During the 2026 legislative session, Virginia’s General Assembly passed an avalanche of new environmental legislation. The Assembly introduced over 200 bills related to the environment, with data centers, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), energy, and climate featuring as key targets for new legislation. Governor Abigail Spanberger signed nearly 30 of those measures into law, signaling that her administration intends to play an active role in environmental lawmaking and regulation. We will continue to closely watch developments in Virginia, as the state’s new elected officials continue to prioritize environmental action and push forward an ambitious slate of policy and legislative initiatives.
Below, we outline some of the key legislation Governor Spanberger signed into law.
Data Centers
Data-center siting/high-energy use facility site assessment (SB 94): This new law requires applicants for new “high energy use facilities” to submit a site assessment before securing certain local land-use approvals, including an analysis of sound impacts on nearby homes and schools. The measure reflects the General Assembly’s growing focus on the local land-use and community impacts of large data-center development (adding Va. Code § 15.2-2209.4).
Data-center waste heat study and work group (HB 323): The Virginia Department of Energy is now required to identify opportunities for beneficial use of waste heat from data centers, evaluate best practices, and convene a working group to develop findings and make recommendations. The law signals increased legislative attention to the energy efficiency and secondary-resource-use implications of Virginia’s data-center sector.
Data-center water-use disclosure (HB 496): HB 496 requires reporting and disclosure of water-use information associated with data-center operations, including the volume of water supplied by certain water users and the use of reclaimed water. The legislation adds a water-resource transparency component to Virginia’s broader data-center policy package from the 2026 session (amending and reenacting Va. Code § 62.1-44.38).
PFAS
PFAS monitoring at industrial users of POTWs (SB 138): The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) must monitor and report PFAS discharges from certain industrial users sending wastewater to publicly owned treatment works. The bill establishes a strict upstream PFAS-control measure and may create new compliance and reporting obligations for affected industrial facilities (amending Va. Code § 62.1-44.34:32).
PFAS testing for sewage sludge/biosolids (HB 1443): This law requires publicly owned treatment works (POTWs)and other entities to test sewage sludge, or biosolids intended for land application, marketing, or distribution for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), and report those concentrations to DEQ. The law imposes tiered management requirements based on the concentrations of PFOS and PFOA in the biosolids. If a PFOS or PFOA concentration exceeds 50 ppb, for instance, no land application, marketing, or distribution may occur. POTWs may continue to use biosolids with lower concentrations, but with varying requirements (i.e., reduced land application rate, or, for biosolids with PFOS and PFOA concentrations less than 25 ppb, no additional requirements). The law also requires DEQ to incorporate these requirements into all land application, distribution, and marketing permits (amending Va. Code § 62.1-44.19:3).
Climate, Resilience, and Land Development
Rejoining RGGI (HB 397): After former Governor Youngkin withdrew the Commonwealth from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), incoming Governor Spanberger and the new legislature made it a top priority to reenter the compact. Virginia now officially rejoins the market-based carbon trading framework and reconnects program revenues to clean energy and community flood preparedness objectives. The bill is one of the session’s most significant climate measures and effectively re-establishes the Commonwealth’s participation framework for carbon allowance trading, along with related spending and reporting. However, DEQ must still complete the necessary implementing steps, including repeal of the regulation that initially withdrew Virginia and a subsequent update to align Virginia’s program with the latest RGGI model rule. We expect participation to resume on a partial-year basis in the September and December 2026 auctions (amending Va. Code §§ 10.1-603.25, 10.1-1330, and 56-596.2:2).
Wetlands / no-net-loss standard (HB 521): HB 521 tightens wetlands permitting and conservation standards by requiring compensatory mitigation sufficient to achieve no net loss of wetland acreage and functions. The measure may increase scrutiny of impacts on tidal wetlands and corresponding mitigation obligations (amending Va. Code §§ 28.2-1301 and 28.2-1308).
