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2024 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Transportation

Chair: Jennifer B. Boysko

Clerk: Michael Jackson,Ashleigh Hynst
Staff: Nikhil Edward
Date of Meeting: February 1, 2024
Time and Place: 15 mins. after adj. / Senate Committee Room B (306) GAB
https://virginia-senate.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3

S.B. 66

Patron: Peake

Towing without consent of vehicle owner; fee. Decreases the maximum hookup and initial towing fee of any passenger car towed without the consent of its owner from $150 to $50. The bill also prohibits an ordinance made by a governing body of any locality for limiting towing fees from setting such limit for hookup and initial towing fee higher than statewide limits and removes the minimum fee limit for hookup and initial towing fees for such ordinance made by localities in Planning District 8 and Planning District 16.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 46.2-1233 and 46.2-1233.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to towing without consent of vehicle owner; fee.

24100895D

S.B. 94

Patron: Stanley

Tow truck drivers and towing and recovery operators; prohibited acts; certain solicitation and offering of services; penalty. Prohibits tow truck drivers and towing and recovery operators from soliciting or offering towing services or causing any other person to solicit or offer towing services in any manner, directly or indirectly, at the scene of any wrecked or disabled motor vehicle upon a highway when such wrecked or disabled motor vehicle reasonably necessitates removal by a tow truck. The bill provides that a violation of such prohibition constitutes a Class 1 misdemeanor.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 46.2-118 of the Code of Virginia, relating to tow truck drivers and towing and recovery operators; prohibited acts; certain solicitation and offering of services; penalty.

24102071D

S.B. 206

Patron: Diggs

Installation, maintenance, and operation of devices in highway right-of-way for law-enforcement purposes; regulation authority; civil penalty. Authorizes the Department of State Police or the chief law-enforcement officer of a locality to install devices for law-enforcement purposes in the right-of-way of highways under state jurisdiction. The bill defines law-enforcement purposes as an active felony investigation, an effort to prevent a targeted act of violence, or an attempt to locate missing, endangered, or wanted persons by law enforcement through the identification of a motor vehicle and excludes from the definition the enforcement of speed limits, traffic laws, tolling requirements, or high-occupancy vehicle requirements. The bill authorizes entering into agreements with private entities for the maintenance and operation of such devices. The bill requires the data collected to be maintained for no more than 30 days following its collection and limits the data and information collected to data and information about (i) the make, model, condition, location, and color of a vehicle and the information on the vehicle's license plate and (ii) the date and time the data and information was collected.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 33.2-210 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 33.2-216.1, relating to installation, maintenance, and operation of devices in highway right-of-way for law-enforcement purposes; regulation authority; civil penalty.

24103098D

S.B. 246

Patron: McPike

Limited-duration licenses and driver privilege cards and permits; expiration. Extends the validity of limited-duration licenses and driver privilege cards and permits from (i) either the period of time of the applicant's authorized stay in the United States or one year and (ii) two years, respectively, to a period of time consistent with the validity of driver's licenses, which, under current law, is a period not to exceed eight years or, for a person age 75 or older, a period not to exceed five years, and permits. The bill also directs the Department of Motor Vehicles to implement the extended validity periods for such documents upon reissuance.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 46.2-328.1 and 46.2-328.3 of the Code of Virginia, relating to limited-duration licenses and driver privilege cards and permits; expiration.

24104979D

S.B. 261

Patron: DeSteph

Towed vehicles; stolen or misused vehicle; police report. Requires the owner of a vehicle that was stolen, illegally used, or used without his permission and subsequently subject to a law-enforcement initiated tow to produce a copy of a police report showing that the vehicle was stolen, illegally used, or used without his permission to the towing facility where the vehicle is being stored in order to remove the vehicle without paying towing and storage fees.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 46.2-1209 of the Code of Virginia, relating to towed vehicles; stolen or misused vehicle; police report.

