Full Text of SB0928 101st General Assembly
SB0928sam001 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Sen. Sue Rezin Filed: 4/5/2019
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 928
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 928 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 8-508.1 as follows:
| 6 | | (220 ILCS 5/8-508.1) (from Ch. 111 2/3, par. 8-508.1)
| 7 | | Sec. 8-508.1. (a) As used in this Section:
| 8 | | (1) "Decommissioning" means the series of activities | 9 | | undertaken at the
time a nuclear power plant is permanently | 10 | | retired from service to ensure
that the final entombment, | 11 | | decontamination, dismantlement, removal and
disposal of | 12 | | the plant, including the plant site, and of any radioactive
| 13 | | components and materials associated with the plant, is | 14 | | accomplished in
compliance with all applicable Illinois | 15 | | and federal laws, and to ensure
that such final disposition | 16 | | does not pose any threat to the public health
and safety.
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| 1 | | (2) "Decommissioning costs" means all reasonable costs | 2 | | and expenses
incurred in connection with the entombment, | 3 | | decontamination, dismantlement,
removal and disposal of | 4 | | the structures, systems and components of a nuclear
power | 5 | | plant at the time of decommissioning, including all | 6 | | expenses to be
incurred in connection with the preparation | 7 | | for decommissioning, such as
engineering and other | 8 | | planning expenses, and to be incurred after the
actual | 9 | | decommissioning occurs, such as physical security and | 10 | | radiation
monitoring expenses, less proceeds of insurance, | 11 | | salvage or resale of
machinery, construction equipment or | 12 | | apparatus the cost of which was
charged as a | 13 | | decommissioning expense.
| 14 | | (3) "Decommissioning trust" or "trust" means a | 15 | | fiduciary account in a
bank or other financial institution | 16 | | established to hold the decommissioning
funds provided | 17 | | pursuant to subsection (b)(2) of this Section for the
| 18 | | eventual purpose of paying decommissioning costs, which | 19 | | shall be separate
from all other accounts and assets of the | 20 | | public utility establishing the trust.
| 21 | | (4) "Nuclear power plant" or "plant" means a nuclear | 22 | | fission thermal
power plant. Each unit of a multi-unit site | 23 | | shall be considered a separate plant.
| 24 | | (b) By 90 days after the effective date of this amendatory | 25 | | Act of 1988,
or by the date that the unit satisfies the | 26 | | criteria used by the Internal
Revenue Service for determining |
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| 1 | | when depreciation commences for federal
income tax purposes on | 2 | | a new generating unit, whichever is later, every
public utility | 3 | | that owns or operates, in whole or in part, a nuclear
power | 4 | | plant shall:
| 5 | | (1) establish 2 decommissioning trusts, which shall be | 6 | | a "tax qualified"
decommissioning trust and a "non-tax | 7 | | qualified" decommissioning trust and
shall hold the | 8 | | decommissioning funds established by the public utility | 9 | | for
all nuclear power plants pursuant to subsection (b)(2) | 10 | | of this Section;
| 11 | | (2) establish 2 decommissioning funds for each such | 12 | | plant, each of which
shall be held for a plant as a | 13 | | separate account in a decommissioning trust; and
| 14 | | (3) designate an independent trustee, subject to the | 15 | | approval of the
Commission, to administer each of the | 16 | | decommissioning trusts.
| 17 | | (c) The 2 decommissioning trusts shall be known as the "tax | 18 | | qualified"
decommissioning trust and the "non-tax qualified" | 19 | | decommissioning trust
respectively. Each trust shall be | 20 | | established and maintained as follows:
| 21 | | (1) The "tax qualified" trust shall be established and | 22 | | maintained in
accordance with Section 468A of the Internal | 23 | | Revenue Code of 1986 or any
successor thereto and shall be | 24 | | funded by the public utility for each such
power plant | 25 | | through annual payments by the public utility that shall | 26 | | not
exceed the maximum amount allowable as a deduction for |
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| 1 | | federal income tax
purposes for the year for which the | 2 | | payments were made, in accordance with
Section 468A of the | 3 | | Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or any successor thereto.
| 4 | | (2) The "non-tax qualified" decommissioning trust | 5 | | shall be funded by
the public utility for each such power | 6 | | plant through annual payments by the
public utility that | 7 | | shall consist of the difference between the total
amounts | 8 | | of decommissioning expenses collected after the effective | 9 | | date of
this amendatory Act of 1988 through rates and | 10 | | charges from the public
utility's customers as provided by | 11 | | the Commission minus the amounts
contributed to the "tax | 12 | | qualified" trust as provided by subsection (c)(1)
of this | 13 | | Section and deductible for federal income tax purposes in
| 14 | | accordance with Section 468A of the Internal Revenue Code | 15 | | of 1986 or any
successor thereto.
| 16 | | (3) The following restrictions shall apply in regard to | 17 | | administration
of each decommissioning trust:
| 18 | | (i) Distributions may be made from a nuclear | 19 | | decommissioning trust only
to satisfy the liabilities | 20 | | of the public utility for nuclear
decommissioning | 21 | | costs relating to the nuclear power plant for which the
| 22 | | decommissioning fund was established and to pay | 23 | | administrative costs,
income taxes and other | 24 | | incidental expenses of the trust.
