HB 1562 – AS INTRODUCED
2008 SESSION
06/03
HOUSE BILL 1562
AN ACT relative to procedures of the site evaluation committee.
SPONSORS: Rep. Andersen, Graf 11
COMMITTEE: Science, Technology and Energy
This bill:
I. Requires bulk power supply and renewable energy facilities to meet certain criteria for evaluation of their siting, construction, and operation.
II. Extends the scope of preconstruction review.
III. Requires a detailed environmental assessment with site evaluation applications.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
08-2230
06/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eight
AN ACT relative to procedures of the site evaluation committee.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Declaration and Purpose. Amend RSA 162-H:1 to read as follows:
162-H:1 Declaration of Purpose.
I. The legislature recognizes that the selection of sites for energy facilities, including renewable energy facilities, and bulk power supply facilities will have a significant impact upon the welfare of the population, the economic growth of the state, and the environment of the state. The legislature, accordingly, finds that the public interest requires that it is essential to maintain a balance between the environment and the possible need for new energy facilities in New Hampshire; that undue delay in construction of any needed facilities be avoided; and that the state ensure that the construction and operation of energy facilities is treated as a significant aspect of land-use planning in which all environmental, economic, and technical issues are resolved in an integrated fashion. The legislature, therefore, hereby establishes a procedure for the review, approval, monitoring, and enforcement of compliance in the planning, siting, construction, and operation of energy facilities. The legislature also recognizes that it has a broad responsibility to provide both economic and environmental protection for its coastal and estuarine waters and the adjoining land areas. The legislature therefore declares it to be its policy that any offshore facility, other than pipelines, shall be located so as to at least comply with the policies and guidelines of the federal Environmental Protection Agency; and that this policy may be relaxed only if it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that there are compelling technological or economic reasons for doing so, that no feasible alternative exists, and that there will be no substantial environmental risk.
II. The legislature also finds that the present and predicted growth in electric power demands in the state of New Hampshire requires the development of a procedure for the selection and utilization of sites for electric generating facilities and the identification of a state position with respect to each proposed site. The legislature recognizes that the selection of sites and the routing of associated transmission lines 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. The legislature, accordingly, finds that the public interest requires that it is essential to maintain a balance between the environment and the need for new power sources; that electric power supplies must be constructed on a timely basis; that in order to avoid undue delay in construction of needed facilities and to provide full and timely consideration of environmental consequences, all entities planning to construct facilities in the state should be required to provide full and complete disclosure to the public of such plans; that a certifying body be established for the preconstruction review of [high voltage transmission lines] facilities, structures, power lines including connector and transmission lines, and pipelines; that the siting of electric generating plants [and high voltage transmission lines] including related equipment such as substations and transformers, connector and transmission lines, and pipelines should be treated as a significant aspect of land-use planning in which all environmental, economic, and technical issues should be resolved in an integrated fashion, so as to assure the state an adequate and reliable supply of electric power in conformance with sound environmental utilization. The legislature, therefore, hereby establishes a procedure for the planning, siting, and construction of [large] electric generating facilities, [and high voltage] structures and related equipment, and power lines including connector and transmission lines and pipelines.
2 Definitions. Amend RSA 162-H:2, II to read as follows:
II. “Bulk power supply facilities” means:
(a) Electric generating station equipment and associated facilities designed for, or capable of, operation at any capacity of 30 megawatts or more, or electric generating station equipment and associated equipment which the applicant or [2 or more petition categories] any petitioner as defined in RSA 162-H:2, XI may request [and the committee agrees,] or which the committee determines should require a certificate, consistent with the findings and purposes set forth in RSA 162-H:1.
(b) [An] Any electric connector and transmission [line of design rating of 100 kilovolts or more,] lines associated with a generating facility outlined in subparagraph (a), over a route not already occupied by a transmission line or lines.
(c) An electric connector or transmission line [of a design rating in excess of 100 kilovolts] that is in excess of 10 miles in length, over a route not already occupied by a transmission line, or an electric transmission line which the applicant or [2 or more petition categories] petitioner as defined in RSA 162-H:2, XI may request [and the committee agrees], or which the committee determines should require a certificate, consistent with the findings and purposes set forth in RSA162-H:1.
3 Definitions. Amend RSA 162-H:2, VII to read as follows:
VII. “Energy facility” means any industrial structure, other than bulk power supply facilities, as defined in paragraph II, that may be used substantially to extract, produce, manufacture, transport, or refine sources of energy, including ancillary facilities as may be used or useful in transporting, storing, or otherwise providing for the raw materials or products of any such industrial structure. This shall include but not be limited to industrial structures such as oil refineries, gas plants, equipment and associated facilities designed to use any, or a combination of, natural gas, propane gas, and liquefied natural gas, which store on site a quantity of such gas to provide 7 days of continuous operation at a rate equivalent to the energy requirements of a 30 megawatt electric generating station and its associated facilities, plants for coal conversion, and onshore and offshore loading and unloading facilities for energy sources. Energy facility shall also include energy transmission pipelines, storage tanks, or any other facility which the applicant [or 2 or more petition categories] petitioner as defined in RSA 162-H:2, XI [request and the committee agrees] requests, or which the committee determines requires a certificate, consistent with the findings and purposes set forth in RSA 162-H:1.
