Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 3, March 1, 2024
In this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise or a
term is specifically defined within a division or a rule, terms have the
meaning provided in ORS
469.300 and the following
definitions:
(1) "Analysis area" means
the area or areas specifically described in the project order issued under OAR
345-015-0160(1), containing resources that the proposed facility may
significantly affect. The analysis area is the area for which the applicant
must describe the proposed facility's impacts in the application for a site
certificate. A proposed facility might have different analysis areas for
different types of resources. For the purpose of submitting an application for
a site certificate in an expedited review granted under 345-015-0300 or
345-015-0310, the analysis areas are the study areas defined in this rule,
subject to modification in the project order.
(2) "Applicant" as defined in ORS
469.300 or, if an application
has not been submitted, a person who has submitted, or intends to submit, a
notice of intent or a request for expedited review.
(3) "Background radiation" means the direct
radiation (gamma) and concentrations of potential radionuclide contaminants in
construction materials and the environment in the vicinity of the plant not
associated with the nuclear operation and retirement of the facility.
Background must be determined as follows:
(a)
For direct radiation, the results of any background measurements taken prior to
operation of the facility must be provided and 6 to 10 measurements must be
taken in areas in the vicinity of the site with materials and/or geological
formations representative of the site that have not been affected by the
operation and retirement of the facility. Background must be calculated at the
average and at the 95% confidence level.
(b) Environmental samples must be taken for
soil, sediment, water, and other materials present at the facility site that
could have been affected by facility operations and retirement. Measurements
for these samples must be calculated at the average and 95% confidence levels,
based on 6 to 10 measurements. Background environmental samples must be taken
at locations on site or in the immediate vicinity of the site which are
unaffected by plant operations. Background must be calculated at the average
and 95% confidence levels, based on 6 to 10 measurements at each
location.
(c) For construction
material such as concrete, asphalt, block, brick and other materials used to
construct the buildings and systems at the site, representative samples of
materials unaffected by site operations must be selected and surveyed. Six to
ten samples of each material must be taken to determine the level of naturally
occurring and artificially induced concentrations of naturally occurring
radioactivity present. Measurements must include direct radiation (beta-gamma
and alpha), wipes and qualitative and quantitative laboratory analyses.
Concentrations of fission and activation products from historical fallout must
be characterized as well.
(d) All
measurements must be made using appropriate instruments, properly calibrated,
and in sufficient number to determine compliance with
requirements.
(4)
"Certificate holder" means the person to whom a site certificate has been
granted by the Council pursuant to this chapter.
(5) "Chair" means the chair of the Energy
Facility Siting Council.
(6)
"Committed firm energy and capacity resources" means generating facilities or
power purchase contracts that are assured to be available to the energy
supplier over a defined time period. Committed firm energy and capacity
resources include existing generating facilities, existing power purchase
contracts and planned generating facilities that sponsors have made firm
commitments to develop.
(7)
"Corridor" means a continuous area of land not more than one-half mile in width
and running the entire length of a proposed transmission line or pipeline.
"Micrositing corridor" is defined below in this rule.
(8) "Council" means the Energy Facility
Siting Council established under ORS
469.450.
(9) "Council Secretary" means the person
designated by the Director of the Oregon Department of Energy to serve as
secretary to the Council.
(10)
"Department" means the Oregon Department of Energy created under ORS
469.030.
(11) "Direct cost" means the discounted sum
of all monetary costs to the ultimate consumer over the lifetime of the
facility or resource plan or resource strategy.
(12) "Energy facility" includes:
(a) An energy facility as defined in ORS
469.300;
(b) A small generating plant for which an
applicant must have a site certificate according to OAR 345-001-0210;
and
(c) A facility for which a
developer or governing body has elected to defer regulatory authority to the
Council under ORS 469.320(8).
(13) "Energy supplier" means:
(a) A retail electric utility, a federal
power marketing agency, or a local gas distribution company, or
(b) A person or public agency generating
electric energy for its own consumption, lawfully purchasing electric energy
directly from a generator for its own consumption, or transmitting or
distributing natural or synthetic gas from an energy facility for its own
consumption.
