Official Summary Text
HB2781 - 572R - Senate Fact Sheet
Assigned to
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COMMITTEE
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh
Legislature, Second Regular Session
FACT SHEET FOR
H.B. 2781
decommissioning;
solar energy; standards; fund
Purpose
Prescribes
requirements for solar energy power plants relating to financial assurance,
liability insurance, the transfer or sale of a solar energy power plant or
special use permit, the curing of damage if part of a solar energy power plant
is damaged and the decommissioning and site restoration plan for a solar energy
power plant. Establishes the Solar Energy Power Plant Site Remediation Fund
(Fund).
Background
The Arizona
Power Authority (APA) was formed in 1944 as a result of the federal Boulder
Canyon Project Act of 1928 that allocated a portion of power produced from the
Hoover Dam. Power from the Hoover Dam first became available in 1936, and at
that time, Arizona had not developed an infrastructure and methodology to
receive and distribute allocated power. Subsequently, the Legislature
established the APA, charging the APA with the responsibility of acquiring and
marketing Arizona's share of Hoover Dam power (
APA
).
The APA must
encourage activities deemed by it to be feasible for the production or storage
of electric power or energy from solar energy, nuclear energy or geothermal
energy, and may bargain for, take and receive such energy or the electrical
power generated therefrom in its own name on behalf of Arizona. The APA may
acquire by lease, purchase or any other means, real property owned by the state
or federal government and may dispose of such property by sale, lease or other
means to persons engaged in projects deemed by the authority to be feasible for
the production or storage of electric power or energy from solar, nuclear or
geothermal energy, including projects for research and development in such
fields. For the purpose of making such power available to marketing areas of Arizona,
the APA may acquire or construct and operate electric transmission systems,
standby or auxiliary plants and facilities and generate, store, produce, sell
at wholesale, transmit and deliver such electric power to qualified purchasers,
and if conducive to efficiency and convenience, may enter into agreements for
interconnection or pooling with projects, plants, systems or facilities of
other distributors of electric power (A.R.S. ��
30-121
and
30-123
).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state
General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
Decommissioning
and Site Restoration for Solar Energy Power Plants
1.
Allows a city, town or county to adopt decommissioning standards for a
solar energy power plant that is located in the city, town or county.
2.
Requires
an applicant for a solar energy power plant to comply with the requirements or
procedures for a solar energy power plant that are adopted by the city, town or
county in which the solar energy power plant is to be located.
3.
Specifies
that the outlined requirements relating to solar energy power plants do not
apply to:
a)
a solar energy power plant if the city, town or county in which the
solar energy power plant is located has adopted a local decommissioning and
site restoration standard or has approved a decommissioning plan for a facility
before the commencement of the solar energy power plant's operation; and
b)
a distributed energy generation system or a solar energy power plant
that before the general effective date:
i.
was constructed or installed or in operation;
ii.
has
submitted or received a permit from a city, town or county; or
iii.
has advanced to the facilities study stage of an interconnection
process.
4.
Requires a solar energy power plant owner or operator to provide a city,
town or county where the solar energy power plant is located with a
decommissioning and site restoration plan.
5.
Requires
the decommissioning and site restoration plan to state how the solar energy
power plant will be decommissioned and how the site will be repowered or
restored and to include:
a)
an estimate of the cost of decommissioning the solar energy power plant
and repowering or restoring the site, net of salvage value;
b)
the financial resources that the solar energy power plant will use to
accomplish decommissioning and restoration; and
c)
a
timeline for the decommissioning and site restoration or repowering.
6.
Requires an individual who is qualified to estimate decommissioning and
site restoration or repowering costs and salvage value for the solar energy
power plant to make the estimate.
7.
Stipulates
that an individual is qualified to conduct the prescribed estimate if the
individual:
a)
is registered professional engineer who is independent from the solar
energy power plant owner and the city, town or county; or
b)
as
agreed to by the solar energy power plant owner and the city, town or county,
has other experience in decommissioning solar energy power plants of the type
in question and that experience is suitable to the solar energy power plant
owner and the city, town or county.
8.
Requires a solar energy power plant owner or operator to remove a solar
energy power plant and restore a solar energy power plant site unless the
landowner or a city, town or county determines that an outlined requirement
relating to restoration is not necessary.
9.
Allows a solar energy power plant owner to petition a permitting county
to amend a decommissioning plan.
10.
