Full Text of SB1469 98th General Assembly
SB1469sam002 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. John M. Sullivan Filed: 4/15/2013
| | 09800SB1469sam002 | | LRB098 06744 CEL 44543 a |
|
| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1469
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1469, AS AMENDED, | 3 | | by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the | 4 | | following:
| 5 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Wind | 6 | | Energy Facilities Construction and Deconstruction Act. | 7 | | Section 5. Purposes. The primary purposes of this Act is to | 8 | | promote the State's welfare by protecting landowners during the | 9 | | construction and deconstruction of commercial wind energy | 10 | | facilities. | 11 | | Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act: | 12 | | "Commercial wind energy facility" means a wind energy | 13 | | conversion facility of equal or greater than 500 kilowatts in | 14 | | total nameplate generating capacity that has not already been | 15 | | constructed
or permitted by decision of a county or |
| | | 09800SB1469sam002 | - 2 - | LRB098 06744 CEL 44543 a |
|
| 1 | | municipality prior to the effective date of this Act. | 2 | | "Commercial wind energy operator" means a private | 3 | | commercial enterprise that owns or operates a wind energy | 4 | | facility of equal to or greater than 500 kilowatts in total | 5 | | nameplate capacity. | 6 | | "Commission" means the Illinois Commerce Commission. | 7 | | "Deconstruction" means the removal of a wind energy | 8 | | generation facility from the property of a landowner and the | 9 | | restoration of that property as provided in the agricultural | 10 | | impact mitigation agreement. | 11 | | "Department" means the Illinois Department of Agriculture. | 12 | | "Landowner" means any person with an ownership interest in | 13 | | property (i) that is used for agricultural purposes and (ii) | 14 | | that is party to an underlying agreement. | 15 | | "Underlying agreement" means the written or oral agreement | 16 | | with a landowner including, but not limited to, an easement, | 17 | | option, lease, or license, under the terms of which another | 18 | | person has constructed, constructs, or intends to construct a | 19 | | commercial wind energy facility on the property of the | 20 | | landowner. | 21 | | "Wind turbine" means a wind turbine of equal to or greater | 22 | | than 500 kilowatts in total nameplate generating capacity. | 23 | | Section 15. Agricultural impact mitigation agreement. | 24 | | (a) An owner or operator of a commercial wind energy | 25 | | facility located on landowner property shall enter into an |
| | | 09800SB1469sam002 | - 3 - | LRB098 06744 CEL 44543 a |
|
| 1 | | agricultural impact mitigation agreement with the Department | 2 | | outlining construction and deconstruction standards and | 3 | | policies designed to preserve the integrity of any agricultural | 4 | | land that is impacted by commercial wind energy facility | 5 | | construction and deconstruction. This requirement does not | 6 | | apply to commercial wind energy facilities already constructed | 7 | | or permitted by decision of a county or municipality prior to | 8 | | the effective date of this Act. | 9 | | (b) The agricultural impact mitigation agreement shall | 10 | | address such items as access roads, construction staging and | 11 | | storage areas, excavation and backfill, protection of | 12 | | agricultural drainage tiles, wind turbine foundations, wind | 13 | | turbine erection, restoration of agricultural land affected by | 14 | | all construction and deconstruction, indemnification of | 15 | | landowners, monitoring, and remediation. | 16 | | (c) 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. | 22 | | (d) The Department shall adopt rules that are necessary and | 23 | | appropriate for the implementation and administration of | 24 | | agricultural impact mitigation agreements as required under | 25 | | this Act. |
| | | 09800SB1469sam002 | - 4 - | LRB098 06744 CEL 44543 a |
|
| 1 | | Section 20. Deconstruction activities. | 2 | | (a) The commercial wind energy operator is responsible for | 3 | | deconstruction of the commercial wind energy facility and for | 4 | | all costs associated with deconstruction of that facility and | 5 | | associated facilities. | 6 | | (b) A commercial wind energy facility is presumed to be at | 7 | | the end of its useful life if (i) the commercial wind energy | 8 | | operator fails, for a period of 18 consecutive months, to | 9 | | operate a commercial wind facility for the purpose of which it | 10 | | was designed and installed and (ii) the commercial wind energy | 11 | | operator fails, for a period of 6 consecutive months, to pay | 12 | | the landowner moneys owed to him or her in accordance with the | 13 | | underlying agreement. | 14 | | (c) The commercial wind energy operator shall begin | 15 | | deconstruction of the commercial wind energy facility within 8 | 16 | | months after the time the facility or turbine reaches the end | 17 | | of its useful life. Deconstruction must be completed within 18 | 18 | | months after the commercial wind energy facility reaches the | 19 | | end of its useful life. | 20 | | (d) No less than 120 days prior to the beginning of | 21 | | construction, owners or operators of commercial wind energy | 22 | | facilities shall file with the Commission a plan that includes: | 23 | | (1) a copy of the agricultural impact mitigation | 24 | | agreement entered into by the owner or operator and the | 25 | | Department; | 26 | | (2) the estimated deconstruction cost per turbine, in |
