Fabio
106 lines
6.1 KiB
Markdown
106 lines
6.1 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: "Bill"
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title: "Solar energy projects; national standards."
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description: "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."
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jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
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legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
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session: "2020"
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identifier: "HB 656"
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citation: "Virginia HB 656 (2020)"
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classification: ["bill"]
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subjects: []
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status: "enacted"
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primary_sponsors: ["Steve E. Heretick"]
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version_count: 4
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action_count: 36
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vote_count: 10
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first_action: "2020-01-06"
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last_action: "2020-03-12"
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source: "openstates"
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source_identifier: "ocd-bill/860f7fd5-3fb9-4917-832e-dfd4d7f4316e"
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source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+HB656"
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source_hash: "9f98488badda75486b0b876312457a8b2426f448af54fc5f788939f11d45149d"
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vintage: "2026-07-01"
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source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
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retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
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confidence: "reported"
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tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
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---
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# Virginia HB 656 (2020) — Solar energy projects; national standards.
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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.
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## Version chain
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The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.
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1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0312)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0312)
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2. **Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB656ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB656ER)
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3. **Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB656H1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB656H1)
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4. **Impact statement from DHCD (HB656)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+HB656)
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## Votes
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- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
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- VOTE: Adoption (92-Y 5-N) — **91–5** (pass) · lower
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- Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from Local Government with amendments (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
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- Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
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- Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (9-Y 1-N) — **9–1** (pass) · lower
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- Passed Senate with amendments (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
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- Passed Senate with amendments (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
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- Referred from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources — **0–0** (fail) · lower
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- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N) — **99–0** (pass) · lower
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## Sponsors
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- Steve E. Heretick — primary (person)
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- Jennifer Carroll Foy — cosponsor (person)
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## Timeline
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The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.
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- **2020-01-06** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102660D `introduction`
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- **2020-01-06** Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources `referral-committee`
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- **2020-01-15** Referred from Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources
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- **2020-01-15** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
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- **2020-01-16** Assigned L & C sub: Subcommittee #3 `referral-committee`
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- **2020-01-18** Impact statement from DHCD (HB656)
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- **2020-01-30** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
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- **2020-01-30** Subcommittee recommends reporting with substitute (9-Y 1-N)
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- **2020-02-04** Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2020-02-04** Committee substitute printed 20107292D-H1 `substitution`
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- **2020-02-05** Read first time `reading-1`
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- **2020-02-06** Read second time `reading-2`
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- **2020-02-06** Committee substitute agreed to 20107292D-H1
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- **2020-02-06** Engrossed by House - committee substitute HB656H1
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- **2020-02-07** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (100-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
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- **2020-02-07** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (100-Y 0-N)
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- **2020-02-10** Constitutional reading dispensed
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- **2020-02-10** Referred to Committee on Local Government `referral-committee`
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- **2020-02-17** Reported from Local Government with amendments (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
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- **2020-02-18** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
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- **2020-02-19** Read third time `reading-3`
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- **2020-02-19** Reading of amendments waived
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- **2020-02-19** Committee amendments agreed to
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- **2020-02-19** Engrossed by Senate as amended
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- **2020-02-19** Passed Senate with amendments (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
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- **2020-02-19** Reconsideration of Senate passage agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N)
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- **2020-02-19** Passed Senate with amendments (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
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- **2020-02-21** Placed on Calendar
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- **2020-02-21** Senate amendments agreed to by House (92-Y 5-N)
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- **2020-02-21** VOTE: Adoption (92-Y 5-N)
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- **2020-02-26** Enrolled
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- **2020-02-27** Signed by Speaker
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- **2020-02-27** Signed by President
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- **2020-03-05** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 5, 2020
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- **2020-03-05** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 12, 2020
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- **2020-03-12** Approved by Governor-Chapter 312 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`
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## Source
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OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/860f7fd5-3fb9-4917-832e-dfd4d7f4316e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).
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