Virginia Law

A. The application for a small solar energy project with a rated capacity greater than five MW and a disturbance zone greater than 10 acres, provided that the project does not otherwise meet the criteria for Part III (9VAC15-60-130 ) of this chapter, shall contain all of the following:

1. An NOI to submit the necessary documentation for a PBR, to be published in the Virginia Register of Regulations.

a. The applicant shall submit the NOI in a format approved by the department.

(1) The initial NOI shall be submitted to the department as early in the project development process as practicable, but for all NOIs submitted after June 18, 2025, at least 90 days prior to the start of the public comment period required under 9VAC15-60-90.

(2) For all NOIs submitted after June 18, 2025, the NOI shall be submitted to the chief administrative officer and chief elected official of the locality in which the project is proposed to be located at the same time the NOI is submitted to the department.

b. Any NOI submitted after June 18, 2025, shall expire if no application has been submitted within 48 months from the NOI submittal date, unless the department receives a written request for extension prior to the NOI expiration date. An NOI extension may be granted for an additional 36 months, at which time the NOI shall expire.

c. An applicant seeking changes for a project that results in an increase of MW or acreage shall submit a new NOI using a format approved by the department.

d. The applicant shall notify the department of any change of operator, ownership, or controlling interest for a project within 30 days of the transfer. No additional fee shall be assessed.

(1) The original applicant shall notify the department of the change by withdrawing the initial NOI in a format acceptable to the department.

(2) The new applicant shall submit an NOI in a format acceptable to the department.

(3) The department will not consider the change of operator, ownership, or controlling interest for a project effective until the department receives notification from both the original applicant and the new applicant.

2. A certification by the governing body of any locality wherein the project will be located that the project complies with all applicable land use ordinances. For any certification after June 18, 2025, the certification shall also include a statement of the area of the project enrolled in a forestry preservation program pursuant to subdivision 2 of § 58.1-3233 of the Code of Virginia (i.e., classified by the local assessor as forest for use-value assessment).

3. Copies of all interconnection studies undertaken by the regional transmission organization or transmission owner, or both, on behalf of the project.

4. A copy of the final interconnection agreement between the project and the regional transmission organization or transmission owner indicating that the connection of the project will not cause a reliability problem for the system.

a. If the final agreement is not available, the most recent interconnection study shall be sufficient for the purposes of this section.

b. The final agreement shall be provided to the department within 30 days of the date of execution.

c. The department shall forward a copy of the agreement or study to the State Corporation Commission.

5. A certification signed and stamped by a professional engineer licensed in Virginia that the maximum generation capacity of the project, as designed, does not exceed 150 MW.

6. An analysis of potential environmental impacts of the project's operations on attainment of national ambient air quality standards (42 USC § 7409 as implemented by 9VAC5-30).

7. An analysis of the beneficial and adverse impacts of the proposed project on natural and historic resources pursuant to 9VAC15-60-40. For wildlife, that analysis shall be based on information on the presence, activity, and migratory behavior of wildlife to be collected at the site for a period of time dictated by the site conditions and biology of the wildlife being studied, not exceeding 12 months.

8. A mitigation plan pursuant to 9VAC15-60-60 if a determination of likely significant adverse impacts has been made according to 9VAC15-60-50. The plan shall detail actions necessary to avoid, minimize, or otherwise mitigate such impacts, and to measure the efficacy of those actions.

9. A certification signed and stamped by a professional engineer licensed in Virginia that the project is designed in accordance with 9VAC15-60-80.

10. An operating plan that includes a description of how the project will be operated in compliance with its mitigation plan if such a mitigation plan is required pursuant to 9VAC15-60-50.

11. A detailed site plan and context map meeting the requirements of 9VAC15-60-70.

12. A certification signed by the applicant that the department has been notified that the applicant intends to apply for or has applied for or obtained all necessary environmental permits for the project.