| | | 09800SB1469sam002 | - 5 - | LRB098 06744 CEL 44543 a |
|
| 1 | | current dollars at the time of filing, for the proposed | 2 | | commercial wind energy facility; and | 3 | | (3) a comprehensive detailed description describing | 4 | | how the commercial wind energy owner or operator plans to | 5 | | pay for the deconstruction of the commercial wind energy | 6 | | facility. | 7 | | The plan shall be prepared by an independent third party at | 8 | | the commercial wind energy operator's expense. The plan may be | 9 | | filed in separate portions, each also no less than 120 days | 10 | | prior to construction, involving each phase in which the | 11 | | commercial wind energy facility is to be constructed, if the | 12 | | facility is to be constructed in phases commencing at periods | 13 | | of more than one year following each other. The Commission | 14 | | shall enter an order approving, modifying, or disapproving that | 15 | | plan. | 16 | | (e) No less than 120 days prior to the beginning of | 17 | | construction of any commercial wind energy facility, the | 18 | | commercial wind energy owner or operator shall file with the | 19 | | Commission a reclamation bond that is acceptable to the | 20 | | Commission to cover the anticipated costs of deconstruction of | 21 | | the commercial wind energy facility or any turbine thereon. The | 22 | | reclamation bond shall not release the surety from liability | 23 | | until the bond is replaced. In determining the anticipated | 24 | | costs of deconstruction, the Commission shall take into | 25 | | account, among other things, the information provided under | 26 | | subsection (d), the number of wind turbines and related |
| | | 09800SB1469sam002 | - 6 - | LRB098 06744 CEL 44543 a |
|
| 1 | | commercial wind energy facilities involved, the original | 2 | | construction costs of the commercial wind energy facilities, | 3 | | the size and capacity of the wind turbines, the salvage value | 4 | | of the commercial wind energy facilities, and the construction | 5 | | method and techniques for the turbines and other commercial | 6 | | wind energy facilities. The Commission shall examine the | 7 | | reclamation bond and enter an order approving, modifying, or | 8 | | rejecting the reclamation bond. The Commission shall | 9 | | reevaluate the anticipated costs of deconstruction of any | 10 | | commercial wind energy facility every 5 years after its initial | 11 | | assessment or if there is a change in commercial wind energy | 12 | | facility's owner, operator, or reclamation bond, and, based on | 13 | | any reevaluation, require changes in the level of reclamation | 14 | | bond required from the commercial wind energy facility owner or | 15 | | operator. If the Commission is unable to its satisfaction to | 16 | | perform any investigations necessary to enter an order | 17 | | approving any deconstruction plan filed by a commercial wind | 18 | | energy facility owner or operator, then the Commission may | 19 | | select persons independent of the commercial wind energy | 20 | | facility owner or operator to conduct any necessary | 21 | | investigations and the commercial wind energy facility owner or | 22 | | operator shall bear the cost of any such investigations. | 23 | | (f) If the commercial wind energy operator does not | 24 | | complete deconstruction, the Commission may take such action as | 25 | | necessary to complete deconstruction, including drawing upon | 26 | | the financial assurance required in subsection (e). |
| | | 09800SB1469sam002 | - 7 - | LRB098 06744 CEL 44543 a |
|
| 1 | | (g) If there is a change in ownership of the wind energy | 2 | | facility, the commercial wind energy operator assuming | 3 | | ownership of the facility shall provide notice within 30 days | 4 | | to the Commission of such change and the existing financial | 5 | | assurance requirements for the facility as required in | 6 | | subsection (e) will apply to the new operator. | 7 | | (h) The Commission has no authority or responsibility for
| 8 | | commercial wind facilities that have already been constructed | 9 | | or
permitted by decision of a county or municipality prior to | 10 | | the
effective date of this Act.
| 11 | | (i) The Commission shall adopt rules that are necessary and | 12 | | appropriate for the implementation and administration of | 13 | | deconstruction activities as required under this Act. | 14 | | (j) In addition to any authority granted the Commission | 15 | | under this Act, the Commission is also authorized to impose | 16 | | reasonable filing fees and penalties. Fees and penalties | 17 | | collected under this Act shall be deposited into the Public | 18 | | Utility Fund and used to fund the Commission's compliance with | 19 | | the obligations imposed by this Section.
| 20 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 21 | | becoming law.".
|
|