Shared solar programs; American Electric Power; minimum bill; capacity. Requires the State Corporation Commission to establish by regulation a shared solar program, as defined in the bill, through which customers of American Electric Power may purchase electric power through a subscription in a shared solar facility, as defined in the bill. The bill requires the Commission to establish a minimum bill, which shall include the costs of all utility infrastructure and services used to provide electric service and administrative costs of the shared solar program, taking into account certain considerations. The bill directs the Commission to initiate a proceeding to recalculate such minimum bill within 30 days of its final order in a proceeding establishing the value of a solar renewable energy certificate as required by relevant law. The bill specifies that the Commission shall establish the shared solar program consistent with the requirements of the bill by January 1, 2025, and shall require each utility to file any associated tariffs, agreements, or forms necessary for implementing the program by July 1, 2025. Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Energy to convene a stakeholder work group to determine the amounts and forms of certain project incentives and to submit a written report to the Chairs of the House Committee on Labor and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor no later than November 30, 2024.

Investigation prior to release; input from the attorney for the Commonwealth. Provides that when the Parole Board is conducting the required investigation to determine if a prisoner will be released on parole, the Board must notify the attorney for the Commonwealth in each jurisdiction in which an offense occurred for which the prisoner is incarcerated, and the attorney for the Commonwealth may submit his input to the Board regarding the impact that the release of the prisoner will have on public safety.

Alcoholic beverage control; sale and delivery of mixed beverages and pre-mixed wine for off-premises consumption; third-party delivery license; sunset; repeal. Repeals the July 1, 2024, sunset on provisions that allow (i) distillers that have been appointed as agents of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, mixed beverage restaurant licensees, and limited mixed beverage restaurant licensees to sell mixed beverages for off-premises consumption and (ii) farm winery licensees to sell pre-mixed wine for off-premises consumption. The bill also repeals, effective July 1, 2026, third-party delivery licenses. The bill requires the Authority to convene a work group to review third-party delivery licenses and report its findings and recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services by November 15, 2024.

Department of Environmental Quality; Department of Health; PFAS; identification; monitoring; PFAS Expert Advisory Council established; report. Requires, for every public water system, as defined in the bill, the Department of Health (VDH) to assist the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) by transferring to the Department quarterly all validated monitoring results available to VDH that indicate PFAS maximum containment level, as defined in the bill, exceedances. In such circumstances, the bill provides that the Department is required to develop and implement a plan to prioritize and conduct PFAS assessments for identifying significant sources of PFAS in such public water system's raw water source or sources. The bill requires any facility, if deemed by the Department to be a potentially significant source of PFAS in the public water system's raw water source, (i) to perform and promptly report the results of quarterly discharge monitoring for one year and (ii) to report to the Department, within 90 days after being directed by the Department, its manufacture or use of PFAS. The bill establishes a PFAS Expert Advisory Committee to assist the Department and VDH in its PFAS-related efforts and requires the Committee to meet at least two times per year through June 30, 2027. The bill requires the Department to annually report certain information to the Governor and the General Assembly by October 1.

Temporary detention; certified evaluators; report. Authorizes hospitals with a psychiatric emergency department to employ certain trained individuals to perform evaluations to determine whether a person meets the criteria for temporary detention for behavioral health treatment. The bill defines psychiatric emergency department as an emergency department of a hospital licensed by the Department of Health that is physically attached to a hospital with adult and adolescent inpatient psychiatric beds and adult detoxification beds licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The bill requires participating hospitals with psychiatric emergency departments to annually report the number of temporary detention order evaluations completed, the number of temporary detention orders petitioned, the number of individuals evaluated for temporary detention who were determined to not meet the criteria for temporary detention, and the number of individuals under a temporary detention order admitted to a state facility to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions, and the Behavioral Health Commission. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2026.

Animal control officers; additional training. Increases the number of hours of required additional training in animal control and protection from 15 to 24 every three years for all animal control officers and deputy animal control officers employed by a locality.

Department of Education; school boards; student online activity; data collection, monitoring, and restrictions. Requires the Department of Education to establish reporting expectations for school divisions that collect student online activity data and provides that if no school within a school division does so, the school board, upon submission of written documentation to the Department stating that no school within the school division collects student online activity data, shall be deemed to have satisfied such reporting expectations. The reporting expectations include: (i) making certain disclosures to parents, including what online activity is being tracked, monitored, and collected when using school devices on school property and what types of student online activity or online activity data would create an alert; (ii) including in the school division's acceptable use policy for the Internet that student online activity is being tracked and data collected; (iii) providing, to the extent available for the school division, parents the ability to access any collected student online activity data; (iv) notifying the parent of a student for whom an alert is created or an action taken on such student's online activity or associated data before the student is notified, except as provided in the bill; (v) prohibiting the inclusion of student online activity data in a student's permanent record except in the most severe cases, as defined, set forth, and made publicly available by the Department. The bill requires the Department to create and distribute to each school board (a) a template for making the required parental disclosures and (b) best practices for deleting student online activity data. Department of Education; school boards; student online activity; data collection, monitoring, and restrictions. Requires the Department of Education to establish reporting expectations for school divisions that collect student online activity data and provides that if no school within a school division does so, the school board, upon submission of written documentation to the Department stating that no school within the school division collects student online activity data, shall be deemed to have satisfied such reporting expectations. The reporting expectations include: (i) making certain disclosures to parents, including what online activity is being tracked, monitored, and collected when using school devices on school property and what types of student online activity or online activity data would create an alert; (ii) including in the school division's acceptable use policy for the Internet that student online activity is being tracked and data collected; (iii) providing, to the extent available for the school division, parents the ability to access any collected student online activity data; (iv) notifying the parent of a student for whom an alert is created or an action taken on such student's online activity or associated data before the student is notified, except as provided in the bill; (v) prohibiting the inclusion of student online activity data in a student's permanent record except in the most severe cases, as defined, set forth, and made publicly available by the Department. The bill requires the Department to create and distribute to each school board (a) a template for making the required parental disclosures and (b) best practices for deleting student online activity data.

