Excerpts from Minnesota Chapter 116c regarding EQB oversight
(Subdivisions of particular interest are shown in italics)
116C.52 Definitions
Subd. 2. Board. "Board" shall mean the Minnesota
environmental quality board.
Subd. 4. High voltage transmission line. "High
voltage transmission line" means a conductor of electric energy
and associated facilities designed for and capable of operation
at a nominal voltage of 100 kilovolts or more.
Subd. 6. Large electric power facilities. "Large
electric power facilities" means high voltage transmission lines
and large electric power generating plants.
Subd. 8. Route. "Route" means the location of a high
voltage transmission line between two end points. The route may
have a variable width of up to 1.25 miles.
Subd. 10. Utility. "Utility" shall mean any entity
engaged or intending to engage in this state in the generation,
transmission or distribution of electric energy including, but
not limited to, a private investor owned utility, cooperatively
owned utility, and a public or municipally owned utility.
116C.53 Siting authority
Subdivision 1. Policy. The legislature hereby
declares it to be the policy of the state to locate large
electric power facilities in an orderly manner compatible with
environmental preservation and the efficient use of resources.
In accordance with this policy the board shall choose locations
that minimize adverse human and environmental impact while
insuring continuing electric power system reliability and
integrity and insuring that electric energy needs are met and
fulfilled in an orderly and timely fashion.
Subd. 2. Jurisdiction. The board is hereby given the
authority to provide for site and route selection for large
electric power facilities. The board shall issue permits for
large electric power facilities in a timely fashion. When the
public utilities commission has determined the need for the
project under section 216B.243 or 216B.2425, questions of need,
including size, type, and timing; alternative system
configurations; and voltage are not within the board's siting
and routing authority and must not be included in the scope of
environmental review conducted under sections 116C.51 to 116C.69.
116C.57 Designation of sites and routes; procedures;
considerations; emergency certification; exemption.
Subd. 2. Route permit. No person may construct a
high voltage transmission line without a route permit from the
board. A high voltage transmission line may be constructed only
along a route approved by the board.
Subd. 2a. Application. Any person seeking to
construct a large electric power generating plant or a high
voltage transmission line must apply to the board for a site or
route permit. The application shall contain such information as
the board may require. The applicant shall propose at least two
sites for a large electric power generating plant and two routes
for a high voltage transmission line. The chair of the board
shall determine whether an application is complete and advise
the applicant of any deficiencies within ten days of receipt.
An application is not incomplete if information not in the
application can be obtained from the applicant during the first
phase of the process and that information is not essential for
notice and initial public meetings.
Subd. 2b. Notice of application. Within 15 days
after submission of an application to the board, the applicant
shall publish notice of the application in a legal newspaper of
general circulation in each county in which the site or route is
proposed and send a copy of the application by certified mail to
any regional development commission, county, incorporated
municipality, and township in which any part of the site or
route is proposed. Within the same 15 days, the applicant shall
also send a notice of the submission of the application and
description of the proposed project to each owner whose property
is on or adjacent to any of the proposed sites for the power
plant or along any of the proposed routes for the transmission
line..... Within the same 15 days, the
applicant shall also send the same notice of the submission of
the application and description of the proposed project to those
persons who have requested to be placed on a list maintained by
the board for receiving notice of proposed large electric
generating power plants and high voltage transmission lines.
Subd. 2c. Environmental review. The board shall
prepare an environmental impact statement on each proposed large
electric generating plant or high voltage transmission line for
which a complete application has been submitted. For any
project that has obtained a certificate of need from the public
utilities commission, the board shall not consider whether or
not the project is needed. No other state environmental review
documents shall be required. The board shall study and evaluate
any site or route proposed by an applicant and any other site or
route the board deems necessary that was proposed in a manner
consistent with rules adopted by the board concerning the form,
content, and timeliness of proposals for alternate sites or
routes.
Subd. 2d. Public hearing. The board shall hold a
public hearing on an application for a site permit for a large
electric power generating plant or a route permit for a high
voltage transmission line….
Subd. 4. Considerations in designating sites and
routes. The board's site and route permit determinations must
be guided by the state's goals to conserve resources, minimize
environmental impacts, minimize human settlement and other land
use conflicts, and ensure the state's electric energy security
through efficient, cost-effective power supply and electric
transmission infrastructure. To facilitate the study, research,
evaluation and designation of sites and routes, the board shall
be guided by, but not limited to, the following considerations:
(1) Evaluation of research and investigations relating to....
electric and magnetic fields resulting from such facilities
on public health and welfare
(7) Evaluation of alternatives to the applicant's proposed
site or route proposed pursuant to subdivisions 1 and 2;
(8) Evaluation of potential routes that would use or
parallel existing railroad and highway rights-of-way;
(10) Evaluation of the future needs for additional high
voltage transmission lines in the same general area as any
proposed route, and the advisability of ordering the
construction of structures capable of expansion in transmission
capacity through multiple circuiting or design modifications;
Subd. 7. Timing. The board shall make a final
decision on an application within 60 days after receipt of the
report of the administrative law judge.