(14)
"Existing corridor," as used in ORS
469.300 and
469.442, means the right-of-way
of an existing transmission line, not to exceed 100 feet on either side of the
physical center line of the transmission line or 100 feet from the physical
center line of the outside lines if the corridor contains more than one
transmission line.
(15) "Facility"
as defined in ORS 469.300 or a small generating
plant for which an applicant must have a site certificate according to OAR
345-001-0210 together with any related or supporting facilities.
(16) "Facility substantially similar to the
proposed facility" means:
(a) A facility that
uses the same fuel and substantially similar technology, that has substantially
the same in-service date, and that has a direct cost not substantially greater
than that of the proposed facility; or
(b) A facility that is demonstrated to
provide as good a mix of reliability, compatibility with the power system,
strategic flexibility, environmental impact and direct cost as the proposed
facility taking into account reasonable trade-offs among such
factors.
(17) "Fossil
fuel" means natural gas, petroleum, coal and any form of solid, liquid or
gaseous fuel derived from such materials that is used to produce useful
energy.
(18) "Fuel chargeable to
power heat rate" means the net heat rate of electric power production during
the first twelve months of commercial operation. A fuel chargeable to power
heat rate is calculated with all factors adjusted to the average temperature,
barometric pressure and relative humidity at the site during the times of the
year when the facility is intended to operate using the formula, FCP = (FI -
FD)/ P, where:
(a) FCP = Fuel chargeable to
power heat rate.
(b) FI = Annual
fuel input to the facility applicable to the cogeneration process in British
thermal units (higher heating value).
(c) FD = Annual fuel displaced in any
industrial or commercial process, heating, or cooling application by supplying
useful thermal energy from a cogeneration facility instead of from an alternate
source, in British thermal units (higher heating value).
(d) P = Annual net electric output of the
cogeneration facility in kilowatt-hours.
(19) "High efficiency cogeneration facility"
means an energy facility, except coal and nuclear power plants, that
sequentially produces electrical and useful thermal energy from the same fuel
source and under average annual operating conditions:
(a) Has a nominal electric generating
capacity of less than 50 megawatts and the fuel chargeable to power heat rate
value is not greater than 5550 Btu per kilowatt-hour (higher heating value);
or
(b) Has a nominal electric
generating capacity of 50 megawatts or more and the fuel chargeable to power
heat rate value is not greater than 6000 Btu per kilowatt-hour (higher heating
value).
(20) "Land use
approval" means a final quasi-judicial decision or determination made by a
local government that:
(a) Applies existing
comprehensive plan provisions or land use regulations to a proposed
facility;
(b) Amends a
comprehensive plan map or zoning map to accommodate a proposed
facility;
(c) Amends comprehensive
plan text or land use regulations to accommodate a proposed facility;
(d) Applies the statewide planning goals to a
proposed facility; or
(e) Takes an
exception to the statewide planning goals adopted by the Land Conservation and
Development Commission for a proposed facility.
(21) "Micrositing corridor" means a
continuous area of land within which construction of facility components may
occur, subject to site certificate conditions.
(22) "Mitigation" means taking one or more of
the following actions listed in order of priority:
(a) Avoiding the impact altogether by not
taking a certain action or parts of an action;
(b) Minimizing impacts by limiting the degree
or magnitude of the action and its implementation;
(c) Partially or completely rectifying the
impact by repairing, rehabilitating or restoring the affected
environment;
(d) Reducing or
eliminating the impact over time by preservation and maintenance operations
during the life of the action by monitoring and taking appropriate corrective
measures;
(e) Partially or
completely compensating for the impact by replacing or providing comparable
substitute resources or environments; or
(f) Implementing other measures approved by
the Council.
(23) "Net
electric power output" means the electric power produced or capacity made
available for use. Calculation of net electric power output subtracts losses
from on-site transformers and power used for any on-site electrical loads from
gross capacity as measured or estimated at the generator terminals for each
generating unit.
(24) "Owner" means
owner or lessee under a capital lease.
(25) "Permit" means any permit, license,
certificate or other approval required by federal law, state statute, state
administrative rule or local government ordinance.
