Bill Text: VA HB1173 | 2020 | Regular Session | Prefiled
Bill Title: Certified pollution control equipment and facilities; tax exemption, timing of certification.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-03-10 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0252) [HB1173 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2020-HB1173-Prefiled.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 means 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,
except that in the case of equipment,
facilities, devices, or other property intended for use by
any political subdivision in conjunction with the operation of
its water, wastewater,
stormwater, or solid waste
management facilities or systems, including property that may be financed
pursuant to Chapter 22 (§62.1-224 et seq.) of
Title 62.1, the state certifying
authority having jurisdiction with respect to such property
shall, upon the request of
the political subdivision,
make such certification prospectively for property to be constructed,
reconstructed, erected, or acquired for such purposes. 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. 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 means 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.