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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5507
AN ACT CONCERNING STATE AGENCY AND COURT
PROCEEDINGS RELATING TO ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION LINES.
SUMMARY
This bill makes changes to laws affecting the Siting Council and its
process for granting a certificate of environmental compatibility and
public need (a “certificate”). Among other things, it:
1. makes certain transmission lines “affecting facilities” under the
state’s environmental justice law, thus subjecting them to the
law’s requirements (§ 1);
2. increases, from $25,000 to $75,000, the municipal participation fee
certain certificate applicants must pay when filing their
applications (§ 3);
3. increases, from $25,000 to $75,000, the maximum amount a
municipality may receive from the municipal participation
account to defray expenses related to certificate proceedings (§
2);
4. adds to the information applicants for transmission lines must
provide with their certificate application to include certain
information on property appraisals, electric load, and system
performance (§ 3);
5. expands municipal consultation requirements for certificate
applicants (§ 3);
6. requires the council to consider certain neighborhood concerns
before granting a certificate for a transmission line project (§ 4);
7. allows (a) intervenors in council proceedings to appeal a decision 2024HB-05507-R000493-BA.DOCX
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to Superior Court and (b) the court to award a municipality
reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs if it prevails in its appeal (§
5);
8. requires the council to consult with and solicit comments from
the Office of Consumer Council (OCC) before starting a hearing
for a certificate application (§ 6); and
9. requires the council to request a municipality’s location
preferences or siting criteria for transmission line projects and
requires municipalities to provide this information within 30
days after the request (§ 7).
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2024
SITING IN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNIT IES
The bill makes transmission lines of at least 69 kilovolts in capacity
“affecting facilities” under the state’s environmental justice law, which
generally requires applicants seeking to construct, expand, or site
certain facilities in environmental justice communities to engage in a
public participation process (see BACKGROUND) . Existing law,
unchanged by the bill, exempts from these requirements any facility that
received a Siting Council certificate on or before January 1, 2000.
MUNICIPAL PARTICIPATION ACCOUNT PAYMENTS
By law, certain facilities must pay a municipal participation fee when
filing their application for a certificate from the council. This
requirement applies to applications for electric transmission lines, fuel
transmission facilities, electric generation or storage facilities, and
certain electric substations or switchyards. The bill increases this fee
from $25,000 to $75,000.
Under existing law, these fees are deposited into the General Fund’s
municipal participation account. Municipalities may apply for
reimbursement from the account to defray expenses incurred from
participating as a party to a certificate proceeding. The bill increases the
maximum amount a municipality may receive from the account from
$25,000 to $75,000. Existing law prohibits municipalities from receiving 2024HB-05507-R000493-BA.DOCX
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any more from the account than the funds they spent.
TRANSMISSION LINE APPLICATION REQUIREMEN TS
Land Acquisitions and Easements
By law, a certificate application for a transmission line project must
include, among other things, a schedule showing the proposed program
of right-of-way or property acquisition, construction, completion, and
operation. The bill additionally requires the application to include any
appraisal on fair compensation provided to a real property owner in
connection with entering a right-of-way, including easements or land
acquisition, completed by an independent appraiser on the applicant’s
behalf. It requires applicants to use due diligence to seek permission to
gain access to any property the applicant does not own, lease, or
otherwise have access to, as shown by the following materials submitted
with the application:
1. certified mail, return receipt requested letters, sent to the
property owners of record and
2. an affidavit stating that the applicant was not given access to the
property and, without permission to access the property, the
applicant made visual inspections to document existing
conditions from public rights-of-way, existing utility rights-of-
way, or other nearby accessible properties.
Electric Load and System Performance
The bill requires certificate applications for transmission line projects
to include the following information:
1. actual loads for existing transmission lines in the project’s
proposed location for the previous 10 years;
2. the proposed transmission line’s projected load for the 10-year
period after the application date;
3. performance of the electric circuits at issue over the previous 10
years, including service outages or disruptions, their causes, and
the length of time to restore service; and 2024HB-05507-R000493-BA.DOCX
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4. planning studies conducted by ISO-New England or the
applicant about the proposed project.
By law, companies generating, transmitting, or distributing
electricity must annually report a 10-year load and resources forecast to
the council (CGS § 16-50r). The bill requires certificate applications for
transmission projects to also include this report.
MUNICIPAL CONSULTATI ON REQUIREMENTS
Under current law, applicants must c onsult with certain
municipalities 60 days before filing an application with the council and,
at the consultation, give the municipality’s chief elected official any
technical reports on the proposed facility’s public need, site selection
process, or environmental effects.
The bill pushes this consultation back to 90 days before filing an
application and also requires the applicant to consult the municipality’s
legislative body and each state legislator whose district includes a
proposed or alternative facility location. This consultation must include
good faith efforts to meet with these officials. The bill allows the chief
elected official to designate someone for the consult.
