corporation commission; small modular reactors

SB1418 - 572R - H Ver

House Engrossed
Senate Bill

corporation
commission; small modular reactors

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

SENATE BILL 1418

AN
ACT

amending sections 11-812, 40-360, 40-360.03
and 40-360.07, Arizona Revised Statutes; amending title 40, chapter 2, article
6.2, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 40-360.14; relating to the
power plant and transmission line siting committee.

(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. Except in a county with five
hundred thousand persons or more, prevent, restrict or otherwise regulate the
use or occupation of land or improvements for the construction and operation of
a small modular reactor, if all of the following have been met before
construction of the small modular reactor:

(
a
)

the small modular reactor is
colocated with an extra high load factor customer as defined by the corporation
commission and that received all applicable zoning entitlements.

(
b
) The small
modular reactor received a design certification as prescribed in 10 code of
federal regulations part 52 from a federal agency or commission that regulates
public health and safety relating to the operation of nuclear reactors.

(
c
) The small
modular reactor is not either of the following:

(
i
) Located
WITHIN a county island as defined in section 11-251.12.

(
ii
) Located
within three miles of the boundaries of a municipality or the municipal
planning area of the municipality, as designed in the land use map of the
municipality's general plan. This item applies regardless of whether the
municipality has exercised extraterritorial jurisdiction pursuant to section 9-462.07.

(
d
) The owner
or operator of the small modular reactor has submitted to the board of
supervisors of the county in which the proposed small modular reactor is
located both of the following:

(
i
) The design
certification for the small modular reactor as prescribed in subdivision (
b
) of this paragraph.

(
ii
) A map that shows that the location of the small modular
reactor satisfies the requirements of subdivision (
c
) of
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.

5. "small modular reactor"
means a generation III+ or generation IV nuclear generating unit with a
nameplate rating of not more than three hundred megawatts.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 40-360, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
40-360.

Definitions

In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Area of jurisdiction" means the state,
a county or an incorporated city or town that exercises concurrent or exclusive
jurisdiction over a geographical area.

2. "Certificate of environmental
compatibility" means the certificate that is required by this article and
that evidences the approval by the state of the sites for a plant or
transmission line, or both.

3. "Commission" means the corporation
commission.

4. "Committee" means the power plant and
transmission line siting committee.

5. "Current Arizona electric transmission
system" means the existing electric transmission system serving this state
and all transmission lines on file with the commission as of January 31 of the
previous year.

6. "Facilities" means a plant or
transmission line, or both.

7. "Member" means the state official named
herein, the employee designee thereof from the department, agency or governing
body of such state official member and the public members designated herein.

8. "Person" means any state or agency or
political subdivision thereof, or any individual, partnership, joint venture,
corporation, city or county, whether located within or without this state, or
any combination of such entities.

9. "Plant" means each separate thermal
or nonthermal
electric, nuclear or hydroelectric generating
unit
or a small modular reactor
with a nameplate rating
of
one

two
hundred megawatts or more
for which expenditures or financial commitments for land acquisition,
materials, construction or engineering exceeding $50,000 have not been made
before August 13, 1971.

10. "Transmission line"
:

(
a
)
Means
five or more new structures that span more than one mile in length as measured
from the first structure outside of the substation, switchyard or generating
site to which the line connects to the fifth structure and that are erected
above ground and support one or more conductors designed for the transmission
of electric energy at nominal voltages of one hundred fifteen thousand volts or
more and all new switchyards to be used therewith and related thereto for which
expenditures or financial commitments for land acquisition, materials,
construction or engineering exceeding $50,000 have not been made before August
13, 1971.
Transmission line

(
b
)
Does
not include structures located on the substation, switchyard or generating site
to which the line connects.

11. "Utility" means any person engaged in
the generation or transmission of electric energy.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. 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.

C. A utility, after
providing thirty days' written notice to the commission, may replace an
existing thermal electric generating unit with a replacement small modular
reactor or construct a new small modular reactor without seeking a new certificate
of environmental compatibility and without holding a hearing under this article
if the new or replacement small modular reactor is located on or immediately
adjacent to the site of a plant that previously received a certificate of
environmental compatibility or that was in use or authorized before august 13,
1971. �For the purposes of this subsection, "small modular reactor"
means a generation III+ or generation IV nuclear generating unit with a
nameplate rating of not more than three hundred megawatts.
END_STATUTE

Sec.
4.
Section 40-360.07, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
40-360.07.

Compliance by utility; commission order

A.
No
Except as
provided in section 40-360.14, subsections B and C, a
utility may
not
construct a plant or transmission line within this state
until it has received a certificate of environmental compatibility from the
committee with respect to the proposed site, affirmed and approved by an order
of the commission which shall be issued not less than thirty days nor more than
sixty days after the certificate is issued by the committee, except that within
fifteen days after the committee has rendered its written decision any party to
a certification proceeding may request a review of the committee's decision by
the commission.

B. The grounds for review shall be stated in a
written notice filed with the commission with a copy
thereof

of the notice
served on the chairman of the
committee. The committee shall transmit to the commission the
complete record, including a certified transcript, and the review shall be
conducted on the basis of the record. The commission
may
,
at the request of any party,
may
require written briefs
or oral argument and shall within sixty days
from
after
the date the notice is filed either confirm, deny or
modify any certificate granted by the committee, or
in the event
if
the committee refused to grant a certificate, the
commission may issue a certificate to the applicant. In arriving at
its decision, the commission shall comply with
the provisions of

section 40-360.06 and shall balance, in the broad public interest, the
need for an adequate, economical and reliable supply of electric power with the
desire to minimize the effect
thereof
on the environment
and ecology of this state.

C. The committee or any party to a decision by the
commission pursuant to subsection B of this section may request the commission
to reconsider its decision within thirty days after the decision is issued. A
request for reconsideration made pursuant to this subsection shall set forth
the grounds
upon
on
which it is
based and state the manner in which the party believes the commission
unreasonably or unlawfully applied or failed to apply the criteria set forth in
section 40-360.06. The decision of the commission is final with respect
to all issues, subject only to judicial review as provided by law in the event
of an appeal by a person having a legal right or interest that will be
injuriously affected by the decision.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 5. Title 40, chapter 2, article 6.2,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 40-360.14, to read:

START_STATUTE
40-360.14.

Exemption; modular reactors colocated with large industrial
energy user; rules; applicability; definition

A. Notwithstanding sections 40-360.03
and 40-360.07, a utility, after providing thirty days' written notice to
the commission, may construct a new small modular reactor in this state without
filing an application for or receiving a certificate of environmental
COMPATIBILITY if the new small modular reactor is colocated with an extra high
load factor customer as defined by the commission.

B. A new small modular reactor that
is constructed pursuant to this section shall comply with all applicable
federal, state and local laws and requirements.

C. tHIS SECTION APPLIES ONLY IN A
COUNTY WITH A POPULATION of less than FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND persons.

D. For the purposes of this section,
"Small modular reactor" means a generation III+ or generation IV
nuclear generating unit with a nameplate rating of not more than three hundred
megawatts.
END_STATUTE