2005 Washington Revised Code RCW 80.50.020: Definitions.

The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

     (1) "Applicant" means any person who makes application for a site certification pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

     (2) "Application" means any request for approval of a particular site or sites filed in accordance with the procedures established pursuant to this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires.

     (3) "Person" means an individual, partnership, joint venture, private or public corporation, association, firm, public service company, political subdivision, municipal corporation, government agency, public utility district, or any other entity, public or private, however organized.

     (4) "Site" means any proposed or approved location of an energy facility.

     (5) "Certification" means a binding agreement between an applicant and the state which shall embody compliance to the siting guidelines, in effect as of the date of certification, which have been adopted pursuant to RCW 80.50.040 as now or hereafter amended as conditions to be met prior to or concurrent with the construction or operation of any energy facility.

     (6) "Associated facilities" means storage, transmission, handling, or other related and supporting facilities connecting an energy plant with the existing energy supply, processing, or distribution system, including, but not limited to, communications, controls, mobilizing or maintenance equipment, instrumentation, and other types of ancillary transmission equipment, off-line storage or venting required for efficient operation or safety of the transmission system and overhead, and surface or subsurface lines of physical access for the inspection, maintenance, and safe operations of the transmission facility and new transmission lines constructed to operate at nominal voltages in excess of 115,000 volts to connect a thermal power plant or alternative energy facilities to the northwest power grid. However, common carrier railroads or motor vehicles shall not be included.

     (7) "Transmission facility" means any of the following together with their associated facilities:

     (a) Crude or refined petroleum or liquid petroleum product transmission pipeline of the following dimensions: A pipeline larger than six inches minimum inside diameter between valves for the transmission of these products with a total length of at least fifteen miles;

     (b) Natural gas, synthetic fuel gas, or liquefied petroleum gas transmission pipeline of the following dimensions: A pipeline larger than fourteen inches minimum inside diameter between valves, for the transmission of these products, with a total length of at least fifteen miles for the purpose of delivering gas to a distribution facility, except an interstate natural gas pipeline regulated by the United States federal power commission;

     (c) Electrical transmission facilities in excess of 115,000 volts in national interest electric transmission corridors as designated by the United States secretary of the department of energy or the federal energy regulatory commission pursuant to section 1221 of the national energy policy act, and such rules and regulations as the secretary or the federal energy regulatory commission adopts to implement the act.

     (8) "Independent consultants" means those persons who have no financial interest in the applicant's proposals and who are retained by the council to evaluate the applicant's proposals, supporting studies, or to conduct additional studies.

     (9) "Thermal power plant" means, for the purpose of certification, any electrical generating facility using any fuel, including nuclear materials, for distribution of electricity by electric utilities.

     (10) "Energy facility" means an energy plant or transmission facilities: PROVIDED, That the following are excluded from the provisions of this chapter:

     (a) Facilities for the extraction, conversion, transmission or storage of water, other than water specifically consumed or discharged by energy production or conversion for energy purposes; and

     (b) Facilities operated by and for the armed services for military purposes or by other federal authority for the national defense.

     (11) "Council" means the energy facility site evaluation council created by RCW 80.50.030.

     (12) "Counsel for the environment" means an assistant attorney general or a special assistant attorney general who shall represent the public in accordance with RCW 80.50.080.

     (13) "Construction" means on-site improvements, excluding exploratory work, which cost in excess of two hundred fifty thousand dollars.

     (14) "Energy plant" means the following facilities together with their associated facilities:

     (a) Any stationary thermal power plant with generating capacity of three hundred fifty thousand kilowatts or more, measured using maximum continuous electric generating capacity, less minimum auxiliary load, at average ambient temperature and pressure, and floating thermal power plants of one hundred thousand kilowatts or more, including associated facilities. For the purposes of this subsection, "floating thermal power plants" means a thermal power plant that is suspended on the surface of water by means of a barge, vessel, or other floating platform;

     (b) Facilities which will have the capacity to receive liquefied natural gas in the equivalent of more than one hundred million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day, which has been transported over marine waters;

     (c) Facilities which will have the capacity to receive more than an average of fifty thousand barrels per day of crude or refined petroleum or liquefied petroleum gas which has been or will be transported over marine waters, except that the provisions of this chapter shall not apply to storage facilities unless occasioned by such new facility construction;

     (d) Any underground reservoir for receipt and storage of natural gas as defined in RCW 80.40.010 capable of delivering an average of more than one hundred million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day; and

     (e) Facilities capable of processing more than twenty-five thousand barrels per day of petroleum into refined products.

     (15) "Land use plan" means a comprehensive plan or land use element thereof adopted by a unit of local government pursuant to chapter 35.63, 35A.63, 36.70, or 36.70A RCW.

     (16) "Zoning ordinance" means an ordinance of a unit of local government regulating the use of land and adopted pursuant to chapter 35.63, 35A.63, 36.70, or 36.70A RCW or Article XI of the state Constitution.

     (17) "Alternative energy resource" means: (a) Wind; (b) solar energy; (c) geothermal energy; (d) landfill gas; (e) wave or tidal action; or (f) biomass energy based on solid organic fuels from wood, forest, or field residues, or dedicated energy crops that do not include wood pieces that have been treated with chemical preservatives such as creosote, pentachlorophenol, or copper-chrome-arsenic.

     (18) "Secretary" means the secretary of the United States department of energy.

[2006 c 205 § 1; 2006 c 196 § 1; 2001 c 214 § 3; 1995 c 69 § 1; 1977 ex.s. c 371 § 2; 1975-'76 2nd ex.s. c 108 § 30; 1970 ex.s. c 45 § 2.]

Reviser's note: This section was amended by 2006 c 196 § 1 and by 2006 c 205 § 1, each without reference to the other. Both amendments are incorporated in the publication of this section under RCW 1.12.025(2). For rule of construction, see RCW 1.12.025(1).      Findings -- 2006 c 196: "(1) Section 1221 of the national energy policy act also authorizes a state siting authority, in those instances where applicants seek a federal construction permit otherwise authorized pursuant to section 1221 of the act, to assert jurisdiction on the basis of existing state regulatory authority.      (2) Section 1221 of the national energy policy act further authorizes a state siting authority to approve the siting of facilities or consider the interstate benefits to be achieved by proposed construction or modification as provided for in section 1221(b)(1)(A)(i)-(ii) of the act or other provisions of the act, or rules and regulations implementing the act, and to convey the views and recommendations regarding the need for and impact of a transmission facility where the federal energy regulatory commission is determined to have jurisdiction.      (3) Because the types of transmission facilities subject to section 1221 of the national energy policy act are not defined, and because the legislature recognizes that the siting of electric transmission lines at or below 115,000 volts has historically been regulated by local governments in the state, the legislature finds that the 115,000 volt threshold established in this act is appropriate to satisfy the requirements of section 1221." [2006 c 196 § 2.]      Severability -- Effective date -- 2001 c 214: See notes following RCW 80.50.010.      Findings -- 2001 c 214: See note following RCW 39.35.010.      Severability -- Effective date -- 1975-'76 2nd ex.s. c 108: See notes following RCW 43.21F.010.