                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

 CLEAN ENERGY AND COMMUNITY FLOOD PREPAREDNESS (§ 10.1-1330)

A. The provisions of this article shall be incorporated by the Department,
without further action by the Board, into the final regulation adopted by the
Board on April 19, 2019, and published in the Virginia Register on May 27, 2019.
Such incorporation by the Department shall be exempt from the provisions of the
Virginia Administrative Process Act (&#xA7; 2.2-4000 et seq.).

B. The Director is hereby authorized to establish, implement, and manage an
auction program to sell allowances into a market-based trading program
consistent with the RGGI program and this article. The Director shall seek to
sell 100 percent of all allowances issued each year through the allowance
auction, unless the Department finds that doing so will have a negative impact
on the value of allowances and result in a net loss of consumer benefit or is
otherwise inconsistent with the RGGI program.

C. To the extent permitted by Article X, Section 7 of the Constitution of
Virginia, the state treasury shall (i) hold the proceeds recovered from the
allowance auction in an interest-bearing account with all interest directed to
the account to carry out the purposes of this article and (ii) use the proceeds
without further appropriation for the following purposes:

   1. Forty-five percent of the revenue shall be credited to the account
   established pursuant to the Fund for the purpose of assisting localities and
   their residents affected by recurrent flooding, sea level rise, and flooding
   from severe weather events.

   2. Fifty percent of the revenue shall be credited to an account administered
   by DHCD to support low-income energy efficiency programs, including programs
   for eligible housing developments. DHCD shall review and approve funding
   proposals for such energy efficiency programs, and DOE shall provide technical
   assistance upon request. Any sums remaining within the account administered by
   DHCD, including interest thereon, at the end of each fiscal year shall not
   revert to the general fund but shall remain in such account to support
   low-income energy efficiency programs.

   3. Three percent of the revenue shall be used to (i) cover reasonable
   administrative expenses of the Department in the administration of the revenue
   allocation, carbon dioxide emissions cap and trade program, and auction and
   (ii) carry out statewide climate change planning and mitigation activities.

   4. Two percent of the revenue shall be used by DHCD, in partnership with DOE,
   to administer and implement low-income energy efficiency programs pursuant to
   subdivision 2.

D. The Department, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, DHCD, and DOE
shall prepare a joint annual written report describing the Commonwealth&#8217;s
participation in RGGI, the annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the
revenues collected and deposited in the interest-bearing account maintained by
the Department pursuant to this article, and a description of each way in which
money was expended during the fiscal year. The report shall be submitted to the
Governor and General Assembly by January 1, 2022, and annually thereafter.

HISTORY: 2020, cc. 1219, 1280; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 532.