In addition to the technical reports mentioned above, the bill requires
applicants to provide a public engagement plan at the consultation that
includes the project’s (1) effects on community services and
infrastructure and (2) impact on proposed development and the
municipal tax base. For transmission line project applications, the bill
requires the applicant to also provide a report summarizing the status
of any negotiation with real property owners on total compensation
amounts to be paid to secure any required right-of-way access,
easements, or land acquisition.
COUNCIL DETERMINATIONS FOR CERTIFICATE APPROVA L
Existing law identifies the factors the council must consider and the
findings it must make before approving a certificate. For all facilities,
this generally includes a finding that there is a public need for the facility
and that its environmental impacts are not sufficient reason to deny the 2024HB-05507-R000493-BA.DOCX
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application, among other things. For transmission line projects, this also
includes finding that the facility conforms to a long-range plan for
electric power grid expansion and that the project serves the interest of
electric system economy and reliability. The council must also consider
which portions of the facility will be located overhead and determine
that these portions are cost effective and the most appropriate
alternative. It must find that the line’s location will not pose an undue
hazard to people or property along the area the line traverses.
The bill prohibits the council from approving a certificate for a
transmission line, as proposed by the applicant or modified by the
council, unless it considers neighborhood concerns with the factors and
findings described above, including public safety and the proposed
facility’s anticipated contribution to the municipality’s tax base.
JUDICIAL REVIEW
Current law allows parties in council proceedings for certificates or
certificate amendments to appeal a council decision to Superior Court
under the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act. The bill (1) extends
this right to intervenors in council proceedings and (2) allows the court
to award reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs to a municipality that
prevails in its appeal.
Parties to proceedings include the applicant, anyone required to
receive notice of the proceeding, and certain nonprofit organizations,
among others. By law, the council may allow other people to participate
as intervenors if they submit a petition showing that their participation
is in the interest of justice and will not impair the proceeding’s orderly
conduct. But it may also limit an intervenor’s participation to specific
issues and define or restrict an intervenor’s rights to inspect and copy
records, introduce evidence, or cross examine other parties (CGS §§ 60-
50n(b) & 4-177a).
OCC CONSULTATION BEF ORE HEARING
Current law requires the council to (1) schedule a public hearing on
a certificate application at least 30 days but no more than 150 days after
it receives the application and (2) consult with and solicit comments 2024HB-05507-R000493-BA.DOCX
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from certain agencies before the hearing (e.g., the Department of Energy
and Environmental Protection and the Department of Public Health).
The bill adds the OCC to the list of agencies the council must consult
and solicit comments from before starting the hearing.
MUNICIPAL LOCATION P REFERENCES FOR TRANSMISSION
PROJECTS
Current law requires the council to request that municipalities
provide any location preferences or criteria for proposed
telecommunication tower projects within 30 days after receiving notice
of the project. The bill extends this requirement to proposed
transmission lines. It requires municipalities to provide their location
preferences or criteria within 30 days after the council’s request. The bill
similarly extends to proposed transmission lines a provision that allows
the council to consider regional location preferences from neighboring
municipalities.
BACKGROUND
Environmental Justice Law
By law, an “environmental justice community” is (1) any U.S. census
block group, as determined by the most recent census, for which at least
30% of the population consists of low-income people who are not
institutionalized and have an income below 200% of the federal poverty
level or (2) a distressed municipality.
Among other things, the law requires certificate applicants for
affecting facilities in environmental justice communities to:
1. file and receive approval for a meaningful public participation
plan before filing their certificate application;
2. make a reasonable and good faith effort to give the public clear,
accurate, and complete information about the affecting facility
proposal at an informal public meeting;
3. consult with the chief elected officials of the towns in which the
proposed facility will be located or expanded to evaluate the
need for a community environmental benefit agreement; and 2024HB-05507-R000493-BA.DOCX
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4. enter into a community environmental benefit agreement if the
facility will be in a municipality that already has at least five
affecting facilities.
The law allows the Siting Council to deny a certificate application for
a proposed affecting facility if it finds that approving it would, together
with other environmental or public health stressors affecting the
environmental justice community involved, produce adverse
cumulative stressors that are higher than those experienced by other
communities in the state, county, or other geographic area, as the
council determines. Under certain conditions, it also allows the council
to apply reasonable conditions on a new certificate for an affecting
facility related to its construction and operation to protect the
environment and public health (CGS § 22a-20a).
Related Bills
sSB 198 (File 184), favorably reported by the Environment
Committee, adds to the Siting Council an elector from the municipality
where a proposed facility would be located.
sHB 5361 (File 365), favorably reported by the Energy and
Technology Committee, requires, among other things, the Siting
Council to consider the testimony of the chief elected official of any
municipality in which a proposed facility would be located.
HB 5453, favorably reported by the Government Administration and
Elections Committee, makes various changes to the council’s
membership, requires applicants for proposed electric transmission
facilities to include additional information with their applications, and
expands the issues the council must consider when deciding whether to
approve an application.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Judiciary Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 35 Nay 1 (03/26/2024)