HB2084: Real and personal property taxes; exempts certain pollution control equipment & facilities.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That 58.1-3660 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
58.1-3660. Certified pollution control equipment and facilities.
A. Certified pollution control equipment and facilities, as
defined herein, are hereby declared to be a separate class of property and
shall constitute a classification for local taxation separate from other such
classification of real or personal property and such property. The governing body of any county, city or town may, by ordinance, exempt or
partially exempt such property from local taxation. Certified pollution control
equipment and facilities consisting of equipment used in collecting,
processing, and distributing, or generating electricity from, landfill gas or
synthetic or natural gas recovered from waste, including equipment used to
grind, chip, or mulch trees, tree stumps, underbrush, and other vegetative
cover for reuse as landfill gas or synthetic or natural gas recovered from
waste, placed in service on or after July 1, 2006, shall be exempt from state
and local taxation pursuant to subsection d of Section 6 of Article X of the Constitution
of Virginia. Certified pollution control equipment and
facilities shall be exempt
from state and local taxation pursuant to Article X,
Section 6 (d) of the Constitution of Virginia.
B. As used in this section:
"Certified pollution control equipment and facilities" shall mean any property, including real or personal property, equipment, facilities, or devices, used primarily for the purpose of abating or preventing pollution of the atmosphere or waters of the Commonwealth and which the state certifying authority having jurisdiction with respect to such property has certified to the Department of Taxation as having been constructed, reconstructed, erected, or acquired in conformity with the state program or requirements for abatement or control of water or atmospheric pollution or contamination. Such property shall include, but is not limited to, any equipment used to grind, chip, or mulch trees, tree stumps, underbrush, and other vegetative cover for reuse as mulch, compost, landfill gas, synthetic or natural gas recovered from waste or other fuel, and equipment used in collecting, processing, and distributing, or generating electricity from, landfill gas or synthetic or natural gas recovered from waste, whether or not such property has been certified to the Department of Taxation by a state certifying authority.
"State certifying authority" shall mean the State Water Control Board, for water pollution; the State Air Pollution Control Board, for air pollution; the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, for coal, oil, and gas production, including gas, natural gas, and coalbed methane gas; and the Virginia Waste Management Board, for waste disposal facilities, natural gas recovered from waste facilities, and landfill gas production facilities, and shall include any interstate agency authorized to act in place of a certifying authority of the Commonwealth.