4 Definitions. Amend RSA 162-H:2, XI to read as follows:
XI. “Petitioner” means a person filing a petition meeting any of the following conditions:
(a) A petition endorsed by [100 or more registered voters in the host community or host communities] a person adversely affected by the proposal or an organization with a member or members adversely affected by the proposal.
(b) A petition endorsed by 100 or more registered voters from a host or abutting [communities] community.
(c) A petition endorsed by the board of selectmen of the host community or [2 or more boards] the board of selectmen of an abutting [communities] community.
(d) A petition filed by the [potential] applicant.
5 Time Frames. RSA 162-H:6, IV is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
IV. After acceptance of the application the committee, upon 30 days notice, shall promptly hold at least one public hearing in each county in which the proposed facility, structure, related equipment, connector and transmission lines, and pipelines are to be located.
6 Time Frames. Amend RSA 162-H:6, VI to read as follows:
VI. Any state agency having jurisdiction under RSA 162-H:7 shall make and submit to the committee a final decision on the parts of the application that relate to its jurisdiction, no later than 8 months after the application has been accepted. Within 30 days of the submission of final decisions, the committee shall hold a second public hearing on the merits of the application and the environmental assessment required by RSA 162-H:7, V(c), consistent with RSA 162-H:10, II.
7 Application for Certificate. Amend RSA 162-H:7, I to read as follows:
I. All applications for a certificate for a bulk power supply facility, energy facility, and renewable energy facility shall be filed with the commission in sufficient quantities for each reviewing agency. Such applications may be subject to reasonable minor modification during the period of review. Applications shall include completed application forms from each individual agency. As a prerequisite to filing, except for good cause shown, as determined by the committee, an electric utility shall comply with the provisions of RSA 162-H:17. Power plants and transmission line routes, except for good cause shown, as determined by the committee, shall comply with the requirement that the site selected is from among those sites in the electric utility’s 5-year inventory of sites approved by the committee and that it will utilize the general transmission line routes identified in its long-range plans.
8 Application for Certificate. Amend RSA 162-H:7, V to read as follows:
V. Each application for a bulk power supply facility, energy facility, and renewable energy facility shall also:
(a) Describe in reasonable detail the type and size of each major part of the proposed facility including the facility, structures, related equipment, connector and transmission lines, and pipelines.
(b) Identify both the preferred choice and any other choices for the site of each major part of the proposed facility.
(c) [Describe in reasonable detail the impact of each major part of the proposed facility on the environment for each site proposed.] Provide an environmental assessment demonstrating a reasonable certainty that the proposal will cause no significant adverse effects on the environment.
(d) Describe in reasonable detail the applicant’s proposals for studying and solving environmental problems including a detailed examination of alternative proposals that will minimize the significant environmental effects, and mitigation proposals together with a description of how those proposals would be implemented.
(e) Describe in reasonable detail the applicant’s financial, technical, and managerial capability for construction and operation of the proposed facility.
(f) Document that written notification of the proposed project, including appropriate copies of the application, has been given to the appropriate governing body of each community in which the facility is proposed to be located.
(g) Provide such additional information as the committee may require to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
V-a. If after the public hearing required by RSA 162-H:6, VI the committee concludes, on the basis of the evidence and public comment, that the proposal may have significant effects on the environment, the applicant shall prepare an environmental effect statement. The environmental effect statement shall set forth a detailed summary of:
(a) The description of the project, including plant, related equipment, and right-of-way routes for connector and transmission lines, tower specifications and locations, and line specifications and voltages.
(b) All significant adverse effects on the environment that may be caused by the proposal.
9 Public Hearings. RSA 162-H:10, I is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
I. After acceptance of the application, the committee, upon 30 days notice, shall promptly hold at least one public hearing in each county in which the proposed facility is to be located. The notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties in which the facility, structure, associated equipment, connector and transmission lines, and pipelines are to be located. The notice shall describe the nature and location of the facility, structure, related equipment, connector and transmission lines, and pipelines, and a summary of the environmental effects of the proposal. Written notice shall be given to each host community and abutting landowner. The written notice requirement shall be satisfied by certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the tax mailing address of the host community and abutting landowners. Proof of service shall be included by the committee in the public record. The hearings shall be for public information on the proposed facility, structure, associated equipment, connector and transmission lines, and pipelines with the applicant presenting the information to the site evaluation committee and to the public. The second public hearing, under RSA 162-H:6, VI, shall be held on the merits of the application and the environmental effects of the proposal as described in the environmental assessment. At such public hearing, the committee shall hear testimony and receive evidence submitted on behalf of the applicant, petitioners, intervenors, agencies with jurisdiction, and members of the public represented by counsel for the public appointed under RSA 162-H:9. The committee may also receive comment from any member of the public. Notice of the second public hearing shall be as required for the first public hearing.
10 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.