2015 New Hampshire Revised Statutes
Title XII - PUBLIC SAFETY AND WELFARE
Chapter 162-H - ENERGY FACILITY EVALUATION, SITING, CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION
Section 162-H:4 - Powers and Duties of the Committee.

    162-H:4 Powers and Duties of the Committee. –
    I. The committee shall:
       (a) Evaluate and issue any certificate under this chapter for an energy facility.
       (b) Determine the terms and conditions of any certificate issued under this chapter.
       (c) Monitor the construction and operation of any energy facility granted a certificate under this chapter to ensure compliance with such certificate.
       (d) Enforce the terms and conditions of any certificate issued under this chapter.
       (e) Assist the public in understanding the requirements of this chapter.
    II. The committee shall hold hearings as required by this chapter and such additional hearings as it deems necessary and appropriate.
    III. The committee may delegate the authority to monitor the construction or operation of any energy facility granted a certificate under this chapter to the administrator or such state agency or official as it deems appropriate, but shall ensure that the terms and conditions of the certificate are met. Any authorized representative or delegate of the committee shall have a right of entry onto the premises of any part of the energy facility to ascertain if the facility is being constructed or operated in continuing compliance with the terms and conditions of the certificate. During normal hours of business administration and on the premises of the facility, such a representative or delegate shall also have a right to inspect such records of the certificate-holder as are relevant to the terms or conditions of the certificate.
    III-a. The committee may delegate to the administrator or such state agency or official as it deems appropriate the authority to specify the use of any technique, methodology, practice, or procedure approved by the committee within a certificate issued under this chapter, or the authority to specify minor changes in the route alignment to the extent that such changes are authorized by the certificate for those portions of a proposed electric transmission line or energy transmission pipeline for which information was unavailable due to conditions which could not have been reasonably anticipated prior to the issuance of the certificate.
    III-b. The committee may not delegate its authority or duties, except as provided under this chapter.
    IV. In cases where the committee determines that other existing statutes provide adequate protection of the objectives of RSA 162-H:1, the committee may, within 60 days of acceptance of the application, or filing of a request for exemption with sufficient information to enable the committee to determine whether the proposal meets the requirements set forth below, and after holding a public hearing in a county where the energy facility is proposed, exempt the applicant from the approval and certificate provisions of this chapter, provided that the following requirements are met:
       (a) Existing state or federal statutes, state or federal agency rules or municipal ordinances provide adequate protection of the objectives of RSA 162-H:1;
       (b) A review of the application or request for exemption reveals that consideration of the proposal by only selected agencies represented on the committee is required and that the objectives of RSA 162-H:1 can be met by those agencies without exercising the provisions of RSA 162-H;
       (c) Response to the application or request for exemption from the general public indicates that the objectives of RSA 162-H:1 are met through the individual review processes of the participating agencies; and
       (d) All environmental impacts or effects are adequately regulated by other federal, state, or local statutes, rules, or ordinances.
    V. In any matter before the committee, the presiding officer, or a hearing officer designated by the presiding officer, may hear and decide procedural matters that are before the committee, including procedural schedules, consolidation of parties with substantially similar interests, discovery schedules and motions, and identification of significant disputed issues for hearing and decision by the committee. Undisputed petitions for intervention may be decided by the hearing officer and disputed petitions shall be decided by the presiding officer. Any party aggrieved by a decision on a petition to intervene may within 10 calendar days request that the committee review such decision. Other procedural decisions may be reviewed by the committee at its discretion.

Source. 1991, 295:1. 1997, 298:26. 2007, 364:5. 2008, 348:7. 2009, 65:6-8, eff. Aug. 8, 2009. 2014, 217:8-10, eff. July 1, 2014.