Bill Text: VA SB902 | 2018 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Property tax; exemption for solar energy equipment and facilities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-04-18 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0849) [SB902 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2018-SB902-Enrolled.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 after January 1, 2015, and for projects greater than
20 megawatts and less than 150 megawatts, as measured in alternating
current (AC) generation capacity, for projects that are first in
service on or after January 1, 2017,; (iv) projects equaling 5
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 5 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 shall not include the land on which such equipment or facilities
are located.
"State certifying authority" shall mean the State Water Control Board, 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.
