Toll Relief Program; eligibility. Requires the Department of Transportation to expand eligibility for the Toll Relief Program for the tolls on the Downtown and Midtown Tunnels to residents of the Cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk with an income of $45,000 or less per year. The bill requires that all eligible residents receive the same toll relief regardless of income level. The bill provides that funding for the additional toll relief shall be paid by the Commonwealth from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), as possible, and any costs not covered by the ARPA shall be the responsibility of the Commonwealth. The bill expires on January 1, 2025.

Uniform Statewide Building Code; lead-safe rental housing. Provides that the local governing body of a locality may adopt an ordinance that requires the inspection and certification of a residential rental dwelling unit built prior to 1986 for the purpose of ensuring the absence of lead hazards in such dwelling unit. The bill requires any such inspection and certification to be completed by a person licensed and qualified pursuant to appropriate state and federal laws and regulations and prohibits the rental of any residential dwelling unit that does not receive a satisfactory post-inspection certification based on certain factors outlined in the bill. Pursuant to the provisions of the bill, any locality that adopts an ordinance shall establish a fund to pay for the cost of remediation or require the landlord to pay for remedying the lead hazard. Finally, the bill allows a locality to waive inspection requirements for certain reasons and permits the local governing body of a locality to adopt additional lead-safe and lead-free inspection and certification requirements or higher standards for inspection and certification, if it so chooses.

Notaries. Makes various changes to the laws related to notaries and electronic notaries, including (i) specifying information to be included in an application; (ii) specifying the reasons for which the Secretary of the Commonwealth may deny an application; (iii) requiring applicants to take a course and examination prior to application; (iv) requiring a $25,000 bond prior to commission; (v) requiring a notary to keep a journal of notarial acts; (vi) specifying the reasons a notary may and may not decline to perform a notarial act; (vii) providing requirements for the use and manufacture of official notary seals; (viii) providing requirements for civil liability of a notary, bond surety, and employer of the notary; and (ix) specifying situations constituting conflicts of interest for a notary.

Placement of piles; no permit required. Provides that no permit shall be required for (i) the placement of piles for an existing private pier or to establish a boat slip or mooring within the owner's riparian area or (ii) a de minimis subaqueous disturbance of 10 square feet or less for purposes of placing a pile more than 50 feet from a marked navigation channel. Placement of piles; no permit required. Provides that no permit shall be required for (i) the placement of piles for an existing private pier or to establish a boat slip or mooring within the owner's riparian area or (ii) a de minimis subaqueous disturbance of 10 square feet or less for purposes of placing a pile more than 50 feet from a marked navigation channel.

Animal care; zoos and petting zoos; seizure of Animal care; zoos and petting zoos; seizure of animals. Defines animals located at a zoo or petting zoo as agricultural animals for the standards for seizure or impoundment of companion animals. The bill also contains technical amendments.

Constitutional amendment (first reference); real property tax; exemption for certain surviving spouses of members of the armed forces. Authorizes the General Assembly to exempt from tax the real property of a surviving spouse of a member of the armed forces who died in the line of duty while performing official military activities. The amendment provides that such exemption is only available when the death of such member of the armed forces did not result from criminal conduct. The current Constitution exempts the real property of a surviving spouse of a member of the armed forces who was killed in action, a disabled veteran, and the surviving spouse of a disabled veteran.

Commissioner of Highways; roadways operating under the Virginia Highway Corporation Act of 1988 to operate under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995. Directs the Commissioner of Highways to evaluate whether it is in the public interest for any roadway operated pursuant to the Virginia Highway Corporation Act of 1988 to operate instead under the authority and requirements provided by the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 (PPTA). The bill authorizes the Commissioner, if he determines it is in the public interest for any such roadway to operate under the PPTA and if the Secretary of Transportation and the Transportation Public-Private Partnership Steering Committee concur, to negotiate and execute a new comprehensive agreement with the operator of such roadway to operate under the authority and requirements provided by the PPTA. The bill has an expiration date of January 1, 2024. Commissioner of Highways; roadways operating under the Virginia Highway Corporation Act of 1988 to operate under the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995. Directs the Commissioner of Highways to evaluate whether it is in the public interest for any roadway operated pursuant to the Virginia Highway Corporation Act of 1988 to operate instead under the authority and requirements provided by the Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 (PPTA). The bill authorizes the Commissioner, if he determines it is in the public interest for any such roadway to operate under the PPTA and if the Secretary of Transportation and the Transportation Public-Private Partnership Steering Committee concur, to negotiate and execute a new comprehensive agreement with the operator of such roadway to operate under the authority and requirements provided by the PPTA. The bill has an expiration date of January 1, 2024.

