Bill Text: VA HB1363 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Critical infrastructure sectors; Director of Dept. of Energy to convene a work group to evaluate.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-01 - Continued to 2025 in Rules by voice vote [HB1363 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2025-HB1363-Introduced.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. §1. A. The Director of the Department of Energy shall convene a work group of interested stakeholders, including relevant state and federal public agencies, to evaluate the Commonwealth's critical infrastructure sectors' (i) usage of fuel for energy and feedstock and (ii) impact on jobs, capital investments, and state and local revenue. Such evaluation shall also assess (a) the impact of the Commonwealth's critical infrastructure sectors on natural gas service or retail natural gas supply choice as provided in §56-235.8 of the Code of Virginia and individually metered propane service or non-utility gas service in accordance with §56-265.4:6 of the Code of Virginia and (b) the impact of any public entity enacting an ordinance, building code, contractual provision, fee, permit, or other requirement that limits, prohibits or has the effect of prohibiting, or prevents critical infrastructure sectors within their boundaries from acquiring fuel.
The work group shall complete its evaluation and submit its findings and any recommendations to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Labor and Commerce and Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor by November 1, 2024.
B. As used in this act:
"Certified natural gas" means natural gas that has undergone independent third-party certification and has been produced under specified best practices around methane mitigation.
"Critical infrastructure sectors" means the 16 economic sectors whose assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof, as defined by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
"Feedstock" means materials used directly in manufacturing processes and transformed into an intermediate or finished material as defined by the U.S. Department of Energy.
"Fuel" means hydrogen, certified natural gas, natural gas, propane, and renewable propane.
"Liquefied natural gas" means natural gas that has been cooled to a liquid state, approximately minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit, for shipping and storage.
"Natural gas utility" means an investor-owned public service company engaged in the business of furnishing natural gas service to the public.
"Public entity" means the Commonwealth and any agency or authority thereof, any county, city, or town, and any other political subdivision of the Commonwealth, any public body politic and corporate, or any regional entity that serves a public purpose.
"Renewable propane" means low-pressure liquefied gas composed of propane derived from nonpetroleum or renewable sources and other molecules derived from nonpetroleum or renewable sources, including renewable dimethyl ether or renewable hydrogen.
