republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2020/hb-656.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Solar energy projects; national standards.	Solar energy projects; national standards. Authorizes a locality to include in its zoning ordinance provisions to incorporate generally accepted national environmental protection and product safety standards for the use of solar panels and battery technologies for solar photovoltaic (electric energy) projects. The bill contains an enactment clause that applies such generally accepted national standards to any such projects in the Commonwealth, notwithstanding any other provision of law, general or special.	us/states/va	Virginia General Assembly	2020	HB 656	Virginia HB 656 (2020)	bill		enacted	Steve E. Heretick	4	36	10	2020-01-06	2020-03-12	openstates	ocd-bill/860f7fd5-3fb9-4917-832e-dfd4d7f4316e	https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB656	9f98488badda75486b0b876312457a8b2426f448af54fc5f788939f11d45149d	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-va

Virginia HB 656 (2020) — Solar energy projects; national standards.

Solar energy projects; national standards. Authorizes a locality to include in its zoning ordinance provisions to incorporate generally accepted national environmental protection and product safety standards for the use of solar panels and battery technologies for solar photovoltaic (electric energy) projects. The bill contains an enactment clause that applies such generally accepted national standards to any such projects in the Commonwealth, notwithstanding any other provision of law, general or special.

Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0312) (committee substitute) — source
2. Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB656ER) (committee substitute) — source
3. Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB656H1 (committee substitute) — source
4. Impact statement from DHCD (HB656) (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — 38–0 (pass) · upper
• VOTE: Adoption (92-Y 5-N) — 91–5 (pass) · lower
• Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N) — 39–0 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Local Government with amendments (15-Y 0-N) — 15–0 (pass) · upper
• Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — 22–0 (pass) · lower
• Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (9-Y 1-N) — 9–1 (pass) · lower
• Passed Senate with amendments (39-Y 0-N) — 39–0 (pass) · upper
• Passed Senate with amendments (39-Y 0-N) — 39–0 (pass) · upper
• Referred from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources — 0–0 (fail) · lower
• VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — 99–0 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Steve E. Heretick — primary (person)
• Jennifer Carroll Foy — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

• 2020-01-06 Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102660D introduction
• 2020-01-06 Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources referral-committee
• 2020-01-15 Referred from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources
• 2020-01-15 Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce referral-committee
• 2020-01-16 Assigned L & C sub: Subcommittee #3 referral-committee
• 2020-01-18 Impact statement from DHCD (HB656)
• 2020-01-30 House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
• 2020-01-30 Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (9-Y 1-N)
• 2020-02-04 Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (22-Y 0-N) committee-passage
• 2020-02-04 Committee substitute printed 20107292D-H1 substitution
• 2020-02-05 Read first time reading-1
• 2020-02-06 Read second time reading-2
• 2020-02-06 Committee substitute agreed to 20107292D-H1
• 2020-02-06 Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB656H1
• 2020-02-07 Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) passage, reading-3
• 2020-02-07 VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
• 2020-02-10 Constitutional reading dispensed
• 2020-02-10 Referred to Committee on Local Government referral-committee
• 2020-02-17 Reported from Local Government with amendments (15-Y 0-N) committee-passage
• 2020-02-18 Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
• 2020-02-19 Read third time reading-3
• 2020-02-19 Reading of amendments waived
• 2020-02-19 Committee amendments agreed to
• 2020-02-19 Engrossed by Senate as amended
• 2020-02-19 Passed Senate with amendments (39-Y 0-N) passage
• 2020-02-19 Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N)
• 2020-02-19 Passed Senate with amendments (39-Y 0-N) passage
• 2020-02-21 Placed on Calendar
• 2020-02-21 Senate amendments agreed to by House (92-Y 5-N)
• 2020-02-21 VOTE: Adoption (92-Y 5-N)
• 2020-02-26 Enrolled
• 2020-02-27 Signed by Speaker
• 2020-02-27 Signed by President
• 2020-03-05 Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 5, 2020
• 2020-03-05 Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 12, 2020
• 2020-03-12 Approved by Governor-Chapter 312 (effective 7/1/20) executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/860f7fd5-3fb9-4917-832e-dfd4d7f4316e. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).