Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 56-265.2:01 as follows:

§ 56-265.2:01. Applications for certain electrical transmission lines to include impact minimization plan.

A. An application submitted to the Commission pursuant to § 56-265.2 for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the construction or operation of any electrical transmission line of 138 kilovolts or more shall not be complete unless it includes a plan for the applicant's minimizing of the visual, environmental, and economic impacts of the electrical transmission line on real property within or adjacent to the area within which the applicant proposes to locate the line. The impact minimization plan's provisions shall be consistent with the requirements for a Transmission Vegetation Management Program established by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation's reliability standard FAC-003-1 and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' Standard 516-2003, or any successors to such standards. The Commission shall adopt regulations establishing the minimum requirements for an impact minimization plan.

B. Any order of the Commission approving the construction and operation of such an electrical transmission line shall include a requirement that the applicant implement an approved impact minimization plan that complies with the requirements established pursuant to subsection A.