Environmental Emergency Response Fund.
SB 626 (Surovell) - Hazardous Substance Above Ground Storage Tank Fund. Directs the State Water Control Board to regulate aboveground storage tanks that measure more than 1,320 gallons in capacity and are used to contain hazardous substances other than oil. The bill directs the Board to adopt regulations that establish requirements for registration, certification, and inspection, and other requirements of tank owners, and that establish a schedule of fees. The bill authorizes the Board to undertake corrective action, or to require the owner to undertake corrective action, in the event of a discharge of a hazardous substance. The bill requires tank owners to register their tanks, pay certain registration fees, develop release response plans, upgrade certain older tanks, install containment infrastructure for certain above ground storage tanks, notify certain parties in the event of a release of a regulated substance, and demonstrate their financial responsibility. The bill also creates the Hazardous Substance Above ground Storage Tank Fund for the administration of the bill and provides for civil and criminal penalties for violations of requirements of the bill, with the moneys received to be deposited into the existing
Virginia Environmental Emergency Response Fund.
HB 1237 (Wilt) - Beehive Distribution Program. Updates. Changes the process for the granting of basic beehive units by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services from a first-come, first-served process to one based on merit, and limits applicants to three beehive units per household per year.
Meat Inspection
HB 1353 (Gooditis) - Federal Acts. Meat and Poultry. Updates existing Code references to the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act.
Agritourism
SB 24 (Petersen) - Agritourism activities; horseback riding and stabling. Adds horseback riding or stabling to the definition of "agritourism activity." Agritourism activities have limited liability for the inherent risks of the activity under certain conditions.
Passed Senate 40-0.
SB 496 (Edwards) - Agritourism Resorts. Allows agritourism resorts, as defined in the bill, to obtain a mixed beverage restaurant license, which authorizes such resorts to (i) sell alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption, without regard to the amount of gross receipts from the sale of food prepared and consumed on the premises, in areas upon the licensed premises approved by the Board of Directors of the
Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority and other designated areas of the resort, including outdoor areas under the control of the licensee; and (ii) permit the possession and consumption of lawfully acquired alcoholic beverages by persons to whom overnight lodging is being provided in bedrooms and private guest rooms. The bill also allows agritourism resorts to obtain a combined mixed beverage restaurant and caterer's license, which authorizes the licensee to operate as both a mixed beverage restaurant and mixed beverage caterer at the same business premises designated in the license, with a common alcoholic beverage inventory for purposes of the restaurant and catering operations.
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