Bill Text: VA HB2811 | 2019 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Tax-exempt pollution control facilities; adds Va. Dept. of Health as a certifying authority.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2019-03-18 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0441) [HB2811 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2019-HB2811-Comm_Sub.html
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. 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. Such property shall also include solar energy equipment,
facilities, or devices owned or operated by a business that collect, generate,
transfer, or store thermal or electric energy whether or not such property has
been certified to the Department of Taxation by a state certifying authority.
For solar photovoltaic (electric energy) systems, this exemption applies only
to (i) projects equaling 20 megawatts or less, as measured in alternating
current (AC) generation capacity, for which an initial interconnection request
form has been filed with an electric utility or a regional transmission
organization on or before December 31, 2018; (ii) projects equaling 20
megawatts or less, as measured in alternating current (AC) generation capacity,
that serve any of the public institutions of higher education listed in §
23.1-100 or any private college as defined in §23.1-105; (iii) 80 percent of
the assessed value of projects for which an initial interconnection request
form has been filed with an electric utility or a regional transmission
organization (a) between January 1, 2015, and June 30, 2018, for projects
greater than 20 megawatts or (b) on or after July 1, 2018, for projects greater
than 20 megawatts and less than 150 megawatts, as measured in alternating
current (AC) generation capacity, and that are first in service on or after
January 1, 2017; (iv) projects equaling five megawatts or less, as measured in
alternating current (AC) generation capacity, for which an initial
interconnection request form has been filed with an electric utility or a
regional transmission organization on or after January 1, 2019; and (v) 80
percent of the assessed value of all other projects equaling more than five
megawatts and less than 150 megawatts, as measured in alternating current (AC)
generation capacity for which an initial interconnection request form has been
filed with an electric utility or a regional transmission organization on or
after January 1, 2019. The exemption for solar photovoltaic (electric energy)
projects greater than 20 megawatts, as measured in alternating current (AC)
generation capacity, shall not apply to projects upon which construction begins
after January 1, 2024. Such property For pollution control equipment
and facilities certified by the Virginia Department of Health, this exemption
applies only to onsite sewage systems that serve 10 or more households, use
nitrogen-reducing processes and technology, and are constructed, wholly or
partially, with public funds. All such property as described in this definition
shall not include the land on which such equipment or facilities are located.
"State certifying authority" shall mean the State Water Control Board or the Virginia Department of Health, for water pollution; the State Air Pollution Control Board, for air pollution; the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, for solar energy projects and 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.
2. That an emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.