13. A certification signed by the applicant that the project is being proposed, developed, constructed, or purchased by a person that is not a utility regulated pursuant to Title 56 of the Code of Virginia or provides certification that (i) the project's costs are not recovered from Virginia jurisdictional customers under base rates, a fuel factor charge, or a rate adjustment clause or (ii) the applicant is a utility aggregation cooperative formed under Article 2 (§ 56-231.38 et seq.) of Chapter 9.1 of Title 56 of the Code of Virginia.

14. A summary report of the 30-day public review and comment period conducted pursuant to 9VAC15-60-90, including a summary of the issues raised by the public, any written comments received, and the applicant's response to those comments.

15. The appropriate fees pursuant to 9VAC15-60-110, exclusive of in-lieu fees pursuant to 9VAC15-60-60.

B. An applicant seeking a PBR under this part shall submit the following:

1. All items identified in subsection A of this section submitted in a format acceptable to the department and all applicable fees pursuant to 9VAC15-60-110, exclusive of in-lieu fees pursuant to 9VAC15-60-60.

2. A cover letter submitted with the application that contains the following:

a. Document certification signed by a responsible person that contains the following statement:

"I certify under penalty of law that this application document and all attachments were prepared under my direction or supervision in accordance with a system designed to ensure that qualified personnel properly gather and evaluate the information submitted. Based on my inquiry of the persons who manage the system, or those persons directly responsible for gathering and evaluating the information, the information submitted is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, true, accurate, and complete. I am aware that there may be significant penalties for submitting false information, including the possibility of fine and imprisonment for knowing violations."

b. The name and contact information of the responsible person signing the document certification required under subdivision 2 a of this subsection; and

c. The name and contact information of the responsible person to receive the permit authorization.

C. Within 90 days of receiving all of the required documents and fees listed in subsection A of this section, the department will, after consultation with DCR, DHR, DOF, DWR, and VDACS, form a determination that an application is an administratively complete application or incomplete.

1. If the department determines that the application meets the requirements of this chapter, the department will form a determination that an application is an administratively complete application and notify the responsible person in writing that the person is authorized to construct and operate the facility pursuant to this chapter.

a. Any authorization to construct and operate issued after June 18, 2025, shall become invalid if (i) a program of continuous construction or modification is not begun within 60 months from the date the PBR or modification authorization is issued or (ii) a program of construction or modification is discontinued for a period of 24 months or more, except for a department-approved period between phases of a phased construction project. Routine maintenance is not considered a modification of a project.

b. The department may grant an extension on a case-by-case basis.

c. The applicant for any project for which the PBR or modification authorization has been deemed invalid shall submit a new NOI, application documents, and appropriate fees to reactivate authorization.

2. If the department determines that the application does not meet the requirements of this chapter, the department will form a determination that an application is incomplete, notify the applicant in writing, and specify the deficiencies.

3. If the applicant chooses to correct deficiencies in an incomplete application, (i) the applicant shall notify the department within 30 days of an incomplete notification, (ii) the department will follow the procedures of this subsection, and (iii) the department will notify the applicant within 60 days whether the supplemental information meets the requirements of this chapter.

4. If the application was not approved because a proposed mitigation plan was not provided by the applicant as part of the initial application and the department determines there are significant adverse impacts, the applicant shall provide a 45-day public comment period detailing reasonable actions to be taken by the owner or operator to avoid, minimize, or otherwise mitigate such impacts and to measure the efficacy of those actions. The public comment shall follow the procedures set forth in 9VAC15-60-90, except that the public comment period shall be 45 days.

5. The applicant may correct deficiencies in an application by submitting supplemental information, in which case the department will notify the applicant within 60 days whether the supplemental information meets the requirements of this chapter. If the applicant fails to submit necessary supplemental information within 90 days of the date the department provided notice of the deficiencies or within such additional time as the applicant requests and the department approves, the application shall be deemed withdrawn.

6. Any case decision by the department pursuant to this subsection shall be subject to the process and appeal provisions of the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq. of the Code of Virginia).