BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to the restoration and redevelopment of an unfinished nuclear energy facility; amending RCW 80.50.010, 80.50.020, and 80.50.040; and adding a new section to chapter 80.50 RCW.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 80.50.010 and 1975-'76 2nd ex.s. c 108 s 29 are each amended to read as follows:

The legislature finds that the present and predicted growth in energy demands in the state of Washington requires the development of a procedure for the selection and utilization of sites for energy facilities and the identification of a state position with respect to each proposed site. The legislature recognizes that the selection of sites will have a significant impact upon the welfare of the population, the location and growth of industry and the use of the natural resources of the state.

It is the policy of the state of Washington to recognize the pressing need for increased energy facilities, and to ensure through available and reasonable methods, that the location and operation of such facilities will produce minimal adverse effects on the environment, ecology of the land and its wildlife, and the ecology of state waters and their aquatic life.

It is the intent to seek courses of action that will balance the increasing demands for energy facility location and operation in conjunction with the broad interests of the public. Such action will be based on these premises:

(1) To assure Washington state citizens that, where applicable, operational safeguards are at least as stringent as the criteria established by the federal government and are technically sufficient for their welfare and protection.

(2) To preserve and protect the quality of the environment; to enhance the public's opportunity to enjoy the esthetic and recreational benefits of the air, water and land resources; to promote air cleanliness; and to pursue beneficial changes in the environment.

(3) To provide abundant energy at reasonable cost.

(4) To avoid costs of complete site restoration and demolition of improvements and infrastructure at unfinished nuclear energy sites, and to use unfinished nuclear energy facilities for public uses, including economic development, under the regulatory and management control of local governments and port districts.

Sec. 2. RCW 80.50.020 and 1995 c 69 s 1 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) Except as provided in section 4 of this act, 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 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. 3. RCW 80.50.040 and 1990 c 12 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

The council shall have the following powers:

(1) To adopt, promulgate, amend, or rescind suitable rules and regulations, pursuant to chapter 34.05 RCW, to carry out the provisions of this chapter, and the policies and practices of the council in connection therewith;

(2) To develop and apply environmental and ecological guidelines in relation to the type, design, location, construction, and operational conditions of certification of energy facilities subject to this chapter;

(3) To establish rules of practice for the conduct of public hearings pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, as found in chapter 34.05 RCW;

(4) To prescribe the form, content, and necessary supporting documentation for site certification;

(5) To receive applications for energy facility locations and to investigate the sufficiency thereof;

(6) To make and contract, when applicable, for independent studies of sites proposed by the applicant;

(7) To conduct hearings on the proposed location of the energy facilities;

(8) To prepare written reports to the governor which shall include: (a) A statement indicating whether the application is in compliance with the council's guidelines, (b) criteria specific to the site and transmission line routing, (c) a council recommendation as to the disposition of the application, and (d) a draft certification agreement when the council recommends approval of the application;

(9) To prescribe the means for monitoring of the effects arising from the construction and the operation of energy facilities to assure continued compliance with terms of certification and/or permits issued by the council pursuant to chapter 90.48 RCW or subsection (12) of this section: PROVIDED, That any on-site inspection required by the council shall be performed by other state agencies pursuant to interagency agreement: PROVIDED FURTHER, That the council shall retain authority for determining compliance relative to monitoring;

(10) To integrate its site evaluation activity with activities of federal agencies having jurisdiction in such matters to avoid unnecessary duplication;

(11) To present state concerns and interests to other states, regional organizations, and the federal government on the location, construction, and operation of any energy facility which may affect the environment, health, or safety of the citizens of the state of Washington;

(12) To issue permits in compliance with applicable provisions of the federally approved state implementation plan adopted in accordance with the Federal Clean Air Act, as now existing or hereafter amended, for the new construction, reconstruction, or enlargement or operation of energy facilities: PROVIDED, That such permits shall become effective only if the governor approves an application for certification and executes a certification agreement pursuant to this chapter: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That all such permits be conditioned upon compliance with all provisions of the federally approved state implementation plan which apply to energy facilities covered within the provisions of this chapter; ((~~and~~))

