HB 1456 – AS INTRODUCED
2014 SESSION
10/08
HOUSE BILL 1456
AN ACT relative to the issuance of certificate for energy facilities by the site evaluation committee.
SPONSORS: Rep. Murotake, Hills 32; Rep. Rappaport, Coos 1
COMMITTEE: Science, Technology and Energy
This bill requires that the site evaluation committee under RSA 162-H make a finding concerning applicant capability, municipal and regional concerns, and adverse effects before issuing a certificate for an energy facility.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
14-2191
10/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fourteen
AN ACT relative to the issuance of certificate for energy facilities by the site evaluation committee.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Declaration of Purpose; Energy Facilities; Site Evaluation. 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 the routing of high voltage transmission lines and energy transmission pipelines, will have a significant impact upon the welfare of the population, the location and growth of industry, the overall economic growth of the state, the environment of the state, and the use of natural resources.
II. Accordingly, the legislature finds that it is in the public interest to maintain a balance between the environment and the need for new energy facilities in New Hampshire; that undue delay in the construction of needed facilities be avoided and that full and timely consideration of environmental consequences be provided; that all entities planning to construct facilities in the state be required to provide full and complete disclosure to the public of such plans; 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, all to assure that the state has an adequate and reliable supply of energy in conformance with sound environmental principles.
III. 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, and hereby stipulates that the site evaluation committee may only approve sites for energy facilities that will not unduly interfere with the orderly development of the region with due consideration having been given to the views of municipal and regional planning commissions and municipal governing bodies, and will not have an unreasonable adverse effect on aesthetics, historic sites, air and water quality, the natural environment, and public health and safety.
2 Site Evaluation Committee; Certificate Issuance. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA?162-H:16, IV to read as follows:
IV. The site evaluation committee, after having considered available alternatives and fully reviewed the environmental impact of the site or route, and other relevant factors bearing on whether the objectives of this chapter would be best served by the issuance of the certificate, [must find] shall only issue a certificate after finding that the site and facility:
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.