Marine Resources Commission; permits; public notice. Requires the Commissioner of Marine Resources to ensure that for any project under consideration for a Commission-issued permit the Commission sends public notice electronically to any business, residence, or civic organization that has requested to be added to the Commission's public notice email list. Marine Resources Commission; permits; public notice. Requires the Commissioner of Marine Resources to ensure that for any project under consideration for a Commission-issued permit the Commission sends public notice electronically to any business, residence, or civic organization that has requested to be added to the Commission's public notice email list.

Electric utilities; energy efficiency programs; duty to implement the Energy Policy of the Commonwealth; RPS program requirements; competitive procurement. Provides that "in the public interest" for the purpose of assessing energy efficiency programs means that the State Corporation Commission determines that the program is cost-effective and directs the Commission to initiate a proceeding no later than December 31, 2025, to establish a single, consistent cost-effectiveness test for use in evaluating proposed energy efficiency programs. Electric utilities; energy efficiency programs; duty to implement the Energy Policy of the Commonwealth; RPS program requirements; competitive procurement. Provides that "in the public interest" for the purpose of assessing energy efficiency programs means that the State Corporation Commission determines that the program is cost-effective and directs the Commission to initiate a proceeding no later than December 31, 2025, to establish a single, consistent cost-effectiveness test for use in evaluating proposed energy efficiency programs. The bill provides (i) that "total electric energy" for purposes of the RPS Program requirements does not include energy sold to certain customers purchasing 100 percent renewable energy and (ii) that in any RPS program compliance year, any electric energy that was generated in the previous calendar year from certain nuclear generating plants, or any zero-carbon electric generating facilities, including small modular nuclear reactors and green hydrogen facilities, will reduce the utility's RPS Program requirements by an equivalent amount. The bill provides that the Commission and its staff have the affirmative duty to ensure the Commonwealth implements the Energy Policy of the Commonwealth at the lowest reasonable cost, taking into account all cost-effective demand-side management options and the security and reliability benefits of the regional transmission entity to which each incumbent electric utility has joined. The bill requires that for certain required petitions by Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy Virginia for approvals to construct, acquire, or purchase the generating capacity using energy derived from sunlight or onshore wind, at least 35 percent of such generating capacity is from the purchases of energy from solar or onshore wind facilities owned by persons other than such utilities. Current law requires 35 percent of such generating capacity to be from the purchases of energy from solar or onshore wind facilities owned by persons other than such utilities.

Local prohibition or regulation of gas-powered leaf blowers; civil penalty. Provides that any locality may by ordinance prohibit or regulate the use of gas-powered leaf blowers. The ordinance may include provisions for a civil penalty.

Medical assistance services; payment for essential hygiene products. Directs the State Board of Health to include a provision for payment of medical assistance for the purchase of essential hygiene products in the state plan for medical assistance services.

State plan for medical assistance services; certified community health workers; work group. Directs the Department of Medical Assistance Services to amend the state plan for medical assistance services to include a provision for payment for services provided by certified community health workers. The bill directs the Department to convene a work group of stakeholders to design the certified community health worker services benefit and to seek federal approval through a state plan amendment to implement the benefit.

Siting of data centers; impacts on resources and historically significant sites. Provides that any local government land use application required for the siting of a data center shall only be approved in areas where the data center will (i) have a minimal impact on historic, agricultural, and cultural resources and (ii) not be within one mile of a national park, state park, or other historically significant site.

Unlawful picketing or parading to obstruct or influence justice; penalty. Provides that any person who, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing or intimidating in the discharge of his duty any judge, juror, witness, court officer, or court employee, pickets or parades in or near a residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, court officer, or court employee is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. The bill also provides that the provisions regarding the issuance and service of summons in place of a warrant do not apply to such violations.

Health Commissioner; work group; recommendations on Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention. Directs the State Health Commissioner to establish a work group to examine the feasibility of and make recommendations for the placement and infrastructure of an Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention. Health Commissioner; work group; recommendations on Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention. Directs the State Health Commissioner to establish a work group to examine the feasibility of and make recommendations for the placement and infrastructure of an Advisory Council on Breakthrough Therapies for Veteran Suicide Prevention.