Full Text of SB1469 98th General Assembly
SB1469sam001 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. John M. Sullivan Filed: 3/12/2013
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1469
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1469 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Wind | 5 | | Energy Facilities Construction and Deconstruction Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Purposes. The primary purposes of this Act are | 7 | | to promote the State's welfare by protecting landowners during | 8 | | the construction and deconstruction of commercial wind energy | 9 | | facilities. | 10 | | Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act: | 11 | | "Commercial wind energy facility" means a wind energy | 12 | | conversion facility of equal or greater than 500 kilowatts in | 13 | | total nameplate generating capacity. | 14 | | "Commission" means the Illinois Commerce Commission. | 15 | | "Commercial wind energy operator" means a private |
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| 1 | | commercial enterprise that owns or operates a wind energy | 2 | | facility of equal to or greater than 500 kilowatts in total | 3 | | nameplate capacity. | 4 | | "Department" means the Illinois Department of Agriculture. | 5 | | "Deconstruction" means the removal of a wind energy | 6 | | generation facility from the property of a landowner and the | 7 | | restoration of that property to the condition in which it | 8 | | existed immediately before the construction of the wind energy | 9 | | facility including, but not limited to, the restoration of the | 10 | | topography of the property to its condition before construction | 11 | | provided, however, that foundations, pads, electrical lines, | 12 | | and any other underground facility must be removed to a depth | 13 | | of 5 feet below the surface of the ground. | 14 | | "Landowner" means any person with an ownership interest in | 15 | | property (i) that is used for agricultural purposes and (ii) | 16 | | that is party to an underlying agreement. | 17 | | "Underlying agreement" means the written or oral agreement | 18 | | with a landowner including, but not limited to, an easement, | 19 | | option, lease, or license, under the terms of which another | 20 | | person has constructed, constructs, or intends to construct a | 21 | | commercial wind energy facility on the property of the | 22 | | landowner. | 23 | | "Wind turbine" means a wind turbine of equal to or greater | 24 | | than 500 kilowatts in total nameplate generating capacity. | 25 | | "Wind turbine tower height" means the distance from the | 26 | | wind turbine rotor blade at its highest point to the top |
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| 1 | | surface of the wind turbine foundation. | 2 | | Section 15. Construction activities. | 3 | | (a) A commercial wind energy operator that is the owner of | 4 | | a commercial wind energy facility located on land owned by | 5 | | another person or entity shall enter into an agricultural | 6 | | impact mitigation agreement with the Department outlining | 7 | | construction standards and policies designed to preserve the | 8 | | integrity of any agricultural land that is impacted by | 9 | | commercial wind energy facility construction. The agricultural | 10 | | impact mitigation agreement shall address such items as access | 11 | | roads, construction staging and storage areas, excavation and | 12 | | backfill, protection of agricultural drainage tiles, wind | 13 | | turbine foundations, wind turbine erection, restoration of | 14 | | agricultural land affected by all construction, | 15 | | indemnification of landowners, monitoring, and remediation. | 16 | | (b) The agricultural impact mitigation agreement shall be | 17 | | entered into prior to the construction of the commercial wind | 18 | | energy facility. The agricultural impact mitigation agreement | 19 | | is binding on any subsequent wind energy operator that takes | 20 | | ownership of the commercial wind energy facility that is the | 21 | | subject of the agreement. The agricultural impact mitigation | 22 | | agreement is not required for commercial wind energy facilities | 23 | | already constructed or properly permitted or sited by decision | 24 | | of a county or municipality made prior to the effective date of | 25 | | this Act. |