(13) To serve as an interagency coordinating body for energy-related issues; and

(14) As set forth in section 4 of this act, to require certificate holders for unfinished and never-used nuclear power sites and facilities to cooperate with the county in which the sites are located, and with port districts within those counties, for adaptation and reuse of the sites and facilities for public purposes, including economic development; to provide that adaptation and reuse be pursued under the regulatory and management control of the counties and port districts; and to issue duplicative permits for adaptation and reuse.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 80.50 RCW to read as follows:

(1) If a certificate holder stops construction of a nuclear energy facility before completion, terminates the project or otherwise resolves not to complete construction, never introduces or stores the energy facility on-site, and never operates the energy facility as designed to produce energy, then the certificate holder and the council shall proceed as follows to secure the site and the energy facility, and to provide for restoration or redevelopment of the site, energy facility, and other improvements: The certificate holder shall establish cooperative arrangements by contract, interlocal agreements, memorandums of understanding, or by other formal means with the county in which the site is located, and/or with a port district within the county. The local cooperative arrangement shall include, among other things, provisions to effect the following:

(a) The county or port district either takes title, has first option to take title or enter into a long-term lease or lease with purchase option, or has an unconditional right of first refusal to obtain title to or lease all or portions of the site, energy facility, and other improvements;

(b) The county or port district shall pursue opportunities to adapt the site, energy facility, and other improvements for public purposes, including economic development;

(c) The certificate holder shall continue paying the costs of security and maintenance for the site, energy facility, and other improvements to ensure, at a minimum, that they remain in compliance with applicable permits and that the permits are kept current, and to ensure adequate protection for public safety, health, and the environment. The certificate holder, the county, and the port district may provide security and maintenance services as mutually agreed;

(d) The certificate holder shall assist in the funding of capital improvements at the site to accommodate alternative uses identified and promoted by the county or the port district. Funding assistance for capital improvements shall be limited to projects that contribute to making the site economically self-sufficient, and shall be provided in the form and amounts agreed to between the certificate holder and the county or port district;

(e) The certificate holder may retain interests in all or portions of the site, energy facility, and other improvements for development of energy projects as agreed with the county or port district; and

(f) The certificate holder, the county, and the port district may pursue demolition and salvage of the energy facility and other improvements, and restoration of the site to a reasonable approximation of its original condition, as mutually agreed.

(2) Upon establishment of a local cooperative arrangement, the site certification agreement shall be suspended to the extent necessary for the county to regulate pursuant to local and state law those portions of the site, energy facility, and other improvements in which the county or port district hold a leasehold or ownership interest, or an option to acquire such an interest. Capital improvements and development at the site that are not subject to regulation by the council as an anergy project shall be regulated by the county pursuant to local and state law.

(3) Upon establishment of a local cooperative arrangement, all permits granted under the site certification agreement shall remain in effect. When an option, ownership, or leasehold interest in all or portions of the site, energy facility, or other improvements is transferred from the certificate holder to the county or port district, the council shall issue, as requested by the county or port district duplicative permits to the county or port district applying to the property transferred. These permits shall allow the county or port district to pursue public uses, including economic development activities.

(a) If the water rights or permits for the extraction, conversion, transmission, storage, or use of water issued at the time certification was granted have since been forfeited or otherwise modified so as to reduce the amount of water that would be transferred by duplicative permit to the county or port district, the council shall issue a water right or permits to the county or port district for an amount of water that:

(i) Does not exceed the amount of the water right originally issued to the certificate holder for the energy project;

(ii) Reserves for the certificate holder a water right of sufficient amount to meet its needs for site restoration and currently planned energy projects at the site;

(iii) Does not adversely affect any senior water rights; and

(iv) Bears the same priority date as the original water right issued to the certificate holder.

(b) From the date of issue, the county or port district shall use the water right for public purposes, including economic development, and shall comply with applicable stream flow requirements and other provisions of state water law.

(4) The site certification agreement shall remain suspended as provided in subsection (2) of this section until the local cooperative arrangement expires or is terminated by its terms, at which time the council shall resume full regulatory authority under the site certification agreement for the portions of the site, energy facility, and other improvements in which an option, leasehold, ownership, or other interest has not been transferred to the county or port district. Regulatory responsibility for the permits issued under subsection (3) of this section shall be transferred from the council to the appropriate state or local agency, and these permits are valid as if they were issued by that agency.