(26) "Protected Area" means an area
designated as one or more of the following:
(a) A National Park or other unit of the
National Park System described under
54 U.S.C.
100501;
(b) A National Monument established under
54 U.S.C.
320301 or by an act of Congress;
(c) A Wilderness Area established under
16 U.S.C
1131 et seq. or by an act of
Congress;
(d) A Wild, Scenic, or
Recreational River included in the National Wild and Scenic River System under
16 U.S.C.
1271 et seq.;
(e) A National Wildlife Refuge included in
the National Wildlife Refuge System described under
16 U.S.C.
668dd;
(f) A National Fish Hatchery established
under 16 U.S.C.
760aa;
(g) A National Recreation area, National
Scenic area, or Special Resources Management Unit established by an act of
Congress;
(h) A Wilderness Study
Area established under 43
U.S.C. 1782;
(i) Land designated in a federal land
management plan or by an act of Congress as:
(A) An Area of Critical Environmental
Concern;
(B) An Outstanding Natural
Area;
(C) A Research Natural
Area;
(D) An Experimental Forest or
Range; or
(E) A Special Interest
Area designated for scenic, geologic, botanic, zoologic, paleontological,
archaeological, historic, or recreational values, or combinations of these
values;
(j) A state park,
wayside, corridor, monument, historic, or recreation area under the
jurisdiction of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department;
(k) The Willamette River Greenway created
under ORS 390.310 to
390.368;
(l) A natural area listed in the Oregon
Register of Natural Areas under ORS
273.581;
(m) The South Slough National Estuarine
Research Reserve, described under ORS
273.553;
(n) A State Scenic Waterway designated under
ORS 390.805 to
390.925 and related adjacent
lands;
(o) A state wildlife refuge
or management area identified in OAR chapter 635, division 008;
(p) A fish hatchery operated by the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife;
(q) An agricultural experiment station,
experimental area, or research center established by Oregon State University
under ORS chapter 567; or
(r) A
research forest established by Oregon State University under ORS
526.215.
(27) "Related or supporting facilities" as
defined in ORS 469.300. The Council interprets
the terms "proposed to be constructed in connection with" to mean that a
structure is a related or supporting facility if it would not be built but for
construction or operation of the energy facility. "Related or supporting
facilities" does not include any structure existing prior to construction of
the energy facility, unless such structure must be substantially modified
solely to serve the energy facility.
(28) "Reviewing agency" means any of the
following officers, agencies or tribes:
(a)
The Department of Environmental Quality;
(b) The Water Resources Commission and the
Water Resources Director through the Water Resources Department;
(c) The Fish and Wildlife Commission through
the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife;
(d) The State Geologist;
(e) The Department of Forestry;
(f) The Public Utility Commission of
Oregon;
(g) The Oregon Department
of Agriculture;
(h) The Department
of Land Conservation and Development;
(i) The Oregon Department of
Aviation;
(j) The Pacific Northwest
Electric Power and Conservation Planning Council;
(k) The Office of State Fire
Marshal;
(l) The Department of
State Lands;
(m) The State Historic
Preservation Office;
(n) Any other
agency identified by the Department;
(o) Any tribe identified by the Legislative
Commission on Indian Services as affected by the proposed facility;
(p) The governing body of any incorporated
city or county in Oregon within the study area as defined in OAR 345-001-0010
for impacts to public services;
(q)
Any special advisory group designated by the Department under OAR 345-015-0115;
and
(r) The federal land management
agency with jurisdiction if any part of the proposed site is on federal
land.
(29) "Significant"
means having an important consequence, either alone or in combination with
other factors, based upon the magnitude and likelihood of the impact on the
affected human population or natural resources, or on the importance of the
natural resource affected, considering the context of the action or impact, its
intensity and the degree to which possible impacts are caused by the proposed
action. Nothing in this definition is intended to require a statistical
analysis of the magnitude or likelihood of a particular impact.
(30) "Site" as defined in ORS
469.300. "Energy facility site"
means all land upon which an energy facility is located or proposed to be
located. "Related or supporting facilities site" means all land upon which
related or supporting facilities for an energy facility are located or proposed
to be located.
