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91_SB1541ham003
LRB9110220JSpcam09
1 AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1541
2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend Senate Bill 1541, AS AMENDED,
3 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
4 following:
5 "Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by
6 adding 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
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1 notice must be given to the chairman of the county board.
2 Maps or a description of the area to be affected by
3 vegetation management activities must accompany the
4 notice. Notification may be discontinued upon the
5 request of the governing body of the municipality or
6 county. Requests for the termination of notices shall be
7 in writing.
8 (3) Directly notify affected customers no fewer
9 than 7 days before the activity is scheduled to begin.
10 (4) Provide notified customers with a toll-free
11 telephone number to call regarding the vegetation
12 management activities.
13 The Commission shall have sole authority to investigate
14 and issue complaints against the utility under this
15 subsection (a).
16 (b) A public utility shall not be required to comply
17 with the requirements of paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of
18 subsection (a) when (i) it is taking actions to restore
19 reliable service after interruptions of service; (ii) there
20 is a franchise, contract, or written agreement between the
21 public utility and the municipality mandating specific
22 vegetation management practices; or (iii) there is a mutual
23 agreement between the municipality or county and the public
24 utility to waive the requirements of paragraph (2), (3), or
25 (4) of subsection (a), to the extent of the waiver agreement.
26 (c) If (i) no franchise, contract, or written agreement
27 between a utility and a municipality mandates a specific
28 vegetation management practice, (ii) no applicable tariff
29 governing non-emergency vegetation management practices has
30 been approved by the Commission, and (iii) the municipality
31 enacts an ordinance establishing standards for non-emergency
32 vegetation management practices that are more restrictive
33 than the standards established by this Section, then the
34 electric public utility may recover from the municipality the
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1 difference between the costs of complying with the standards
2 established under the municipality's ordinance and the costs
3 of complying with the standards established by this Section.
4 Before beginning any non-emergency vegetation management
5 activities in a municipality that has enacted an ordinance
6 establishing standards for vegetation management practices
7 that are more restrictive than the standards established by
8 this Section, an electric public utility shall provide to the
9 municipality a good faith estimate of the costs of complying
10 with the more restrictive municipal standards for vegetation
11 management practices.
12 The provisions of this Section shall not in any way
13 diminish or replace other civil or administrative remedies
14 available to a customer or class of customers under this Act
15 nor invalidate any tariff approved or rule promulgated by the
16 Commission.
17 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
18 becoming law.".
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