Subd. 8. Final decision. (a) No site permit shall be
issued in violation of the site selection standards and criteria
established in this section and in rules adopted by the board.
(b) No route permit shall be issued in violation of the
route selection standards and criteria established in this
section and in rules adopted by the board.
116C.575 Alternative review of applications.
Subdivision 1. Alternative review. An applicant who
seeks a site permit or route permit for one of the projects
identified in this section shall have the option of following
the procedures in this section rather than the procedures in
section 116C.57. The applicant shall notify the chair at the
time the application is submitted which procedure the applicant
chooses to follow.
Subd. 2. Applicable projects. The requirements and
procedures in this section apply to the following projects:
(3) high voltage transmission lines of between 100 and 200
kilovolts;
Subd. 3. Application. The applicant for a site or
route permit for any of the projects listed in subdivision 2 who
chooses to follow these procedures shall submit information as
the board may require, but the applicant shall not be required
to propose a second site or route for the project. The
applicant shall identify in the application any other sites or
routes that were rejected by the applicant and the board may
identify additional sites or routes to consider during the
processing of the application.
Subd. 5. Environmental review. For the projects
identified in subdivision 2 and following these procedures, the
board shall prepare an environmental assessment. The
environmental assessment shall contain information on the human
and environmental impacts of the proposed project and other
sites or routes identified by the board and shall address
mitigating measures for all of the sites or routes considered.
The environmental assessment shall be the only state
environmental review document required to be prepared on the
project.
Subd. 6. Public hearing. The board shall hold a
public hearing in the area where the facility is proposed to be
located.
Subd. 7. Timing. The board shall make a final
decision on an application within 60 days after completion of
the public hearing.
Subd. 8. Considerations. The considerations in
section 116C.57, subdivision 4, shall apply to any projects
subject to this section.
Subd. 9. Final decision. (a) No site permit shall be
issued in violation of the site selection standards and criteria
established in this section and in rules adopted by the board.
116C.576 Local review of applications.
Subdivision 1. Local review. (a) Notwithstanding the
requirements of sections 116C.57 and 116C.575, an applicant who
seeks a site or route permit for one of the projects identified
in this section shall have the option of applying to those local
units of government that have jurisdiction over the site or
route for approval to build the project.
(b) A local unit of government with jurisdiction over a
project identified in this section to whom an applicant has
applied for approval to build the project may request the board
to assume jurisdiction and make a decision on a site or route
permit under the applicable provisions of sections 116C.52 to
116C.69. A local unit of government must file the request with
the board within 60 days after an application for the project
has been filed with any one local unit of government.
116C.64 Failure to act.
If the board fails to act within the times specified in
section 116C.57, the applicant or any affected person may seek
an order of the district court requiring the board to designate
or refuse to designate a site or route.
Excerpts from Minnesota Chapter 216B Regarding PUC Oversight
(Sections of particular interest are shown in italics)
216B.2421 Definition of large energy facility.
Subdivision 1. Applicability. The definition in this
section applies to this section and sections 216B.2422 and
216B.243.
Subd. 2. Large energy facility. "Large energy
facility" means:
(3) any high-voltage transmission line with a capacity of
100 kilovolts or more with more than ten miles of its length in
Minnesota or that crosses a state line;
(Note there are only two subdivisions in this section. There is no Subdivision 6 cited by Judge Stacey)
216B.2425 State transmission plan.
Subdivision 1. List. The commission shall maintain a
list of certified high-voltage transmission line projects.
Subd. 2. List development. (a) By November 1 of each
odd-numbered year, each public utility, municipal utility, and
cooperative electric association, or the generation and
transmission organization that serves each utility or
association, that owns or operates electric transmission lines
in Minnesota shall jointly or individually submit a transmission
projects report to the commission. The report must:
(1) list specific present and reasonably foreseeable future
inadequacies in the transmission system in Minnesota;
(2) identify alternative means of addressing each
inadequacy listed;
(3) identify general economic, environmental, and social
issues associated with each alternative; and
(4) provide a summary of public input the utilities and
associations have gathered related to the list of inadequacies
and the role of local government officials and other interested
persons in assisting to develop the list and analyze
alternatives.
(b) To meet the requirements of this subdivision, entities
may rely on available information and analysis developed by a
regional transmission organization or any subgroup of a regional
transmission organization and may develop and include additional
information as necessary.