Requires a county to allow a
solar energy power plant owner to amend a decommissioning plan as necessary to
account for:
a)
advancements in available technology;
b)
advancements in decommissioning, salvaging or repowering processes or
procedures; or
c)
the
best interest of the city, town or county, the landowner or the solar energy
power plant owner.
11.
Requires the removal of a
solar energy power plant to:
a)
include all above ground components, including solar arrays,
transformers, above ground collection cables and poles and fencing; and
b)
comply with the following:
i.
foundations and buried project components, other than buried collection
lines, must be removed to a depth of at least 36 inches or as prescribed by the
city, town or county or as negotiated with the landowner;
ii.
buried
collection lines must be removed to a depth of 36 inches; and
iii.
removal
activities must be completed in accordance with the timeline in the
decommissioning plan.
12.
Allows collection lines
below a depth of 36 inches to remain in place.
13.
Requires the restoration of
each site to include:
a)
minimizing ground disturbance and using commercially reasonable efforts
to restore the site to its original ground contours, if possible, or
coordinating with the landowner to restore the site;
b)
reasonably restoring and reestablishing disturbed on-site soils and
vegetation by using native seed mix and proper soil nutrients, including
fertilizer and lime, if necessary, to provide and sustain growth or in
coordination with the landowner to allow desired vegetation to be planted or
returning the on-site soils and vegetation to their original conditions;
c)
after the decommissioning of the site is complete:
i.
restoring paved roads that existed before the project was constructed to
the original condition of the paced roads; and
ii.
leaving
roads or other improvements in place with the landowner's consent;
d)
allowing access roads, fencing, associated drainage improvements and any
other residual minor improvements to remain with the landowner's written
consent; and
e)
removing and remediating any hazardous materials and waste.
14.
Requires the city, town or
county, after providing reasonable notice to the property owner and project
owner, to enter the site to effect or complete decommissioning pursuant to the
decommissioning plan.
15.
Specifies that after the
solar energy power plant owner or operator completes the decommissioning of a
solar energy power plant and restoration of the solar energy power plant site:
a)
the solar energy power plant owner or operator must notify the city,
town or county within 30 days after the date on which the owner or operator
completes decommissioning and restoration; and
b)
the city, town or county must certify to the solar energy power plant
owner or operator that decommissioning and restoration is complete within 30
days after the date on which the city, town or county receives notice from the
solar energy power plant owner or operator.
16.
Specifies that after the
city, town or county certifies that decommissioning and restoration is
complete:
a)
the solar energy power plant owner or operator is released from any
prescribed obligation relating to solar energy power plants; and
b)
the
city, town or county must return or release any remaining statutorily
prescribed financial assurance requirement.
Transfer or
Sale of Solar Energy Power Plants
17.
Prohibits
the transfer of a solar energy power plant or special use permit or the sale of
the entity owning the solar energy power plant from occurring without written
acceptance by the transferee of the transferor's outlined obligations.
18.
Specifies
that a transfer or sale does not eliminate the liability or responsibility of
an applicant or of any other party for acts or omissions occurring before the
transfer or sale.
19.
Allows
the city, town or county, for a transfer of unit ownership, to assess the
amount of any outlined financial assurance.
Curing of
Damaged or Deficient Solar Energy Power Plants
20.
Requires
a solar energy power plant owner or operator, if a part of the solar energy
power plant is damaged or if the solar energy power plant violates a permit
condition imposed by a city, town or county, to cure any damage or deficiency
within 90 days after written notice from the city, town or county.
21.
Requires
a solar energy power plant owner or operator, if it is not reasonably possible
for the solar energy power plant owner or operator to cure the damage or
deficiency within 90 days after receiving the written notice, to provide the
city, town or county with a plan to cure the damage or deficiency as soon as
reasonably possible.
22.
Requires
an applicant or its successors or assigns, without any further action by the
city, town or county and if a solar energy power plant remains nonfunctional or
inoperative for a continuous period of at least one year, to remove the system
and restore the site at its own expense.
23.
Requires
a solar energy power plant owner or operator, if it is not reasonably possible
for the solar energy power plant owner or operator to repower or restore the
solar energy power plant to be functional or operational within one year, to
provide the city, town or county with a plan to restore the solar energy power
plant to be functional or operational as soon as reasonably possible.
Financial
Assurance
24.