| 25 | | (ii) Any assets in a nuclear decommissioning trust | 26 | | that exceed the
amount necessary to pay the nuclear |
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| 1 | | decommissioning costs of the nuclear
power plant for | 2 | | which the decommissioning fund was established shall | 3 | | be
refunded to the public utility that established the | 4 | | fund for the purpose of
refunds or credits, as soon as | 5 | | practicable, to the utility's customers.
| 6 | | (iii) In the event a public utility sells or | 7 | | otherwise disposes of its
direct ownership interest, | 8 | | or any part thereof, in a nuclear power plant
with | 9 | | respect to which a nuclear decommissioning fund has | 10 | | been established,
the assets of the fund shall be | 11 | | distributed to the public utility to the
extent of the | 12 | | reductions in its liability for future decommissioning | 13 | | after
taking into account the liabilities of the public | 14 | | utility for future
decommissioning of such nuclear | 15 | | power plant and the liabilities that have
been assumed | 16 | | by another entity. The public utility shall, as soon as
| 17 | | practicable, provide refunds or credits to its | 18 | | customers representing the
full amount of the | 19 | | reductions in its liability for future | 20 | | decommissioning.
| 21 | | (iv) The trustee shall invest the "tax qualified" | 22 | | trust assets only in
secure assets that are prudent | 23 | | investments for assets held in trust and in
such a way | 24 | | as to attempt to maximize the after-tax return on funds
| 25 | | invested, subject to the limitations specified in | 26 | | Section 468A of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or |
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| 1 | | any successor thereto.
| 2 | | (v) The trustee shall invest the "non-tax | 3 | | qualified" trust assets only
in secure assets that are | 4 | | prudent investments for assets held in trust and
in | 5 | | such a way as to attempt to maximize the after-tax | 6 | | return on funds
invested. However the trustee shall not | 7 | | invest any portion of the "non-tax
qualified" trust's | 8 | | funds in the securities or assets of any operator of a
| 9 | | nuclear power plant.
| 10 | | (vi) The "non-tax qualified" trust shall be | 11 | | subject to the prohibitions
against self-dealing | 12 | | applicable to the "tax qualified" trust as specified
in | 13 | | Section 468A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or | 14 | | any successor thereto.
| 15 | | (vii) All income earned by the trust's funds shall | 16 | | become a part of the
trust's funds and subject to the | 17 | | provisions of this Section.
| 18 | | (viii) The Commission may adopt by rule or | 19 | | regulation such further
restrictions as it deems | 20 | | necessary for the sound management of the trust's
| 21 | | funds, consistent with the purposes of this Section.
| 22 | | (d) By 90 days after the effective date of this amendatory | 23 | | Act of 1988,
the Commission shall determine an appropriate | 24 | | method to segregate, either
internally or externally, all | 25 | | decommissioning funds collected prior to the
effective date of | 26 | | this amendatory Act of 1988 by the utility from its
customers, |
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| 1 | | and shall order any change in past decommissioning funding
| 2 | | methods that the Commission finds necessary. In making its | 3 | | determination
of the appropriate funding method, the | 4 | | Commission shall give consideration
to, but not be limited by, | 5 | | all applicable federal regulations. The change
in funding | 6 | | method shall be phased-in over an appropriate period of time.
| 7 | | (e) The trustee of a trust shall report annually to the | 8 | | Commission, or
more frequently if ordered by the Commission. | 9 | | The report shall include:
| 10 | | (1) the trust's State and federal tax returns;
| 11 | | (2) a report on the trust's portfolio of investments | 12 | | and the return thereon;
| 13 | | (3) the date and amount of payments received by the | 14 | | trust from the public utility;
| 15 | | (4) a copy of all correspondence between the trust and | 16 | | the Internal Revenue Service; and
| 17 | | (5) any other information the Commission orders the | 18 | | trust to provide.
| 19 | | (f) A nuclear decommissioning trust established pursuant | 20 | | to this Section
shall be exempt from taxation in Illinois.
| 21 | | (g) When a company announces the permanent closure or | 22 | | decommissioning of a nuclear power plant, the following shall | 23 | | begin immediately: | 24 | | (1) property tax payments and assessed values of the | 25 | | retired plant must, at a minimum, level out over the next | 26 | | 10 years in a 10% descending step plan over that 10-year |
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| 1 | | timeframe; | 2 | | (2) the company shall use $10,000,000 from | 3 | | shareholders to fund a new economic development fund | 4 | | controlled by an economic development organization as | 5 | | designated by the host county of the former reactor. The | 6 | | fund shall be used to develop and implement an economic | 7 | | recovery plan, including new workforce development | 8 | | programs and new employee training programs for the | 9 | | surrounding geographic region affected by the closure; | 10 | | (3) twenty members shall be appointed by the local | 11 | | communities and county governments affected by the closure | 12 | | in the regional area to an advisory panel to ensure | 13 | | community input in the decommissioning process. The | 14 | | company shall provide information to the advisory panel | 15 | | regarding the decommissioning process, future land uses, | 16 | | and any other information required by the panel to carry | 17 | | out the panel's duties; and | 18 | | (4) the shareholders of the decommissioned nuclear | 19 | | power plant shall fund emergency response funds at the | 20 | | level funded prior to the plant closure announcement until | 21 | | the fuel is moved to dry cask storage and the reactor is | 22 | | completely decommissioned. The shareholders may be | 23 | | reimbursed by any eligible funds from the Illinois | 24 | | Emergency Management Agency. | 25 | | (Source: P.A. 85-1400.)
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| 1 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 2 | | becoming law.".
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