Subd. 3. Commission approval. By June 1 of each
even-numbered year, the commission shall adopt a state
transmission project list and shall certify, certify as
modified, or deny certification of the projects proposed under
subdivision 2. The commission may only certify a project that
is a high-voltage transmission line as defined in section
216B.2421, subdivision 2, that the commission finds is:
(1) necessary to maintain or enhance the reliability of
electric service to Minnesota consumers;
(2) needed, applying the criteria in section 216B.243,
subdivision 3; and
(3) in the public interest, taking into account electric
energy system needs and economic, environmental, and social
interests affected by the project.
Subd. 4. List; effect. Certification of a project as
a priority electric transmission project satisfies section
216B.243. A certified project on which construction has not
begun more than six years after being placed on the list, must
be reapproved by the commission.
Subd. 5. Transmission inventory. The department of
commerce shall create, maintain, and update annually an
inventory of transmission lines in the state.
Subd. 6. Exclusion. This section does not apply to
any transmission line proposal that has been approved by, or was
pending before, a local unit of government, the environmental
quality board, or the public utilities commission on August 1,
2001.
216B.243 Certificate of need for large energy facility.
Subdivision 1. Assessment of need criteria. The
commission shall, pursuant to chapter 14 and sections 216C.05 to
216C.30 and this section, adopt assessment of need criteria to
be used in the determination of need for large energy facilities
pursuant to this section.
Subd. 2. Certificate required. No large energy
facility shall be sited or constructed in Minnesota without the
issuance of a certificate of need by the commission pursuant to
sections 216C.05 to 216C.30 and this section and consistent with
the criteria for assessment of need.
Subd. 3. Showing required for construction. No
proposed large energy facility shall be certified for
construction unless the applicant can show that demand for
electricity cannot be met more cost effectively through energy
conservation and load-management measures and unless the
applicant has otherwise justified its need. In assessing need,
the commission shall evaluate:
(1) the accuracy of the long-range energy demand forecasts
on which the necessity for the facility is based;
(2) the effect of existing or possible energy conservation
programs under sections 216C.05 to 216C.30 and this section or
other federal or state legislation on long-term energy demand;
(3) the relationship of the proposed facility to overall
state energy needs, as described in the most recent state energy
policy and conservation report prepared under section 216C.18;
(4) promotional activities that may have given rise to the
demand for this facility;
(5) benefits of this facility, including its uses to
protect or enhance environmental quality, and to increase
reliability of energy supply in Minnesota and the region;
(6) possible alternatives for satisfying the energy demand
or transmission needs including but not limited to potential for
increased efficiency and upgrading of existing energy generation
and transmission facilities, load-management programs, and
distributed generation;
(7) the policies, rules, and regulations of other state and
federal agencies and local governments; and
(8) any feasible combination of energy conservation
improvements, required under section 216B.241, that can (i)
replace part or all of the energy to be provided by the proposed
facility, and (ii) compete with it economically.
Subd. 5. Approval, denial, or modification. Within
six months of the submission of an application, the commission
shall approve or deny a certificate of need for the facility.
Approval or denial of the certificate shall be accompanied by a
statement of the reasons for the decision. Issuance of the
certificate may be made contingent upon modifications required
by the commission.
Subd. 6. Application fees; rules. [omitted]
Subd. 7. Participation by other agency or political
subdivision. [omitted]
Subd. 8. Exemptions. This section does not apply to:
(1) cogeneration or small power production facilities as
defined in the Federal Power Act, United States Code, title 16,
section 796, paragraph (17), subparagraph (A), and paragraph
(18), subparagraph (A), and having a combined capacity at a
single site of less than 80,000 kilowatts or to plants or
facilities for the production of ethanol or fuel alcohol nor in
any case where the commission shall determine after being
advised by the attorney general that its application has been
preempted by federal law;
(2) a high-voltage transmission line proposed primarily to
distribute electricity to serve the demand of a single customer
at a single location, unless the applicant opts to request that
the commission determine need under this section or section
216B.2425;
(3) the upgrade to a higher voltage of an existing
transmission line that serves the demand of a single customer
that primarily uses existing rights-of-way, unless the applicant
opts to request that the commission determine need under this
section or section 216B.2425;
(4) a high-voltage transmission line of one mile or less
required to connect a new or upgraded substation to an existing,
new, or upgraded high-voltage transmission line;
(5) conversion of the fuel source of an existing electric
generating plant to using natural gas; or
(6) modification of an existing electric generating plant
to increase efficiency, as long as the capacity of the plant is
not increased more than ten percent or more than 100 megawatts,
whichever is greater.