BILL REQ. #:  H-1673.2 

READ FIRST TIME 02/06/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to siting of energy facilities; amending RCW 80.50.060 and 80.50.075; and reenacting and amending RCW 80.50.020.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 80.50.020 and 2006 c 205 s 1 and 2006 c 196 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (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 115,000 volts to connect a thermal power plant or alternative energy facilities to the northwest power grid. However, 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 liquefied 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;
     (c) Electrical transmission facilities in excess of 115,000 volts in national interest electric transmission corridors as designated by the United States secretary of the department of energy or the federal energy regulatory commission pursuant to section 1221 of the national energy policy act, and such rules and regulations as the secretary or the federal energy regulatory commission adopts to implement the act.
     (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 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 three 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 one hundred thousand kilowatts or more, including associated facilities. For the purposes of this subsection, "floating thermal power plants" means a thermal power plant that is suspended on the surface of water by means of a barge, vessel, or other floating platform;
     (b) Facilities which will have the capacity to receive liquefied 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 liquefied 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 chapter 35.63, 35A.63, 36.70, or 36.70A RCW.
     (16) "Zoning ordinance" means an ordinance of a unit of local government regulating the use of land and adopted pursuant to chapter 35.63, 35A.63, 36.70, or 36.70A RCW or Article XI of the state Constitution.
     (17) "Alternative energy resource" means: (a) Wind; (b) solar energy; (c) geothermal energy; (d) landfill gas; (e) wave or tidal action; or (f) biomass energy based on solid organic fuels from wood, forest, or field residues, or dedicated energy crops that do not include wood pieces that have been treated with chemical preservatives such as creosote, pentachlorophenol, or copper-chrome-arsenic.
     (18) "Secretary" means the secretary of the United States department of energy.
     (19) "Aggregate site certification" means combining in a single application for site certification multiple substantially similar thermal power plants or alternative energy resources proposed for development by an applicant.
     (20) "Substantially similar" means two or more thermal power plants or alternative energy resources that use the same fuel and generation technology.

Sec. 2   RCW 80.50.060 and 2006 c 196 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The provisions of this chapter shall apply to the construction of energy facilities which includes the new construction of energy facilities and the reconstruction or enlargement of existing energy facilities where the net increase in physical capacity or dimensions resulting from such reconstruction or enlargement meets or exceeds those capacities or dimensions set forth in RCW 80.50.020 (7) and (14). No construction of such energy facilities may be undertaken, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, after July 15, 1977, without first obtaining certification in the manner provided in this chapter.
     (2) The provisions of this chapter apply to the construction, reconstruction, or enlargement of a new or existing energy facility that exclusively uses alternative energy resources and chooses to receive certification under this chapter, regardless of the generating capacity of the project.
     (3) The provisions of this chapter apply to the construction of new electrical transmission facilities or the modification of existing electrical transmission facilities in a national interest electric transmission corridor designated by the secretary.
     (4) The provisions of this chapter shall apply to the construction of new thermal energy plants or alternative energy resources where the applicant chooses to use aggregate site certification.
     (5) The provisions of this chapter apply to the construction, reconstruction, or enlargement of new or existing energy plants with a generating capacity up to three hundred fifty thousand kilowatts and chooses to receive site certification under this chapter.
     (6) Local governments may defer jurisdiction over the construction, reconstruction, or enlargement of a new or existing energy plant with a generating capacity from thirty-five thousand kilowatts up to three hundred fifty thousand kilowatts to the council.
     (7) The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to normal maintenance and repairs which do not increase the capacity or dimensions beyond those set forth in RCW 80.50.020 (7) and (14).
     (((5))) (8) Applications for certification of energy facilities made prior to July 15, 1977, shall continue to be governed by the applicable provisions of law in effect on the day immediately preceding July 15, 1977, with the exceptions of RCW 80.50.190 and 80.50.071 which shall apply to such prior applications and to site certifications prospectively from July 15, 1977.
     (((6))) (9) Applications for certification shall be upon forms prescribed by the council and shall be supported by such information and technical studies as the council may require.

Sec. 3   RCW 80.50.075 and 2006 c 205 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any person filing an application for certification ((of an energy facility or an alternative energy resource facility pursuant to)) under this chapter may apply to the council for an expedited processing of such an application. The application for expedited processing shall be submitted to the council in such form and manner and accompanied by such information as may be prescribed by council rule. The council may grant an applicant expedited processing of an application for certification upon finding that the environmental impact of the proposed energy facility is not significant or will be mitigated to a nonsignificant level under RCW 43.21C.031 and the project is found under RCW 80.50.090(2) to be consistent and in compliance with city, county, or regional land use plans or zoning ordinances.
     (2) Upon granting an applicant expedited processing of an application for certification, the council shall not be required to:
     (a) Commission an independent study to further measure the consequences of the proposed energy facility or alternative energy resource facility on the environment, notwithstanding the other provisions of RCW 80.50.071; nor
     (b) Hold an adjudicative proceeding under chapter 34.05 RCW, the administrative procedure act, on the application.
     (3) The council shall adopt rules governing the expedited processing of an application for certification pursuant to this section.