A. The Director of the Department or his designee shall adopt regulations requiring a preplanning justification or a preplanning study, or both, for all capital outlay projects undertaken by any department, agency or institution of the Commonwealth. A preplanning study shall be required for any project of construction, renovation, or other capital outlay involving a structure of 20,000 or more square feet or that is estimated to cost one million dollars or more. For projects of lesser size or cost, the regulations may require only a preplanning justification of the project. The Director or his designee may waive the requirement for a preplanning justification or preplanning study for such projects of lesser size and cost when, a preplanning justification or preplanning study is not needed or would not be warranted by the cost of making one. Preplanning studies for projects estimated to cost less than $2 million shall be done at a cost not exceeding $25,000. Preplanning studies for projects estimated to cost $2 million or more shall be done at a cost not exceeding $50,000. Exceptions to these limitations upon the cost of preplanning studies may be authorized by the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations.
B. The regulations shall (i) provide for the content and scope of preplanning justifications and preplanning studies, including the definition of the terms “capital outlay project”; (ii) require consideration of locally available fuels, including wood wastes, for use in new and replacement central heating plants in any proposed or existing public buildings or other facilities; and (iii) shall be exempt from the provisions of the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.).