Requires a solar energy
power plant owner or operator, in accordance with the following schedule, to
maintain financial assurance, including in the form of a bond, parent guarantee
or irrevocable letter of credit, in an amount equal to the cost to decommission
the solar energy power plant and restore the solar energy power plant site, net
salvage value:
a)
an initial posting by the current owner or operator on or before 10
years after the commercial operation date of the solar energy power plant and
not more than 35 percent of the entire decommissioning cost;
b)
intermediary posting occurring not less frequently than one posting
every five years after the date of the initial posting; and
c)
a
final posting on or before 25 years after the commercial operation date of the
solar energy power plant, such that the total amount posted is equal to the
entire decommissioning cost calculated.
25.
Requires
the solar energy power plant owner or operator to update the cost estimate
every five years to ensure an accurate estimation of costs associated with
decommissioning, equipment value and site restoration, adjusted for inflation.
26.
Specifies
that a solar energy power plant owner or operator is not required to provide
duplicative financial assurance for decommissioning and site restoration.
27.
Deems
that an owner or operator, if the owner or operator has provided financial
assurance for decommissioning and site restoration pursuant to a lease
agreement with a landowner or in agreement with another state or federal agency
or a city, town or county, is exempt from the prescribed financial assurance
requirements to the extent that the assurance covers estimated costs that are
calculated.
28.
Requires
a city, town or county to deposit any monies that are collected from a solar
energy power plant in the Fund.
29.
Allows
a city, town or county to use the monies deposited in the Fund for the costs
associated with decommissioning and remediation of a solar energy power plant
site.
30.
Requires
a solar energy power plant owner, if the solar energy power plant owner sells
the solar energy power plant to a public service corporation, utility or
another solar energy power plant owner, to provide a notice of the sale to the
city, town or county.
31.
Requires
a city, town or county, within 15 days after receiving the outlined notice, to
waive the prescribed requirements relating to financial assurance and return or
release any financial assurance provided to the city, town or county to the
solar energy power plant owner.
32.
Requires
the successor owner or operator, after a transfer of ownership and as a
condition of the transfer to post financial assurance that is in an amount and
form at least equal to the financial assurance currently held by the city, town
or county from the previous owner.
33.
Prohibits
the city, town or county from releasing or returning the previous owner's
financial assurance until the successor owner has fully replaced the assurance
value.
34.
Requires
the successor owner, on completion of the outlined replacement, to assume the
decommissioning schedule of the transferor.
Liability
Insurance
35.
Requires
a solar energy power plant owner or operator to maintain an insurance policy
that includes coverage, with a limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence and
$2,000,000 in the aggregate, of any reasonable liability of the city, town or
county where the solar energy power plant is located related to the
construction and operation of the solar energy power plant.
36.
Requires
a solar energy power plant owner or operator to immediately provide written
notice of any change in the outlined insurance policy to the city, town or
county where the solar energy power plant is located.
Fund
37.
Establishes
the Fund consisting of monies collected from outlined financial assurance.
38.
Requires
the Executive Director of the APA to administer the Fund.
39.
Specifies
that Fund monies are continuously appropriated and are exempt from lapsing.
Miscellaneous
40.
Becomes
effective on the general effective date.
House Action
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Prepared by Senate Research
March 20, 2026
SB/hk
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
HB2781 - 572R - H Ver
House Engrossed
decommissioning;
solar energy; standards; fund
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HOUSE BILL 2781
AN
ACT
amending title 30, arizona revised
statutes, by adding chapter 9; relating to solar energy power plants.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 30, Arizona Revised Statutes,
is amended by adding chapter 9, to read:
CHAPTER
9
SOLAR
ENERGY POWER PLANTS
ARTICLE
1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
START_STATUTE
30-1101.
Local government; requirements; procedures; applicability
A. A city, town or county may adopt
decommissioning standards for a solar energy power plant that is
located in the city, town or county.
B. An applicant for a solar energy
power plant shall comply with the requirements or procedures for a solar energy
power plant that are adopted by the city, town or COUNTY in which the solar
energy power plant is to be located.
C. This chapter does not apply to a
solar energy power plant if the city, town or county in which the solar energy
power plant is located has adopted a local decommissioning and site restoration
standard or has approved a decommissioning plan for a facility before the
commencement of the solar energy power plant's operation.
D. This chapter does not apply to a
distributed energy generation system or a solar energy power plant that before
the effective date of this section:
1. Was constructed or installed or in
operation.
2. Has submitted or received a permit
from a city, town or county.
3. Has advanced to the facilities
study stage of an interconnection process.
END_STATUTE
START_STATUTE
30-1102.
Transfer or sale
A. The transfer of a Solar Energy
Power Plant or Special Use Permit or the sale of the entity owning the solar
energy power plant may not occur without written acceptance by the transferee
of the transferor's obligations under this chapter. �A transfer or sale does
not eliminate the liability or responsibility of an applicant or of any other
party under this chapter for acts or omissions occurring before the transfer or
sale.
