BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to clarification of physical conditions for determining the output of major energy projects; and amending RCW 80.50.020 and 80.52.030.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 80.50.020 and 1977 ex.s. c 371 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) "Applicant" means any person who makes application for a site certification pursuant to the provisions of this chapter;

(2) "Application" means any request for approval of a particular site or sites filed in accordance with the procedures established pursuant to this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires;

(3) "Person" means an individual, partnership, joint venture, private or public corporation, association, firm, public service company, political subdivision, municipal corporation, government agency, public utility district, or any other entity, public or private, however organized;

(4) "Site" means any proposed or approved location of an energy facility;

(5) "Certification" means a binding agreement between an applicant and the state which shall embody compliance to the siting guidelines, in effect as of the date of certification, which have been adopted pursuant to RCW 80.50.040 as now or hereafter amended as conditions to be met prior to or concurrent with the construction or operation of any energy facility;

(6) "Associated facilities" means storage, transmission, handling, or other related and supporting facilities connecting an energy plant with the existing energy supply, processing, or distribution system, including, but not limited to, communications, controls, mobilizing or maintenance equipment, instrumentation, and other types of ancillary transmission equipment, off-line storage or venting required for efficient operation or safety of the transmission system and overhead, and surface or subsurface lines of physical access for the inspection, maintenance, and safe operations of the transmission facility and new transmission lines constructed to operate at nominal voltages in excess of 200,000 volts to connect a thermal power plant to the northwest power grid: PROVIDED, That common carrier railroads or motor vehicles shall not be included;

(7) "Transmission facility" means any of the following together with their associated facilities:

(a) Crude or refined petroleum or liquid petroleum product transmission pipeline of the following dimensions: A pipeline larger than six inches minimum inside diameter between valves for the transmission of these products with a total length of at least fifteen miles;

(b) Natural gas, synthetic fuel gas, or liquified petroleum gas transmission pipeline of the following dimensions: A pipeline larger than fourteen inches minimum inside diameter between valves, for the transmission of these products, with a total length of at least fifteen miles for the purpose of delivering gas to a distribution facility, except an interstate natural gas pipeline regulated by the United States federal power commission;

(8) "Independent consultants" means those persons who have no financial interest in the applicant's proposals and who are retained by the council to evaluate the applicant's proposals, supporting studies, or to conduct additional studies;

(9) "Thermal power plant" means, for the purpose of certification, any electrical generating facility using any fuel, including nuclear materials, for distribution of electricity by electric utilities;

(10) "Energy facility" means an energy plant or transmission facilities: PROVIDED, That the following are excluded from the provisions of this chapter:

(a) Facilities for the extraction, conversion, transmission or storage of water, other than water specifically consumed or discharged by energy production or conversion for energy purposes; and

(b) Facilities operated by and for the armed services for military purposes or by other federal authority for the national defense;

(11) "Council" means the energy facility site evaluation council created by RCW 80.50.030;

(12) "Counsel for ((~~[the]~~)) the environment" means an assistant attorney general or a special assistant attorney general who shall represent the public in accordance with RCW 80.50.080;

(13) "Construction" means on-site improvements, excluding exploratory work, which cost in excess of two hundred fifty thousand dollars;

(14) "Energy plant" means the following facilities together with their associated facilities:

(a) Any stationary thermal power plant with generating capacity of two hundred fifty thousand kilowatts or more, measured using maximum continuous electric generating capacity, less minimum auxiliary load, at average ambient temperature and pressure, and floating thermal power plants of fifty thousand kilowatts or more, including associated facilities;

(b) Facilities which will have the capacity to receive liquified natural gas in the equivalent of more than one hundred million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day, which has been transported over marine waters;

(c) Facilities which will have the capacity to receive more than an average of fifty thousand barrels per day of crude or refined petroleum or liquified petroleum gas which has been or will be transported over marine waters, except that the provisions of this chapter shall not apply to storage facilities unless occasioned by such new facility construction;

(d) Any underground reservoir for receipt and storage of natural gas as defined in RCW 80.40.010 capable of delivering an average of more than one hundred million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day; and

(e) Facilities capable of processing more than twenty-five thousand barrels per day of petroleum into refined products;

(15) "Land use plan" means a comprehensive plan or land use element thereof adopted by a unit of local government pursuant to chapters 35.63, 35A.63, or 36.70 RCW;

(16) "Zoning ordinance" means an ordinance of a unit of local government regulating the use of land and adopted pursuant to chapters 35.63, 35A.63, or 36.70 RCW or Article XI of the state Constitution.

Sec. 2. RCW 80.52.030 and 1981 2nd ex.s. c 6 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

The definitions set forth in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Public agency" means a public utility district, joint operating agency, city, county, or any other state governmental agency, entity, or political subdivision.

(2) "Major public energy project" means a plant or installation capable, or intended to be capable, of generating electricity in an amount greater than two hundred fifty megawatts, measured using maximum continuous electric generating capacity, less minimum auxiliary load, at average ambient temperature and pressure. Where two or more such plants are located within the same geographic site, each plant shall be considered a major public energy project. An addition to an existing facility is not deemed to be a major energy project unless the addition itself is capable, or intended to be capable, of generating electricity in an amount greater than two hundred fifty megawatts. A project which is under construction on July 1, 1982, shall not be considered a major public energy project unless the official agency budget or estimate for total construction costs for the project as of July 1, 1982, is more than two hundred percent of the first official estimate of total construction costs as specified in the senate energy and utilities committee WPPSS inquiry report, volume one, January 12, 1981, and unless, as of July 1, 1982, the projected remaining cost of construction for that project exceeds two hundred million dollars.

(3) "Cost of construction" means the total cost of planning and building a major public energy project and placing it into operation, including, but not limited to, planning cost, direct construction cost, licensing cost, cost of fuel inventory for the first year's operation, interest, and all other costs incurred prior to the first day of full operation, whether or not incurred prior to July 1, 1982.

(4) "Cost of acquisition" means the total cost of acquiring a major public energy project from another party, including, but not limited to, principal and interest costs.

(5) "Bond" means a revenue bond, a general obligation bond, or any other indebtedness issued by a public agency or its assignee.

(6) "Applicant" means a public agency, or the assignee of a public agency, requesting the secretary of state to conduct an election pursuant to this chapter.

(7) "Cost-effective" means that a project or resource is forecast:

(a) To be reliable and available within the time it is needed; and

(b) To meet or reduce the electric power demand of the intended consumers at an estimated incremental system cost no greater than that of the least-cost similarly reliable and available alternative project or resource, or any combination thereof.

(8) "System cost" means an estimate of all direct costs of a project or resource over its effective life, including, if applicable, the costs of distribution to the consumer, and, among other factors, waste disposal costs, end-of-cycle costs, and fuel costs (including projected increases), and such quantifiable environmental costs and benefits as are directly attributable to the project or resource.