Coal combustion residuals impoundment; closures in Giles and Russell Counties. (HB443)
Introduced By
Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-Woodbridge) with support from co-patron Del. Chris Hurst (D-Blacksburg)
Progress
✓ |
Introduced |
✓ |
Passed Committee |
✓ |
Passed House |
✓ |
Passed Senate |
✓ |
Signed by Governor |
☐ |
Became Law |
Description
Coal combustion residuals impoundment; Giles and Russell Counties; closure. Requires the owner or operator of any coal combustion residuals (CCR) unit, defined in the bill to include a coal ash pond or landfill, at the Glen Lyn Plant and the Clinch River Plant in Giles and Russell Counties, respectively, to close such CCR unit under certain circumstances by removing all of the CCR for (i) recycling, known as encapsulated beneficial use, or (ii) deposition in a permitted and lined landfill that meets certain federal standards. The measure requires that any owner or operator beneficially reuse such removed CCR if doing so is anticipated to reduce costs. Such a closure project shall be completed within 15 years of the start of excavation and shall be accompanied by an offer by the owner or operator to provide connection to a municipal water supply for every residence within one-half mile or, if such connection is not feasible, to provide water testing for any such residence. The bill provides that if the owner or operator moves the CCR off-site, it shall develop a transportation plan in consultation with any county, city, or town in which the CCR units are located and any county, city, or town within two miles of the CCR units for any truck transportation that minimizes the effects on adjacent property owners and surrounding communities. The bill requires the owner or operator of a CCR unit to accept and review on an ongoing basis sufficiently detailed proposals to beneficially reuse any CCR that are not already subject to a removal contract. The bill requires that any entity conducting the closure (a) identify options for utilizing local workers, (b) consult with the Commonwealth's Chief Workforce Development Officer on opportunities to advance the Commonwealth's workforce goals, and (c) give priority to the hiring of local workers. The bill requires the CCR unit owner or operator to submit two biennial reports beginning October 1, 2023, and continuing until closure of all of its CCR units is complete. One report describes closure plans, progress, a detailed accounting of the amounts of CCR that have been beneficially reused and the amount of CCR that have been landfilled, the utilization of transportation options, water monitoring results, and other aspects of the closure process; the other report contains the beneficial reuse proposals that the owner or operator has received and its analysis of such proposals. The measure provides that all costs associated with closure of a CCR unit shall be recoverable through a rate adjustment clause authorized by the State Corporation Commission (the Commission), provided that (1) when determining the reasonableness of such costs, the Commission shall not consider closure in place of the CCR unit as an option and (2) the annual revenue requirement recoverable through a rate adjustment clause shall not exceed $40 million on a Virginia jurisdictional basis for the Commonwealth in any 12-month period, provided that any under-recovery amount of revenue requirements incurred in excess of $40 million in a given 12-month period shall be deferred and recovered through the rate adjustment clause over up to three succeeding 12-month periods. The bill provides that costs may begin accruing on July 1, 2020, but no approved rate adjustment clause charges shall be included in customer bills until July 1, 2022; any such costs shall be allocated to all customers of the utility in the Commonwealth as a non-bypassable charge, irrespective of the generation supplier of any such customer; and any such costs that are allocated to the utility's system customers outside of the Commonwealth that are not actually recovered from such customers shall be included for cost recovery from jurisdictional customers in the Commonwealth through the rate adjustment clause. The measure prohibits cost recovery for any fines or civil penalties resulting from violations of federal or state law. Read the Bill »
Outcome
History
Date | Action |
---|---|
01/03/2020 | Committee |
01/03/2020 | Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102744D |
01/03/2020 | Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources |
01/14/2020 | Assigned ACNR sub: Natural Resources |
01/23/2020 | Impact statement from DPB (HB443) |
02/05/2020 | House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered |
02/05/2020 | Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (8-Y 0-N) |
02/05/2020 | Reported from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources with substitute (21-Y 0-N) (see vote tally) |
02/05/2020 | Committee substitute printed 20107719D-H1 |
02/06/2020 | Read first time |
02/07/2020 | Read second time |
02/07/2020 | Committee substitute agreed to 20107719D-H1 |
02/07/2020 | Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB443H1 |
02/10/2020 | Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (99-Y 0-N) |
02/10/2020 | VOTE: Block Vote Passage (99-Y 0-N) (see vote tally) |
02/11/2020 | Impact statement from DPB (HB443H1) |
02/11/2020 | Constitutional reading dispensed |
02/11/2020 | Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources |
02/25/2020 | Reported from Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with amendments (14-Y 1-N) (see vote tally) |
02/27/2020 | Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N) (see vote tally) |
02/28/2020 | Read third time |
02/28/2020 | Reading of amendments waived |
02/28/2020 | Committee amendments agreed to |
02/28/2020 | Engrossed by Senate as amended |
02/28/2020 | Passed Senate with amendments (34-Y 3-N) (see vote tally) |
02/28/2020 | Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate (37-Y 0-N) (see vote tally) |
02/28/2020 | Passed by for the day |
03/02/2020 | Read third time |
03/02/2020 | Engrossed by Senate as amended |
03/02/2020 | Passed Senate with amendments (39-Y 1-N) (see vote tally) |
03/03/2020 | Placed on Calendar |
03/03/2020 | Senate amendments agreed to by House (96-Y 1-N) |
03/03/2020 | VOTE: Adoption (96-Y 1-N) (see vote tally) |
03/06/2020 | Enrolled |
03/06/2020 | Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB443ER) |
03/06/2020 | Impact statement from DPB (HB443ER) |
03/06/2020 | Signed by Speaker |
03/06/2020 | Signed by President |
03/12/2020 | Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020 |
03/12/2020 | G Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020 |
03/31/2020 | G Approved by Governor-Chapter 563 (effective 7/1/20) |
03/31/2020 | G Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0563) |