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| 1 | | (c) The Department shall adopt rules that are necessary and | 2 | | appropriate for the implementation and administration of | 3 | | agricultural impact mitigation agreements as required under | 4 | | this Act. | 5 | | Section 20. Deconstruction activities. | 6 | | (a) The commercial wind energy operator is responsible for | 7 | | deconstruction of the commercial wind energy facility and for | 8 | | all costs associated with deconstruction of that facility and | 9 | | associated facilities. | 10 | | (b) A commercial wind energy facility is presumed to be at | 11 | | the end of its useful life if (i) the commercial wind energy | 12 | | operator fails, for a period of 12 consecutive months, to | 13 | | operate a commercial wind facility or wind turbine for the | 14 | | purpose of which it was designed and installed and (ii) the | 15 | | commercial wind energy operator fails, for a period of 6 | 16 | | consecutive months, to pay the landowner moneys owed to him or | 17 | | her in accordance with the underlying agreement. | 18 | | (c) The commercial wind energy operator shall begin | 19 | | deconstruction of the commercial wind energy facility within 8 | 20 | | months after the time the facility or turbine reaches the end | 21 | | of its useful life. Deconstruction must be completed within 18 | 22 | | months after the commercial wind energy facility reaches the | 23 | | end of its useful life. | 24 | | (d) Commercial wind energy operators of commercial wind | 25 | | energy facilities not properly sited or permitted by decision |
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| 1 | | of a county or municipality prior to the effective date of this | 2 | | Act shall file with the Commission a plan detailing the | 3 | | estimated deconstruction cost per turbine, in current dollars | 4 | | at the time of filing, for the proposed commercial wind energy | 5 | | conversion facility. The plan shall be prepared by an | 6 | | independent third party at the commercial wind energy | 7 | | operator's expense. The plan must also include a comprehensive | 8 | | detailed description describing how the commercial wind energy | 9 | | operator plans to pay for the deconstruction of the commercial | 10 | | wind energy facility. The Commission may at any time after the | 11 | | construction of the commercial wind energy facility require the | 12 | | commercial wind energy operator to file a report to the | 13 | | Commission describing how the operator is fulfilling its | 14 | | obligations under this Section. | 15 | | (e) The Commission shall require the commercial wind energy | 16 | | operator to secure a performance bond, surety bond, letter of | 17 | | credit, corporate guarantee, or other form of financial | 18 | | assurance that is acceptable to the Commission to cover the | 19 | | anticipated costs of deconstruction of the commercial wind | 20 | | energy facility or turbine. In determining the anticipated | 21 | | costs of deconstruction, the Commission shall take into | 22 | | account, among other things, the information provided under | 23 | | subsection (d), the number of wind turbines and related | 24 | | commercial wind energy facilities involved, the original | 25 | | construction costs of the commercial wind energy facilities, | 26 | | the size and capacity of the wind turbines, and the |
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| 1 | | construction method and techniques for the turbines and other | 2 | | commercial wind energy facilities. The Commission will | 3 | | reevaluate the anticipated costs of deconstruction every 5 | 4 | | years after its initial assessment or if there is a change in | 5 | | commercial wind energy operator for a particular commercial | 6 | | wind energy facility, and based on that reevaluation require | 7 | | changes in the level of financial assurance required from the | 8 | | commercial wind energy operator. | 9 | | (f) If the commercial wind energy operator does not | 10 | | complete deconstruction, the Commission may take such action as | 11 | | necessary to complete deconstruction, including drawing upon | 12 | | the financial assurance required in subsection (d). The entry | 13 | | into an underlying agreement shall constitute agreement and | 14 | | consent of the parties to the agreement and their respective | 15 | | heirs, successors, and assigns that the Commission may take | 16 | | such action as may be necessary for the deconstruction of the | 17 | | commercial wind energy facility or wind turbine, including the | 18 | | exercise by the Commission, Commission staff, and its | 19 | | contractors of the right of ingress and egress for the purpose | 20 | | of deconstruction of the commercial wind energy facility. | 21 | | (g) If there is a change in ownership of the wind energy | 22 | | facility, the commercial wind energy operator assuming | 23 | | ownership of the facility shall provide notice to the | 24 | | Commission of such change and the existing financial assurance | 25 | | requirements for the facility as required in subsection (e) | 26 | | will apply to the new operator. |
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| 1 | | (h) The Commission shall adopt rules that are necessary and | 2 | | appropriate for the implementation and administration of | 3 | | deconstruction activities as required under this Act.
| 4 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 5 | | becoming law.".
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