B. For a transfer of unit ownership,
the city, town or county may
assess the amount of any
financial assurance required under section 30-1105.
END_STATUTE
START_STATUTE
30-1103.
Curing damaged or deficient plant; restoring nonfunctional or
inoperative plant
A. If a part of a Solar Energy Power
Plant is damaged or if a Solar Energy Power Plant violates a permit condition
imposed by a city, town or county, the solar energy power plant owner or
operator shall cure any damage or deficiency within ninety days after written
notice from the city, town or county. �If it is not reasonably possible for the
solar energy power plant owner or operator to cure the damage or deficiency
within ninety days after receiving the written notice, the solar energy power
plant owner or operator shall provide the city, town or county with a plan to
cure the damage or deficiency as soon as reasonably possible.
B. If a Solar Energy Power Plant
remains nonfunctional or inoperative for a continuous period of at least one
year
, excluding the initial construction, the applicant
or its successors or assigns, without any further action by the city, town or
county, shall remove the system and restore the site at its own expense as
prescribed in section 30-1104. If it is not reasonably possible for a
solar energy power plant owner or operator to
repower or restore
the solar energy power plant to be functional or operational within one year,
the solar energy power plant owner or operator shall provide the city, town or
county with a plan to restore the solar energy power plant to be functional or
operational as soon as reasonably possible.
END_STATUTE
START_STATUTE
30-1104.
Decommissioning and site restoration
A. A solar energy power plant owner
or operator shall provide a city, town or county where the solar energy power
plant is located with a decommissioning and site restoration plan.
B. The Decommissioning and site
restoration Plan shall state how the solar energy power plant will be
decommissioned and the site will be
repowered or restored
and shall include all of the following:
1. An estimate of the cost of
decommissioning
the solar energy power plant and
repowering or restoring the site, net of salvage value.�
An individual who is qualified to estimate decommissioning and site
restoration
or repowering costs and SALVAGE value for the
solar energy power plant shall make the estimate.
An individual is qualified to conduct the estimate pursuant to this
paragraph if the individual:
(
a
) Is a
registered professional engineer who is independent from the solar energy power
plant owner and the city, town or county.
(
b
) as agreed
to by the solar energy power plant owner and the city, town or county, has
other experience in decommissioning solar energy power plants of the type in
question and that experience is suitable to the solar energy power plant owner and
the city, town or county.
2. The financial resources that the
solar energy power plant will use to accomplish decommissioning and
restoration.
3. A timeline for the decommissioning
and the site restoration or repowering.
C. A solar energy power plant owner
or operator shall remove a solar energy power plant and restore a solar energy
power plant site as prescribed in this section unless
the
landowner or a city, town or county determines that a provision of this section
relating to restoration is not necessary.
D. A solar energy power plant owner
may petition a permitting county to amend a decommissioning plan. A county
shall allow a solar energy power plant owner to amend a decommissioning plan as
necessary to account for any of the following:
1. Advancements in available
technology.
2. Advancements in decommissioning,
salvaging or repowering processes or procedures.
3. The best interest of the city,
town or county, the landowner or the solar energy power plant owner.
E. The removal of a solar energy
power plant shall:
1. Include all above ground
components, including Solar arrays, transformers, above ground collection
cables and poles and fencing.
2. Comply with the following:
(
a
) Foundations
and buried project components, other than buried collection lines, must be
removed to a depth of at least thirty-six inches or as prescribed by the
city, town or county
or as negotiated with the landowner.
(
b
) Buried
collection lines must be removed to a depth of thirty-six inches. Collection
lines below a depth of thirty-six inches may remain in place.
(
c
) Removal
activities must be completed
in accordance with the
timeline in the decommissioning plan.
F. The restoration of each site shall
include:
1. Minimizing ground disturbance and
using commercially reasonable efforts to restore the site to its
original ground contours, if possible,
or coordinating
with the landowner to restore the site.
2. Reasonably restoring and
reestablishing disturbed on-site soils and vegetation by using native
seed mix and proper soil nutrients, including fertilizer and lime, if
necessary, to provide and sustain growth or in coordination with the landowner
to allow desired vegetation to be planted or returning the on-site soils
and vegetation to their original conditions.
3. After the decommissioning of the
site is complete:
(
a
) Restoring
paved roads that existed before the PROJECt was constructed to the original
condition of the paved roads.
