No. HB 193
Filed under Development & Land Use.
Utilities; Authorizes counties to adopt ordinance for decommissioning of certain solar facilities; provides for rebuttal of certain presumptions; requires DEP to develop, revise, & update best management practices for construction of solar facilities; requires solar facility operators to implement specified BMPs; revises factors that PSC must consider in reviewing such plans; requires PSC to submit proposed rule for adoption by specified date.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDCounties can now require solar farms to restore farmland to its original state within 24 months of the facility's useful life ending.
The Department of Environmental Protection must create and annually update construction standards for solar facilities, including stormwater and flood protection.
Solar operators must implement these new construction standards, and counties can demand financial guarantees to cover cleanup costs.
The Public Service Commission must ensure storm protection plans provide more customer benefit than cost before approving them.
AIGrants counties the power to mandate that solar facilities of 1 megawatt or more be removed and the land restored to agricultural use within 24 months of end-of-life notice.
AICreates legal presumptions that a solar facility has reached the end of its useful life if it fails to produce power for 12 months or is abandoned for 24 months, shifting the burden to the owner to rebut.
AIAllows counties to require solar facility owners to post bonds, letters of credit, or parent company guarantees to cover the estimated cost of decommissioning.
AIRequires the Department of Environmental Protection to develop and annually update best management practices for solar construction, and mandates that all operators implement these practices.
AIRequires that any improvement in a transmission and distribution storm protection plan must have a forecasted customer benefit that exceeds its forecasted cost.
AIRequires the Public Service Commission to submit a proposed rule implementing the storm protection amendments by October 31, 2026.