Fishing license requirements; exemptions; free fishing days. Increases from three to six days the maximum number of free fishing days, during which a person is allowed to fish without a fishing license, that the Board of Wildlife Resources may designate for inland waters in the Commonwealth and the Commissioner of Marine Resources may designate for saltwater recreational fishing in the Commonwealth.

Stormwater management regulations; localities outside Chesapeake Bay watershed. Requires the State Water Control Board and the Department of Environmental Quality to apply in a locality that is located outside of the Chesapeake Bay watershed the regulations establishing minimum design criteria for measures that were in effect prior to July 1, 2014, to control (i) nonpoint source pollution and (ii) localized flooding and stream channel erosion.

Pilot program for underground transmission lines; qualifying projects. Requires the State Corporation Commission to approve applications for a newly proposed 500-kilovolt transmission line filed between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2026, as a qualifying project to be constructed in whole or in part underground, as a part of a pilot program. The bill requires such a qualifying project to traverse along highways in developed areas and where the route of the proposed transmission lines and towers traverse areas are protected by a scenic easement, a view shed easement, areas of registered historic designation, or areas with conservation easements, where such easements run to the benefit of the public and are held by the governing body of the federal, state, or local jurisdiction in which the transmission line is to be placed and where the project is required to meet reliability requirements and at least a portion of the project is needed to support and promote economic development of the Commonwealth and its localities. The bill also requires that the governing body of each locality in which a portion of the proposed line will be placed has entered into an agreement with the public utility to pay its proportional share of 20 percent of any portion of the cost of the project not recoverable under applicable rates, terms, and conditions approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Under the bill, the remainder of the cost will be assigned to the utility's data center customers.

Jurors; failure to return jury questionnaire. Provides that the court may order any juror who has been issued a jury questionnaire and fails to return such questionnaire without good cause to appear in the office of the clerk to complete the questionnaire in a manner determined by such clerk.

Department of Education; Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; mental health first aid training program; development of plan to incentivize and facilitate participation. Directs the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to develop and implement a plan to incentivize and facilitate participation in the Commonwealth Mental Health First Aid Program, established pursuant to applicable law, by public school staff and students. As introduced, the bill is a recommendation of the Joint Subcommittee to Study Pandemic Response and Preparedness in the Commonwealth. This bill is identical to HB 2637.

State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act and General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act; definition of "personal interest in a transaction." Provides that a personal interest in a transaction exists, for purposes of the State and Local Government Conflict of Interests Act and the General Assembly Conflicts of Interests Act, when a subject of a transaction is the spouse of the officer, employee, or legislator, regardless of whether a financial benefit or liability is accrued by the spouse as the result of such transaction. This bill is a recommendation of the Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council.

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation; boards; appointment requirements; years of experience. Lowers from at least five years to at least three years the years of experience required for the appointment of (i) home inspectors to the Virginia Board for Asbestos, Lead, and Home Inspectors; (ii) hearing aid specialists, otolaryngologists, opticians, and ophthalmologists to the Board for Hearing Aid Specialists and Opticians; (iii) real estate appraisers to the Real Estate Appraiser Board; (iv) alternative onsite sewage system operators, alternative onsite sewage system installers, and onsite soil evaluators to the Board for Waterworks and Wastewater Works Operators and Onsite Sewage System Professionals; and (v) cemetery operators to the Cemetery Board.

Conditional release of geriatric prisoners. Expands the list of offenses that prohibit a person from petitioning the Parole Board for conditional release as a geriatric prisoner.

Commending Charlie Frye, Jr.

Virginia State Crime Commission; Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; persons with mental illness; petty crimes; study; report. Directs the Virginia State Crime Commission, in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to conduct a study on the petty crimes that are most frequently committed by persons with mental illness. The bill requires the Commission to submit a report on its findings to the Chairs of the House Committees for Courts of Justice and on Health and Human Services and the Senate Committees for Courts of Justice and on Education and Health by November 1, 2025.

Campaign finance; prohibited contributions to candidates; Phase I Utility and Phase II Utility. Prohibits candidates, campaign committees, and political committees from soliciting or accepting contributions from any public utility, as defined in the bill, and prohibits any public utility or any political committee established by such public utility from making any such contribution.

Voter registration; automatic registration; hunting and fishing license applicants; resident concealed handgun permit applicants. Provides for automatic voter registration by the clerk of any circuit court of the Commonwealth and the Department of Wildlife Resources upon the application for any hunting or fishing license or Virginia resident concealed handgun permit. The bill also requires any such applicant be offered a separate application to be placed on the permanent absentee voter list.

Virginia Student Training Employment Pipeline for U.S. Procurement (STEP UP) Program established. Directs the Department of Education to establish the Virginia Student Training Employment Pipeline for U.S. Procurement (STEP UP) Program for the purpose of facilitating opportunities for any student enrolled in the eleventh or twelfth grade at a public high school in the Commonwealth or enrolled at a comprehensive community college or historically black college or university in the Commonwealth who enters into an agreement with an entity located in the relevant local school division or region that has a procurement contract with the federal government whereby such entity agrees to provide assistance to the student to obtain, prior to graduation, any federal security clearance at the public trust or national security level and any other education, training, or credential that is necessary for the student to be prepared for employment with such entity upon graduation in exchange for a commitment from the student to accept and remain in such an employment position for an agreed-upon period of time after graduation.

Commending the Charlotte County Virginia Angels softball team.

Juvenile and domestic relations district court; preliminary hearing; violent juvenile felony. Requires a juvenile and domestic relations district court to conduct a preliminary hearing whenever a juvenile 16 years of age or older is charged with entering an occupied dwelling house, etc., with intent to commit murder, rape, or robbery or to commit arson, whether or not the dwelling house, etc., is occupied.