(31) "Site boundary"
means the perimeter of the site of a proposed energy facility, its related or
supporting facilities, all temporary laydown and staging areas and all
corridors and micrositing corridors proposed by the applicant.
(32) "Solar photovoltaic power generation
facility" includes, but is not limited to, an assembly of equipment that
converts sunlight into electricity and then stores or transfers that
electricity. This includes photovoltaic modules, mounting and tracking
equipment, posts, electrical cabling, inverters, transformers, collection
systems, fencing, and other components.
(a)
For the purposes of applying the acreage standards of ORS
469.300(11)(a)(D),
the land used by a solar photovoltaic power generation facility includes the
land occupied by its related or supporting facilities. Related or supporting
facilities are not otherwise considered to be components of the solar
photovoltaic power generation facility;
(b) A proposed solar photovoltaic power
generation project may be determined to be an expansion of any existing or
proposed solar photovoltaic power generation facility that is:
(A) Within one mile of the proposed project;
and
(B) Determined to be under
common ownership with the proposed project. Projects connected to the same
parent company or individuals will be considered to be in common ownership,
regardless of the operating business structure;
(c) As used in this rule and OAR
345-001-0250, a "proposed solar photovoltaic power generation project" means:
(A) The proposed development of a separate
and independent solar photovoltaic power generation facility; or
(B) The proposed expansion or modification of
a proposed or existing solar photovoltaic power generation facility.
(33) "Special nuclear
material" means plutonium, uranium-233 or uranium enriched in the isotope 233
or in the isotope 235.
(34)
"Strategic flexibility" means the value of a resource as part of a strategy to
manage variance in costs or risks caused by future uncertainty.
(35) "Study area" means an area defined in
this rule. Except as specified in subsections (f) and (g), the study area is an
area that includes all the area within the site boundary and the area within
the following distances from the site boundary:
(a) For impacts to threatened and endangered
plant and animal species, 5 miles.
(b) For impacts to scenic resources and to
public services, 10 miles.
(c) For
land use impacts, wildfire risk, and impacts to fish and wildlife habitat,
one-half mile.
(d) For impacts to
recreational opportunities, 5 miles.
(e) For impacts to protected areas described
in OAR 345-022-0040, 20 miles.
(f)
The distance stated in subsection (a) above does not apply to surface
facilities related to an underground gas storage reservoir.
(g) The distances stated in subsections (a)
and (d) above do not apply to pipelines or transmission lines.
(36) "Substantial loss of steam
host" means the thermal energy user associated with a high efficiency
cogeneration facility has made such long-term changes in its manner and
magnitude of operation as to result in the loss of one or more work shifts for
at least a year, accompanied by at least a 30 percent resultant reduction in
the use of thermal energy.
(37)
"Substantial loss of fuel use efficiency" means an increase in the fuel
chargeable to power heat rate at a high efficiency cogeneration facility to
greater than 7000 Btu per kilowatt-hour (higher heating value), or reduction of
the fraction of energy output going to the thermal energy user associated with
the facility to less than 20 percent, as a result of a substantial loss of
steam host. Substantial loss of fuel use efficiency does not include efficiency
losses due to equipment wear or condition.
(38) "Surface facilities related to an
underground gas storage reservoir" means structures or equipment adjacent to
and associated with an underground gas storage reservoir that are proposed to
be built in connection with an underground gas storage reservoir and include,
but are not limited to:
(a) Facilities such as
stripping plants, main line dehydration stations, offices, warehouses,
equipment shops, odorant storage and injection equipment and
compressors;
(b) Pipelines, such as
gathering lines and liquid collection lines; and
(c) Roads and road maintenance equipment
housing at the reservoir site.
(39) "Total energy output" means the sum of
useful thermal energy output and useful electrical energy output.
(40) "Useful thermal energy" means the
verifiable thermal energy used in any industrial or commercial process, heating
or cooling application;
(41)
"Vice-chair" means the vice-chair of the Energy Facility Siting
Council.
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS
469.470 & ORS
469.503
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS
469.300-469.570, ORS
469.590-469.619, ORS
469.992 & ORS
469.480