Coastal Virginia Resiliency Authority; established. Establishes the Coastal Virginia Resiliency Authority (the Authority) as a body politic and corporate, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth. The bill provides that the Authority shall be governed by a 17-member Board of Directors as follows: (i) the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources or his designee; (ii) the Secretary of Transportation or his designee; (iii) the Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources or his designee; (iv) the Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources or his designee; (v) two members of the Senate appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; (vi) two members of the House of Delegates appointed by the Speaker of the House; (vii) an Officer, defined in the bill, from the each of the Hampton Roads, Crater, Richmond Region, Middle Peninsula, Northern Neck, and Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commissions selected by the Governor; and (viii) three nonlegislative members who reside in the Hampton Roads, Crater, Richmond Region, Middle Peninsula, Northern Neck, or Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commissions appointed by the Joint Rules Committee. Certain portions of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2023. Coastal Virginia Resiliency Authority; established. Establishes the Coastal Virginia Resiliency Authority (the Authority) as a body politic and corporate, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth. The bill provides that the Authority shall be governed by a 17-member Board of Directors as follows: (i) the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources or his designee; (ii) the Secretary of Transportation or his designee; (iii) the Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources or his designee; (iv) the Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources or his designee; (v) two members of the Senate appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; (vi) two members of the House of Delegates appointed by the Speaker of the House; (vii) an Officer, defined in the bill, from the each of the Hampton Roads, Crater, Richmond Region, Middle Peninsula, Northern Neck, and Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commissions selected by the Governor; and (viii) three nonlegislative members who reside in the Hampton Roads, Crater, Richmond Region, Middle Peninsula, Northern Neck, or Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commissions appointed by the Joint Rules Committee. Certain portions of the bill have a delayed effective date of January 1, 2023.

STEM+C; Virginia STEM Education Advisory Board. Adds science, technology, engineering, mathematics and computing (STEM+C), which includes real-world, interdisciplinary, and computational instruction and preparation of students in STEM+C, to the list of topics that shall be included in the Standards of Learning for the Commonwealth. The bill also directs the Virginia STEM Education Advisory Board to develop and submit to the Board of Education (i) a rubric that shall be used by the Board of Education in setting out what factors permit a school to be defined as a STEM school and (ii) recommendations for the Board to create a measurement for quality of STEM programming in general education instruction. The bill also directs the Virginia STEM Education Advisory Board to draft and report to the Department of Education proposed common language and terminology that better defines the basic literacies employed in STEM+C as methodological approaches to solving universal human challenges and, as essential, generalizable and transferable literacy toward the application of skills and content needed to solve those challenges. The bill also directs the Department of Education, based on such proposed language and terminology and no later than December 1, 2022, to recommend finalized language and terminology to the Board of Education.

Board of Medicine; implicit bias and cultural competency. Requires all practitioners licensed by the Board of Medicine to complete two hours of continuing education in each biennium on topics related to implicit bias and cultural competency.

Workplace violence protective orders. Provides that an employer may petition the court for a preliminary protective order or a protective order to protect the health and safety of its employees. The bill provides that the venue for a workplace violence protective order is the jurisdiction where the workplace is located from which the petitioner seeks to have the respondent prohibited.

State Air Pollution Control Board; regulations; low-emissions and zero-emissions vehicle standards. Repeals the State Air Pollution Control Board's authority to implement low-emissions and zero-emissions vehicle standards for vehicles with a model year of 2025 and later.

Board of Education; standards for the maintenance and operations, renovation, and new construction of public elementary and secondary school buildings. Requires the Board of Education (the Board) to make recommendations to the General Assembly for amendments to the Standards of Quality to establish standards for the maintenance and operations, renovation, and new construction of public elementary and secondary school buildings. The bill requires such recommendations to include standards for the percentage of the current replacement value of a public school building that a school board should budget for the maintenance and operations of the building and such other standards as the Board deems appropriate. The bill also requires the Board to solicit the input of relevant stakeholders and the public in developing such recommendations. Finally, the bill requires the Board to submit its recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health no later than December 1, 2022. This bill is a recommendation of the Commission on School Construction and Modernization.

Public schools; English language learners. Requires state funding to be provided to support, in the 2022-2023 school year and thereafter, a new divisionwide ratio of English learner students in average daily membership to full-time equivalent teaching positions of 22 full-time equivalent instructional positions for each 1,000 students identified as having limited English proficiency. Public schools; English language learners. Requires state funding to be provided to support, in the 2022-2023 school year and thereafter, a new divisionwide ratio of English learner students in average daily membership to full-time equivalent teaching positions of 22 full-time equivalent instructional positions for each 1,000 students identified as having limited English proficiency.

Standardized Health Care Academy Program; established. Establishes the Standardized Health Care Academy Program for the purpose of providing training and opportunities to high school students in health care professional programs that are offered by associate-degree-granting public institutions of higher education. The bill directs the State Board for Community Colleges to establish the Program and work with the Department of Education in setting out parameters for the Program.