Read the full stored bill text
HB2494 - 572R - H Ver
House Engrossed
certificate;
environmental compatibility; zoning; exemption
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HOUSE BILL 2494
AN
ACT
amending sections 11-812 and 40-360.03,
arizona revised statutes; relating to county zoning.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 11-812, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
11-812.
Restriction on regulation; exceptions; aggregate mining
regulation; definitions
A.
Nothing contained in
Any
ordinance authorized by this chapter
shall
may
not
:
1. Affect existing uses of property or the right to
its continued use or the reasonable repair or alteration of the property for
the purpose for which used at the time the ordinance affecting the property
takes effect.
2. Prevent, restrict or otherwise regulate the use
or occupation of land or improvements for railroad, mining, metallurgical,
grazing or general agricultural purposes, if the tract concerned is five or
more contiguous commercial acres.� For the purposes of this paragraph:
(a) "General agricultural purposes"
includes agritourism as defined in section 3-111, but does not include
any of the following:
(i) Food establishments
that are
under
the authority of the department of health services pursuant to section 36-136,
subsection I
and
that are associated with an agritourism
business.
(ii) Rodeo events that are open to the general
public and that sell tickets for admission.� For the purposes of this item,
rodeo events do not include generally accepted agricultural practices
associated with livestock and equine operations.
(iii) The cultivation of cannabis as defined in
section 13-3401 or marijuana as defined in section 13-3401 or 36-2801.
(b) "Mining" has the same meaning
prescribed in section 27-301.
3. Prevent, restrict or otherwise regulate the use
or occupation of land or improvements for agricultural composting, if the tract
is five or more contiguous commercial acres.� An agricultural composting
operation shall notify in writing the board of supervisors and the nearest fire
department of the location of the composting operation.� If the nearest fire
department is located in a city, town or fire district where the agricultural
composting is not located, the agricultural composting operation shall also
notify in writing the fire district in which the operation is
located. Agricultural composting is subject to sections 3-112
and 49-141. For the purposes of this paragraph,
"agricultural composting" has the same meaning prescribed in section
9-462.01, subsection G.
4. Prevent, restrict or otherwise regulate the
otherwise lawful discharge of a firearm or air gun or use of archery equipment
on a private lot or parcel of land that is not open to the public on a
commercial or membership basis.
5. Prevent,
restrict or otherwise regulate the use or occupation of land or improvements
for the construction and operation of a thermal or nonthermal electric
generating unit if the owner or operator of the electric generating unit has
applied for and received a certificate of environmental compatibility for the
proposed electric generating unit from the power plant and transmission line
siting committee, and the certificate is affirmed and approved by an order of
the corporation commission pursuant to title 40, chapter 2, article 6.2.� The
owner or operator of a nonthermal electric generating unit may voluntarily
apply for a certificate of environmental compatibility pursuant to this
paragraph.
B. A nonconforming business use within a district
may expand if the expansion does not exceed one hundred
per cent
percent
of the area of the original business.
C. For the purposes of subsection A, paragraph 2 of
this section, mining does not include aggregate mining operations in an
aggregate mining operations zoning district established pursuant to this
section.� The board of supervisors of any county with a population of more than
two million persons shall designate and establish the boundaries of an
aggregate mining operations zoning district on the petition of at least one
hundred persons who reside within one-half mile of an existing aggregate
mining operation.� In addition, the board of supervisors of any county may
establish, in its discretion and on the board's initiative, one or more
aggregate mining operations zoning districts. Aggregate mining
operations zoning districts may only be located in areas that are inventoried
and mapped as areas of known reserves or in areas with existing aggregate
mining operations.� Subject to subsections E and F of this section, a county
and the state mine inspector may jointly adopt, as internal administrative
regulations, reasonable aggregate mining operations zoning district standards
limited to permitted uses, procedures for approval of property development
plans and site development standards for dust control, height regulations,
setbacks, days and hours of operation, off-street parking, screening, noise,
vibration and air pollution control, signs, roadway access lanes, arterial
highway protection and property reclamation for which aggregate mining
operations are not otherwise subject to federal, state or local regulation or a
governmental contractual obligation. Regulations
that
are
jointly adopted pursuant to this subsection by the county and the
state mine inspector shall not prohibit the activities included in the
definition of mine pursuant to section 27-301, paragraph 8 or duplicate,
conflict with or be more stringent than applicable federal, state or local
laws.
D. The board of
supervisors of any county that establishes an aggregate mining operations
zoning district shall appoint an aggregate mining operations recommendation
committee for the district. The committee consists of not more than
seven operators, or representatives of operators, of active aggregate mining
operations in any district within the county and an equal number of private
citizens, who are not operators, who are not employed by operators and who do
not represent operators, residing within three miles of the boundaries of
aggregate mining operations or a proposed aggregate mining operation in the
district for which the committee is established.� The initial members appointed
to the committee shall be deemed the primary members, and the board of
supervisors shall appoint not more than five alternate members who represent
operators and shall appoint not more than five alternate members who are
private citizens.� Alternate members may serve at meetings of the committee
when a primary member is unable to attend. An aggregate mining
operator may serve on more than one committee in the same county.� The board of
supervisors shall determine the length of terms of members of the committee and
shall stagger the initial appointments so that not all members' terms expire at
the same time.� Members of the committee who no longer qualify for membership
as provided by this subsection are subject to removal and replacement by the
board of supervisors.� The committee shall elect a member who is an aggregate
mining operator to serve as chairperson for the first year in which the
committee is created. For each year thereafter, the chairperson
shall be elected by the members of the committee with a member who is a private
citizen and a member who is an aggregate mining operator serving as chairperson
in alternate years.� The committee is subject to the open meeting requirements
of title 38, chapter 3, article 3.1.
