BILL REQ. #: H-1069.2
State of Washington | 60th Legislature | 2007 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 01/22/07.
AN ACT Relating to siting electrical transmission under the energy facility site evaluation council; amending RCW 80.50.060; reenacting and amending RCW 80.50.020; and adding a new section to chapter 80.50 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 80.50.020 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;
(d) Electrical transmission lines and related equipment designed
for or capable of operating at a nominal voltage of at least one
hundred fifteen thousand volts.
(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.
Sec. 2 RCW 80.50.060 and 2006 c 196 s 4 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (4) of this section,
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 apply to the construction of new
electrical transmission facilities and the reconstruction or expansion
of existing electrical transmission facilities where the person
developing the new or expanded electrical transmission facilities
chooses to receive certification under this chapter.
(5) 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))) (6) 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))) (7) 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.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 A new section is added to chapter 80.50 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) On or after July 1, 2009, for applications to site electrical
transmission facilities under RCW 80.50.060(4), the council must
approve applications for siting of electrical transmission facilities
in corridors designated for this purpose by a county or city under
chapter 36.70A RCW where the county or city has:
(a) Identified electrical transmission facility corridors as part
of its comprehensive plan under chapter 36.70A RCW and has adopted
policies and maps that guide the siting of electrical transmission
facilities;
(b) Adopted development regulations under chapter 36.70A RCW that
implement the siting of electrical transmission facilities; and
(c) Coordinated its applicable plan and regulations with those
jurisdictions that have common borders or related regional electrical
transmission facility siting issues.
(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section are intended
to limit the council's authority to certify the location of electrical
transmission facilities but not the regulation, construction, and
operational conditions of the electrical transmission facilities.