24101779D

S.B. 282

Patron: Roem

Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program; surplus funds. Provides that beginning in fiscal year 2025, in any fiscal year in which there is a surplus of general fund revenues, as that term is defined in the bill, the Governor shall include in his proposed budget an appropriation of 10 percent of such surplus for the Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program for the purpose of funding projects consistent with the objectives of the Program.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 33.2-373 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Virginia Highway Safety Improvement Program; surplus funds.

24101523D

S.B. 503

Patron: Surovell

License plate reader systems; civil penalty. Provides requirements for the use of license plate reader systems, defined in the bill, by law-enforcement agencies. The bill limits the use of such systems to scanning, detecting, and recording data about vehicles and license plate numbers for the purpose of identifying a vehicle that is (i) associated with a wanted, missing, or endangered person or human trafficking; (ii) stolen; (iii) involved in an active law-enforcement investigation; or (iv) in the vicinity of a recent crime and may be connected to that crime. The bill authorizes and requires the Commonwealth Transportation Board to establish a permitting process for installing and using such systems in state highway rights-of-way.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 2.2 a chapter numbered 55.6, consisting of a section numbered 2.2-5517, and by adding a section numbered 33.2-210.1, relating to license plate reader systems; civil penalty.

24100926D

S.B. 539

Patron: Bagby

License plate readers; penalties. Provides requirements for the use of license plate readers, defined in the bill, by law-enforcement agencies. The bill requires such agencies to enter into an agreement with the license plate reader owners or other responsible non-law-enforcement entity to operate a data trust, defined in the bill, to store the data collected by a license plate reader and requires any such law-enforcement agency to apply to the data trust for access to such data. The bill limits the use of license plate readers to scanning, detecting, and identifying license plate numbers for the purpose of identifying vehicles involved in certain crimes.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 33.2-210 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 2.2 a chapter numbered 55.6, consisting of a section numbered 2.2-5517, relating to license plate reader systems; penalties.

24103148D

S.B. 617

Patron: Obenshain

Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund; Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority; budget; operating assistance. Provides that payments and obligations arising from or related to any contract pertaining to employee compensation and work conditions under the normal operation of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) may be included in the calculation of a WMATA budget increase for purposes of the cap of such budget increase. Current law provides that any payment or obligation of any kind arising from or related to legal disputes or proceedings between or among WMATA and any other person or entity shall not be used in calculating a WMATA budget increase.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 33.2-1526.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Commonwealth Mass Transit Fund; Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority; budget; operating assistance.

24105088D

S.B. 714

Patron: Marsden

Vehicle exhaust systems; inspection and administrative fee. Prohibits passenger vehicle exhaust systems from emitting noise in excess of 95 decibels in Planning District 8 on any highway; driveway or premises of a church, school, recreational facility, or business; any governmental property open to the public; any industrial establishment providing parking space for customers, patrons, or employees; and any highway under construction or not yet open to the public.

The bill allows, in Planning District 8, a law-enforcement officer to stop a passenger vehicle he determines is emitting exhaust system noise in excess of such limit and issue a notice of an administrative fee of $250 to be assessed at the time of the vehicle's next registration renewal and establishes a process for inspecting such vehicle.

The bill has a contingent effective date of January 1, 2025, provided that the Department of Environmental Quality has received the necessary funding to supply the necessary equipment for such vehicle exhaust system inspections to inspection stations. The bill sunsets on July 1, 2027.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 46.2-1049.1, relating to vehicle exhaust systems; inspection and administrative fee.

24105094D

S.B. 732

Patron: Pillion

Crash reports; contracted service providers. Authorizes law-enforcement agencies to utilize a contracted service provider to maintain and disseminate copies of certain crash reports as authorized by law. The bill authorizes the release of nonpersonally identifiable vehicle information from crash reports to a contracted entity.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 46.2-373 and 46.2-379 of the Code of Virginia, relating to crash reports; contracted service provider.

24105273D