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Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2020 SESSION
20108943DBe 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. 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 any such project unless an application has
been filed with the locality for the project before July 1, 2030. For
purposes of this section, "application has been filed with the
locality" means an applicant has filed an application for a zoning
confirmation from the locality for a by-right use or an application for land
use approval under the locality's zoning ordinance, including an application
for a conditional use permit, special use permit, special exception, or other
application as set out in the locality's zoning ordinance. 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.
C. For any solar photovoltaic project described in clauses (iii) and (v) of subsection B 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 amount of the exemption shall be as follows: 80 percent of the assessed value in the first five years in service after commencement of commercial operation, 70 percent of the assessed value in the second five years in service, and 60 percent of the assessed value for all remaining years in service.