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91_SB1541enr
SB1541 Enrolled LRB9110220JSgc
1 AN ACT to amend the Public Utilities Act by adding
2 Section 8-505.1.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by adding
6 Section 8-505.1 as follows:
7 (220 ILCS 5/8-505.1 new)
8 Sec. 8-505.1. Non-emergency vegetation management
9 activities.
10 (a) In conducting its non-emergency vegetation
11 management activities, an electric public utility shall:
12 (1) Follow the most current guidelines set forth by
13 the International Society of Arboriculture and the most
14 current applicable Occupational Safety and Health
15 Administration or American National Standards Institute
16 standards.
17 (2) Provide direct notice of vegetation management
18 activities at least 21 days before beginning those
19 activities. If the vegetation management activities will
20 occur in an incorporated municipality, the notice must be
21 given to the mayor. If the vegetation management
22 activities will occur in an unincorporated area, the
23 notice must be given to the chairman of the county board.
24 Maps or a description of the area to be affected by
25 vegetation management activities must accompany the
26 notice. Notification may be discontinued upon the
27 request of the governing body of the municipality or
28 county. Requests for the termination of notices shall be
29 in writing.
30 (3) Directly notify affected customers no fewer
31 than 7 days before the activity is scheduled to begin.
SB1541 Enrolled -2- LRB9110220JSgc
1 (4) Provide notified customers with a toll-free
2 telephone number to call regarding the vegetation
3 management activities.
4 The Commission shall have sole authority to investigate
5 and issue complaints against the utility under this
6 subsection (a).
7 (b) A public utility shall not be required to comply
8 with the requirements of paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of
9 subsection (a) when (i) it is taking actions to restore
10 reliable service after interruptions of service; (ii) there
11 is a franchise, contract, or written agreement between the
12 public utility and the municipality mandating specific
13 vegetation management practices; or (iii) there is a mutual
14 agreement between the municipality or county and the public
15 utility to waive the requirements of paragraph (2), (3), or
16 (4) of subsection (a), to the extent of the waiver agreement.
17 (c) If (i) no franchise, contract, or written agreement
18 between a utility and a municipality mandates a specific
19 vegetation management practice, (ii) no applicable tariff
20 governing non-emergency vegetation management practices has
21 been approved by the Commission, and (iii) the municipality
22 enacts an ordinance establishing standards for non-emergency
23 vegetation management practices that are more restrictive
24 than the standards established by this Section, then the
25 electric public utility may recover from the municipality the
26 difference between the costs of complying with the standards
27 established under the municipality's ordinance and the costs
28 of complying with the standards established by this Section.
29 Before beginning any non-emergency vegetation management
30 activities in a municipality that has enacted an ordinance
31 establishing standards for vegetation management practices
32 that are more restrictive than the standards established by
33 this Section, an electric public utility shall provide to the
34 municipality a good faith estimate of the costs of complying
SB1541 Enrolled -3- LRB9110220JSgc
1 with the more restrictive municipal standards for vegetation
2 management practices.
3 The provisions of this Section shall not in any way
4 diminish or replace other civil or administrative remedies
5 available to a customer or class of customers under this Act
6 nor invalidate any tariff approved or rule promulgated by the
7 Commission.
8 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
9 becoming law.
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