Monday, December 1, 2008
The General Assembly is not in session.
Tracking Virginia’s General Assembly
since 2007.
HB796: Climate Change, Commission on; created, report.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Title 30 a chapter numbered 45, consisting of sections numbered 30-293 through 30-298, as follows:
§ 30-293. Commission on Climate Change; purpose.
The Commission on Climate Change (the Commission) is established in the legislative branch of state government for the purpose of developing a Climate Change Action Plan.
§ 30-294. Membership; terms.
The Commission shall have a total membership of 11 members that shall consist of six legislative members, five nonlegislative citizen members, and two ex officio members with nonvoting privileges. Members shall be appointed as follows: two members of the Senate, to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules; four members of the House of Delegates, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates in accordance with the principles of proportional representation contained in the Rules of the House of Delegates; five nonlegislative citizen members to be appointed by the Governor, who, by their education, training, or experience, shall be knowledgeable in any of the following areas: (i) agriculture; (ii) building design; (iii) climate science; (iv) coal production; (v) conservation; (vi) electricity generation; (vii) forestry; (viii) insurance; (ix) local government; (x) oceanic science; (xi) taxation; and (xii) transportation. Nonlegislative citizen members of the Commission shall be citizens of the Commonwealth. Unless otherwise approved in writing by the chairman of the Commission and the respective Clerk, nonlegislative citizen members shall only be reimbursed for travel originating and ending within the Commonwealth for the purpose of attending meetings.
Legislative members shall serve terms coincident with their terms of office. Appointments to fill vacancies, other than by expiration of a term, shall be for the unexpired terms. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments. All members may be reappointed. Nonlegislative citizen members shall be appointed for terms of two years. The Commission shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its membership, who shall be members of the General Assembly.
§ 30-295. Quorum; meetings; voting on recommendations.
A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum. The meetings of the Commission shall be held at the call of the chairman or whenever the majority of the members so request.
No recommendation of the Commission shall be adopted if a majority of the Senate members or a majority of the House members appointed to the Commission (i) vote against the recommendation and (ii) vote for the recommendation to fail notwithstanding the majority vote of the Commission.
§ 30-296. Compensation; expenses.
Legislative members of the Commission shall receive such compensation as provided in § 30-19.12, and nonlegislative citizen members shall receive such compensation for the performance of their duties as provided in § 2.2-2813. All members shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as provided in §§ 2.2-2813 and 2.2-2825. However, all such compensation and expenses shall be paid from existing appropriations to the Commission, or, if underfunded, shall be approved by the Joint Rules Committee.
§ 30-297. Powers and duties of the Commission.
The Commission shall have the following powers and duties:
1. Develop a Climate Change Action Plan that: (i) characterizes the quantity and source of greenhouse gas emissions in the Commonwealth; (ii) identifies the potential impacts and effects of increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations on the state; (iii) identifies actions necessary to prepare for and mitigate the likely consequences of climate change; (iv) quantifies a greenhouse gas reduction target; (v) identifies and evaluates both state and regional climate action plans that address climate change and greenhouse gas emissions; and (vi) identifies economically viable programs, policies, and actions that are needed to meet state targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In its development of the Climate Change Action Plan, the Commission shall consider demand-side energy conservation by utilities and consumers; expanding renewable energy portfolios; rate decoupling; time-of-use pricing; mandatory energy efficiency measures; and transportation demand management. Wherever possible, the Commission shall examine opportunities to couple greenhouse gas reductions with economic development and other market based approaches to statewide greenhouse gas reductions.
2. Establish advisory committees composed of persons with special expertise not represented by individuals serving on the Commission. Such persons shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed from funds appropriated or otherwise available to the Commission for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as provided in §§ 2.2-2813 and 2.2-2825, unless they waive reimbursement.
3. Submit to the General Assembly and the Governor an annual report for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports. The chairman of the Commission shall submit to the General Assembly and the Governor an annual executive summary of the interim activity and work of the Commission no later than the first day of each regular session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall be submitted for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.
§ 30-298. Staffing.
Administrative staff support shall be provided by the Office of the Clerk of the Senate or the Office of the Clerk of the House of Delegates as may be appropriate for the house in which the chairman of the Commission serves. The Division of Legislative Services shall provide legal, research, policy analysis, and other services as requested by the Commission.
2. For its first year of existence, if the Commission is not funded by a separate appropriation in the appropriation act, the Commission may be funded from the operating budgets of the Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Delegates upon the approval of the Joint Rules Committee. If the Commission is not funded by a separate appropriation in the appropriation act for any year thereafter, this chapter shall expire on July 1 of the fiscal year that the Commission fails to receive such funding.
Additional Data
Explanation
This is the actual text of the bill — the legislation itself. Generally this is amending existing law, proposing the addition or removal of words from laws that are already on the books.
Words that are highlighted in yellow are
proposed additions, and words that are crossed out in
red are proposed removals.
The numbers with the § symbol before them are references to existing laws, and if you click on them they’ll take you to that part of the law on the state's website.