2003 Minnesota Statutes

     116C.57 Designation of sites and routes; procedures; 
  considerations; emergency certification; exemption. 

    Subdivision 1.    Site permit.  No person may construct 
 a large electric generating plant without a site permit from the 
 board.  A large electric generating plant may be constructed 
 only on a site approved by the board.  The board must 
 incorporate into one proceeding the route selection for a high 
 voltage transmission line that is directly associated with and 
 necessary to interconnect the large electric generating plant to 
 the transmission system and whose need is certified as part of 
 the generating plant project by the Public Utilities Commission. 

    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.  The notice shall identify a location where a copy of the 
 application can be reviewed.  For the purpose of giving mailed 
 notice under this subdivision, owners shall be those shown on 
 the records of the county auditor or, in any county where tax 
 statements are mailed by the county treasurer, on the records of 
 the county treasurer; but other appropriate records may be used 
 for this purpose.  The failure to give mailed notice to a 
 property owner, or defects in the notice, shall not invalidate 
 the proceedings, provided a bona fide attempt to comply with 
 this subdivision has been made.  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.  All hearings held for designating a 
 site or route shall be conducted by an administrative law judge 
 from the Office of Administrative Hearings pursuant to the 
 contested case procedures of chapter 14.  Notice of the hearing 
 shall be given by the board at least ten days in advance but no 
 earlier than 45 days prior to the commencement of the hearing.  
 Notice shall be by publication in a legal newspaper of general 
 circulation in the county in which the public hearing is to be 
 held and by certified mail to chief executives of the regional 
 development commissions, counties, organized towns, townships, 
 and the incorporated municipalities in which a site or route is 
 proposed.  Any person may appear at the hearings and offer 
 testimony and exhibits without the necessity of intervening as a 
 formal party to the proceedings.  The administrative law judge 
 may allow any person to ask questions of other witnesses.  The 
 administrative law judge shall hold a portion of the hearing in 
 the area where the power plant or transmission line is proposed 
 to be located.  

    Subd. 3. Repealed, 2001 c 212 art 7 s 36 

    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 
 the effects on land, water and air resources of large electric 
 power generating plants and high voltage transmission lines and 
 the effects of water and air discharges and electric and 
 magnetic fields resulting from such facilities on public health 
 and welfare, vegetation, animals, materials and aesthetic 
 values, including baseline studies, predictive modeling, and 
 evaluation of new or improved methods for minimizing adverse 
 impacts of water and air discharges and other matters pertaining 
 to the effects of power plants on the water and air environment; 

    (2) Environmental evaluation of sites and routes proposed 
 for future development and expansion and their relationship to 
 the land, water, air and human resources of the state; 

    (3) Evaluation of the effects of new electric power 
 generation and transmission technologies and systems related to 
 power plants designed to minimize adverse environmental effects; 

    (4) Evaluation of the potential for beneficial uses of 
 waste energy from proposed large electric power generating 
 plants; 

    (5) Analysis of the direct and indirect economic impact of 
 proposed sites and routes including, but not limited to, 
 productive agricultural land lost or impaired; 

    (6) Evaluation of adverse direct and indirect environmental 
 effects that cannot be avoided should the proposed site and 
 route be accepted; 

    (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; 

    (9) Evaluation of governmental survey lines and other 
 natural division lines of agricultural land so as to minimize 
 interference with agricultural operations; 

    (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; 

    (11) Evaluation of irreversible and irretrievable 
 commitments of resources should the proposed site or route be 
 approved; and 

    (12) When appropriate, consideration of problems raised by 
 other state and federal agencies and local entities. 

    If the board's rules are substantially similar to existing 
 regulations of a federal agency to which the utility in the 
 state is subject, the federal regulations must be applied by the 
 board. 

    No site or route shall be designated which violates state 
 agency rules. 

    Subd. 5. Repealed, 2001 c 212 art 7 s 36 

    Subd. 5a. Repealed, 2001 c 212 art 7 s 36 

    Subd. 6.    Recording of survey points.  The permanent 
 location of monuments or markers found or placed by a utility in 
 a survey of right-of-way for a route shall be placed on record 
 in the office of the county recorder or registrar of titles.  No 
 fee shall be charged to the utility for recording this 
 information. 

    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.  A final decision on the 
 request for a site permit or route permit shall be made within 
 one year after the chair's determination that an application is 
 complete.  The board may extend this time limit for up to three 
 months for just cause or upon agreement of the applicant.  

    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.  
 When the board designates a site, it shall issue a site permit 
 to the applicant with any appropriate conditions.  The board 
 shall publish a notice of its decision in the State Register 
 within 30 days of issuance of the site permit. 

    (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.  When the board 
 designates a route, it shall issue a permit for the construction 
 of a high voltage transmission line specifying the design, 
 routing, right-of-way preparation, and facility construction it 
 deems necessary, and with any other appropriate conditions.  The 
 board may order the construction of high voltage transmission 
 line facilities that are capable of expansion in transmission 
 capacity through multiple circuiting or design modifications.  
 The board shall publish a notice of its decision in the State 
 Register within 30 days of issuance of the permit.  

    HIST: 1973 c 591 s 7; 1975 c 271 s 6; 1977 c 439 s 10; 1986 c 
 444; 1987 c 384 art 2 s 21; 1989 c 346 s 1; 1994 c 644 s 1; 2000 
 c 289 s 1; 2001 c 212 art 7 s 5-13