(
b
) Leaving
roads or other improvements in place with the landowner's consent.
4. Allowing access roads, fencing,
associated drainage improvements and any other residual minor improvements to
remain with the landowner's written consent.
5. Removing and remediating any
hazardous materials and waste.
G. After providing reasonable notice
to the property owner
and project owner, the city, town
or county may enter the site to effect or complete decommissioning pursuant to
the Decommissioning Plan.
H. After the solar energy
power plant owner or operator completes the decommissioning of a solar
energy power plant and restoration of the solar energy power plant site:
1. The solar energy power plant owner
or operator shall notify the city, town or county within thirty days after the
date on which the owner or operator completes decommissioning and restoration.
2. The city, town or county shall
certify to the solar energy power plant owner or operator that decommissioning
and restoration is complete within thirty days after the date on which the
city, town or county receives notice from the solar energy power plant owner or
operator.
I. After the city, town or county
certifies that decommissioning and restoration is complete:
1. The solar energy power plant owner
or operator is released from any obligation prescribed in this chapter.
2. The city, town or county shall
return or release any remaining financial assurance required under section
30-1105.
END_STATUTE
START_STATUTE
30-1105.
Financial assurance
A.
In
accordance with the following schedule, A solar energy power plant owner or
operator shall maintain financial assurance, including in the form of a bond
, parent guarantee
or irrevocable letter of
credit,
in an amount equal to the cost to decommission
the solar energy power plant and restore the solar energy power plant site as
prescribed in section 30-1104, net salvage value
:
1. An initial posting by the current
owner or operator on or before ten years after the commercial operation date of
the solar energy power plant and not more than twenty-five percent of the
entire decommissioning cost calculated under section 30-1104.
2. Intermediary postings occurring
not less frequently than one posting every five years after the date of the
initial posting.
3. A final posting on or before
twenty-five years after the commercial operation date of the solar energy
power plant, such that the total amount posted is equal to the entire
decommissioning cost calculated under section 30-1104.
B. The solar energy power plant owner
or operator shall update the cost estimate every
five years
to ensure an accurate estimation of costs associated with decommissioning,
equipment value and site restoration, adjusted for inflation.
C. A solar energy power plant owner
or operator is not required to provide duplicative financial assurance for
decommissioning and site restoration. �If the owner or operator has provided
financial assurance for decommissioning and site restoration pursuant to a
lease agreement with a landowner or in agreement with another state or federal
agency or a city, town or county, the owner or operator is exempt from the
financial assurance requirements as prescribed in this section to the extent
that the assurance covers estimated costs that are calculated under section 30-1104.
D. The
city, town or county shall deposit any monies that are collected from a solar
energy power plant in the solar energy power plant site remediation fund
established by section 30-1107. A city, town or county may use
the monies deposited in the solar energy power plant site remediation fund for
the costs associated with decommissioning and remediation of a solar energy
power plant site.
E. If a solar energy power plant
owner sells the solar energy power plant to a public service corporation
, utility or another solar energy power plant owner, the solar energy
power plant owner shall provide a notice of the sale to the city, town or
county. Within fifteen days after receiving the notice, the city,
town or county shall waive the requirements of this section and return or
release any financial assurance provided to the city, town or county to the
solar energy power plant owner.
After a transfer
of ownership, the successor owner or operator, as a condition of the transfer,
shall post financial assurance that is in an amount and form at least equal to
the financial assurance currently held by the city, town or county from the
previous owner. �The city, town or county may not release or return the
previous owner's financial assurance until the successor owner has fully
replaced the assurance value. �On completion of this replacement, the successor
owner shall assume the decommissioning schedule of the transferor.
END_STATUTE
START_STATUTE
30-1106.
Liability insurance required
a. A solar energy power plant owner
or operator shall maintain an insurance policy that includes coverage
, with a limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 in the
aggregate, of any reasonable liability of the city, town or county where the
solar energy power plant is located related to the construction and operation
of the solar energy power plant.
B. A solar energy power plant OWNER
or operator shall immediately provide written notice of any change in the
insurance policy described in subsection A of this section to the city, town or
county where the solar energy power plant is located.
END_STATUTE
START_STATUTE
30-1107.
Solar energy power plant site remediation fund; exemption
The solar energy power plant site remediation
fund is established consisting of monies collected pursuant to section 30-1105.
The executive director shall administer the fund. Monies in the
solar energy power plant site remediation fund are continuously appropriated
and are exempt from the provision of section 35-190 relating to lapsing
of appropriations.
END_STATUTE