E. Within ninety days after an aggregate mining
operations recommendation committee is established, the committee shall notify
all existing aggregate mining operators in the district of the application of
this section and title 27, chapter 3, article 6 to the aggregate mining
operation.� In addition, the committee shall:
1. By a majority vote of all members make
recommendations to the board of supervisors for aggregate mining zoning
districts and administrative regulations as provided in this section.� The
board of supervisors may adopt or reject the recommendations but may not make
any modifications to the recommendations unless the modification is approved by
a majority of the members of the recommendation committee.
2. Serve as a forum for mediation of disputes
between members of the public and aggregate mining owners or operators.� If the
committee is unable to resolve a dispute, the committee shall transmit the
matter to the state mine inspector, with written findings and recommendations,
for further action.
3. Hear written complaints filed with the state mine
inspector regarding alleged material deviations from approved community notices
for aggregate mining operations and make written recommendations to the state
mine inspector pursuant to section 27-446.
F. Any administrative regulations adopted by a board
of supervisors pursuant to this section are not effective until the regulations
are approved by the state mine inspector. The
state
mine
inspector may disapprove the administrative regulations adopted by
the board of supervisors only if they duplicate, conflict with or are more
stringent than applicable federal, state or local laws, rules or
regulations. If the
state mine
inspector
disapproves the administrative regulations, the
state mine
inspector
must provide written reasons for the disapproval.� The
state
mine
inspector shall not make any modification to the administrative
regulations as adopted by the board of supervisors unless the modification is
approved by a majority of the members of the board of supervisors.
G. A person or entity is subject to this chapter if
the use or occupation of land or improvements by the person or entity consists
of or includes changing, remanufacturing or treating human sewage or sludge for
distribution or resale.� These activities are not exempt from this chapter
under subsection A, paragraph 2 of this section.
H. A county shall not require as a condition for a
permit or for any approval, or otherwise cause, an owner or possessor of
property to waive the right to continue an existing nonconforming outdoor
advertising use or structure without acquiring the use or structure by purchase
or condemnation and paying just compensation unless the county, at its option,
allows the use or structure to be relocated to a comparable site in the county
with the same or a similar zoning classification, or to another site in the
county acceptable to both the county and the owner of the use or structure, and
the use or structure is relocated to the other site.� The county shall pay for
relocating the outdoor advertising use or structure
,
including the cost of removing and constructing the new use or structure that
is at least the same size and height. This subsection does not apply
to county rezoning of property at the request of the property owner to a more
intensive zoning district.
I. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Aggregate" has the same meaning
prescribed in section 27-441.
2. "Aggregate mining" has the same meaning
prescribed in section 27-441.
3. "Aggregate mining operation" means
property that is owned, operated or managed by the same person for aggregate
mining.
4. "Operators"
means persons who are actively engaged in aggregate mining operations within
the zoning district or proposed zoning district and who have given notice to
the state mine inspector pursuant to section 27-303.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Section 40-360.03, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
40-360.03.
Application
for certificate of environmental compatibility before construction of facilities;
electronic format; rules; exception
A. Except as provided
in
subsection
subsections
B
and c
of this section, every utility
that plans to construct a plant or transmission line, or both, in this state
shall first file with the commission an application for a certificate of
environmental compatibility. The application shall be in a form
prescribed by the commission and shall be accompanied by information with
respect to the proposed type of facilities and description of the site,
including the areas of jurisdiction affected and the estimated cost of the
proposed facilities and site. The application shall also be
accompanied by a receipt that evidences payment of the appropriate fee required
by section 40-360.09. The commission shall promptly refer the application
and accompanying information to the chairman of the committee for the
committee's review and decision. The application and accompanying information
may be submitted to the commission in an electronic format.� The commission may
adopt rules to accept electronic filings under this section and to ensure that
proper notice is provided electronically to interested parties.
B. A
utility may replace a conductor or wire on a transmission line or may replace
an existing transmission line structure or structures with a new transmission
line structure or structures without seeking a new certificate of environmental
compatibility and without holding a hearing under this article if the
replacement is on a transmission line that previously received a certificate of
environmental compatibility or that was in use or authorized before August 13,
1971. All replacement conductors or structures shall comply with the
terms and conditions of the applicable existing certificate of environmental
compatibility.
END_STATUTE
C. A utility may replace an existing
plant with a replacement plant or construct a new plant immediately adjacent to
an existing plant without filing for or receiving a new certificate of
environmental compatibility for the new or replacement plant if all of the
following conditions are met:
1. The utility provides to the
commission thirty days' written notice and holds at least one public comment
session in the county where the existing plant is located.
2. The
new or replacement plant is located on or immediately adjacent to the site of a
plant that has previously received a certificate of environmental compatibility
pursuant to this article or that was in use or authorized before August 13, 1971.
3. The
aggregate nameplate rating of all plants that will be located on and
immediately adjacent to the site after construction will be equal to or greater
than the aggregate nameplate rating of all existing plants located on and
immediately adjacent to the site before construction.