Beneficial use of dredged material (HB 52): Beneficial use of dredged material is now an express policy of the Commonwealth, and the law directs the Marine Resources Commission to incorporate that principle into permitting and related criteria. The legislation aims to promote nature-based and restoration-oriented uses of dredged material rather than simple disposal (amending Va. Code §§ 10.1-704 and 28.2-100 and adding Va. Code § 28.2-104.2).
Solar and Distributed Energy:
Shared solar expansion (SB 254): SB 254 expands Virginia’s shared solar program by increasing capacity and revising its governing structure. The bill may create additional opportunities for shared solar development and customer participation, particularly in Dominion territory (amending Va. Code § 56-594.3).
Smart Solar Permitting Platform (SB 382): SB 382 establishes a statewide automated Smart Solar Permitting Platform for residential solar energy systems. The legislation aims to streamline local permitting and reduce delays for qualifying rooftop solar installations (adding Va. Code § 45.2-1735).
Solar canopies in surface parking areas (HB 1234): This bill establishes a land-development framework for solar canopies in surface parking areas. The measures could facilitate additional solar deployment at commercial, institutional, and other developed sites where parking infrastructure can support canopy installations (adding Va. Code § 15.2-961.4).
Battery storage co-location on solar sites (SB 443): SB 443 revises the framework for local regulation of commercial solar sites by authorizing certain battery storage projects as permitted accessory uses on parcels with approved commercial solar special exceptions without requiring a separate local land-use approval. This legislation materially affects local siting and approval requirements for battery storage co-located with approved solar projects (amending Va. Code § 15.2-2316.9 and adding Va. Code § 15.2-2316.10).
Utility-scale solar siting standards (HB 711): This bill standardizes the local review framework for certain utility-scale solar projects by establishing statewide siting criteria, eliminating inconsistent local requirements, and creating new reporting obligations for local solar siting decisions. The legislation will materially affect the local siting and approval process for solar projects (amending Va. Code §§ 15.2-2241.2, 15.2-2288.7, and 15.2-2288.8).
Small portable solar devices (HB 395): This law creates a new framework expanding access to small portable solar generation devices by limiting local prohibitions and exempting covered devices from certain utility interconnection approval requirements. The bill authorizes uses such as plug-in or balcony solar while restricting imposition of barriers to their use by utilities, local governments, and landlords (amending Va. Code §§ 15.2-2288.7, 56-594, 56-594.01, 56-594.2, and 59.1-198 and adding Va. Code §§ 55.1-1212.1 and 56-596.7).
Health and Safety
Heat illness prevention standards (SB 288): Virginia’s Safety and Health Codes Board must now adopt standards that address heat illness prevention in the workplace, both indoors and outdoors. The law will introduce new regulatory requirements for training, procedures, and employee protections in high-heat work environments (adding Va. Code § 40.1-44.2). (See B&D’s recent web alert regarding OSHA’s heat illness prevention programs).
Pending Issues
The legislature is also still working to reconcile Senate and House bills addressing the current tax exemption for data center projects. The Senate proposal would eliminate a 5.6% tax exemption to raise roughly $1.6 billion in state funds. The House spending plan would allow the exemption to remain, but would impose new environmental standards as a threshold requirement for obtaining the tax break.
Vetoed Bills
Governor Spanberger also flexed her veto power on several occasions during this session. In the environmental realm, the Governor vetoed HB 86, which would have established a producer-funded Mattress Stewardship Program administered through a certified mattress recycling organization and overseen by the Department of Environmental Quality. The program would have imposed registration, plan submission, and reporting requirements on producers and related entities. Governor Spanberger vetoed the bill because of its impact on consumers, stating that the bill would have effectively imposed “a new fee” on all mattress purchases in the state.
Takeaways
Virginia’s 2026 session illustrated several clear legislative trends: expanded PFAS regulation, stronger coastal and flood-resilience planning, broader local and state conservation tools, increased scrutiny of data centers’ impacts, and stronger support for distributed solar and shared solar deployment. Regulated entities, developers, local governments, and infrastructure owners should continue to track developments in Virginia closely, as the legislature will likely continue to act on its aggressive policy agenda.
