Legislative Update

The 2024 Virginia legislative session adjourned on March 9. It was a long session spanning 60 days, coinciding with the introduction of a new two-year state budget. This was the inaugural session in the new General Assembly Building. Both chambers of the Legislature, the House and Senate, were under Democratic control, with narrow margins of 51-49 and 21-19, respectively. Furthermore, there was a noteworthy turnover in the Legislature, which led to new committee assignments, policy priorities and approaches. These elements collectively shaped the context for legislative discussions and decision-making in Virginia.

There were 2,390 bills introduced in 2024.

• 405 were carried over to 2025.
• 1,098 were passed.
• 779 were killed.
• 108 were consolidated.

ACEC Virginia tracked the following key legislation.

Bills avoided BEFORE Session started:

• Universal licensure for design professionals
• Increase exemption threshold for design services procured through job order contracting (JOC)
• Deferred effort to increase small purchase exemption

HB 350 (Owen): APELSCIDLA quorum
Lowers the quorum requirement for the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects of two engineers, two architects, and two land surveyors to at least one engineer, one architect, and one land surveyor. The bill removes the requirement that licenses issued by the Board be signed by at least four members of the Board. The bill has an expiration date of July 1, 2026.

HB 151(Helmer )/ SB 245(McPike): Building standards for certation local buildings
Requires the Department of Energy, upon request, to provide technical assistance to localities, subject to available budgetary resources, as localities implement mandates related to onsite renewable energy generation, energy storage, and resilience standards for construction or renovation of certain public buildings. The bill also makes several technical and clarifying changes to the existing statute, in part by defining or redefining existing terms found in the statute.

HB 1108 (Carr) / SB 18 (Locke): Reforms to CM at Risk

• Requires public bodies to provide documentation of the processes used for the final selection of a construction contract to all the unsuccessful applicants upon request.
• The bill adds certain requirements for covered institutions, including posting all documents that are open to public inspection exchanged between the Department of General Services and the covered institution on the central electronic procurement website eVA.
• The bill requires approval by a BOV or governing board if the covered institution chooses to proceed with construction management or design-build against the recommendation of the Department for (i) projects funded by funds other than those provided from the state general fund or (ii) projects of $65 million or more funded in whole or in part from state general funds. For projects under $65 million funded in whole or in part by state general funds, the bill provides that the covered institution shall obtain approval from the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, or their designees, and a representative of the Department.
• The bill requires a local public body to adopt a resolution or motion to use CM or design-build, if required by its local governing body, prior to issuing a Request for Qualifications and to publish notice of such resolution or motion on its website or eVA.
• The bill provides that the Department shall report annually, for any construction management or design-build project, on the qualifications that made such project complex.
• Finally, the bill requires the Department, with the assistance of staff of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, to assess the implementation and administration of construction management and design-build projects and report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by November 1, 2029.

HB 368 (McClure) / SB 195 (VanValkenburg): Single exit study

Directs the Board of Housing and Community Development (the Board) to convene a stakeholder advisory group including fire code officials to evaluate and recommend revisions to the Uniform Statewide Building Code to permit Group R-2 occupancies to be served by a single exit, provided that the building has not more than six stories above grade plane. The bill requires the stakeholder advisory group to submit its findings and recommendations to the Board and to the Chairmen of the House Committee on General Laws and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology no later than December 1, 2024.

HB 287 (Wiley) / SB 184 (Rouse): Revisions to practice of Geology

Expands the definition of the practice of geology to include the performance of any professional service or work wherein the principles and methods of geology are applied, including (i) investigating, evaluating, and consulting; (ii) geological mapping; (iii) describing the natural processes that act upon the earth's materials; (iv) predicting the probable occurrence of natural processes; and (v) inspecting, planning, and performing and supervising geological work in order to enhance and protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public and the environment. The bill also defines "geological mapping." The bill contains technical amendments.

HB 1085 (Rasoul) and SB 243 (McPike): PFAS Expert Advisory Committee

Requires, for every public water system, as defined in the bill, the Department of Health (VDH) to assist the Department of Environmental Quality (the Department) by transferring to the Department quarterly all validated monitoring results available to VDH that indicate PFAS maximum containment level, as defined in the bill, exceedances. In such circumstances, the bill provides that the Department is required to develop and implement a plan to prioritize and conduct PFAS assessments for identifying significant sources of PFAS in such public water system's raw water source or sources. The bill requires any facility, if deemed by the Department to be a potentially significant source of PFAS in the public water system's raw water source, (i) to perform and promptly report the results of quarterly discharge monitoring for one year and (ii) to report to the Department, within 90 days after being directed by the Department, its manufacture or use of PFAS. The bill establishes a PFAS Expert Advisory Committee to assist the Department and VDH in its PFAS-related efforts and requires the Committee to meet at least two times per year through June 30, 2027. The bill requires the Department to annually report certain information to the Governor and the General Assembly by October 1.

HB 248 (Glass): Licensing Autonomous Agents

Authorizes regulatory boards to promulgate regulations for an applicant requesting licensure of an autonomous agent that is owned or operated by such applicant. Autonomous agent is defined in the bill as software or hardware that operates independently, without real-time human intervention, and is capable of performing tasks that, when executed by a human, would require licensure by a regulatory board.

HB 30 - Budget Bill
The $188 billion-dollar biennial Virginia budget for fiscal years 2024-2026, passed on Saturday, March 9, with a 62-37 vote in the House of Delegates and a 24-14 vote in the Senate. This amended budget now goes back to the Governor’s desk for final review. You can view the 417 pages of amendments here.

You can review the ACEC VA 2024 bill list and positions here.