This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

(1) "Act" means the Montana Major Facility Siting Act, Title 75, chapter 20, MCA, as amended.

(2) "Department" means the department of environmental quality.

(3) "Environmental impact" means a change, adverse or beneficial, in the natural, cultural, or social setting created by some specific action.

(4) "Geothermal exploration plan" means the plan, actual or tentative, which a person has for the gathering of geological data by boring of test holes or other underground exploration, investigation, or experimentation related to possible future development of a facility employing geothermal resources for the ensuing 10 years after submission to the department under this subchapter.

(5) "Person" means any individual, association, partnership, corporation, governmental agency, political subdivision, or any other entity or organization engaged in or proposing to engage in the gathering of geological data by boring of test holes or other underground exploration, investigation, or experimentation, related to the possible future development of a utility facility employing geothermal resources.

(6) "Underground exploration, investigation, or experimentation" means any physical activity conducted on or below the surface of the earth resulting in disturbance of the earth including, but not limited to, the boring of test holes, the construction of roads, and the gathering of well log information.

(7) "Utility facility" as defined by 75-20-104(10)(d), MCA, means any use of geothermal resources, including the use of underground space in existence or to be created, for the creation, use, or conversion of energy.

(8) "Well log" means an electrical, radiation, sonic, thermal, or other routine log run by mechanical means in a well or bore hole or any other log, survey, analysis, or report run or made.

(1) Every person shall submit a geothermal exploration plan on April 1, 1975, and each year thereafter.

(2) Two copies along with an electronic copy acceptable to the department of the geothermal exploration plan shall be submitted to the Department of Environmental Quality, P.O. Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620-0901.

(3) The geothermal exploration plan shall be typed, printed, or otherwise legibly reproduced on 8½" x 11" paper. Maps, drawings, charts, or other documents bound in a geothermal exploration plan shall be cut or folded to 8½" x 11" size. Maps, drawings, or charts may accompany a geothermal exploration plan as separate exhibits.

(4) Typed or offset material shall have a 1½" margin on the binding side and a 1" margin on all other sides.

(5) All pages in a geothermal exploration plan shall be consecutively numbered. Maps, drawings, or charts accompanying the geothermal exploration plan as exhibits shall be identified as "Exhibit   " and, if comprising more than one sheet, shall be numbered "sheet __ of __."

(6) Within each geothermal exploration plan shall be included:

(a) any plans to gather geological data by boring of test holes or other underground exploration, investigation, or experimentation, related to possible future development of geothermal resources;

(b) the approximate dates for gathering geological and hydrogeological data by boring of test holes or other underground exploration, investigation, or experimentation, related to possible future development of geothermal resources shall be listed;

(c) a statement of the proposed activities to be conducted and the methods utilized;

(d) the general location, a description of the area involved, and the size and type of all drill holes, bore holes, or wells to be drilled, instruments, and all other equipment used.

(7) Any change in plans which would result in some action prior to the filing of the next geothermal exploration plan shall be reported to the department within 60 days.

(2) Within each initial field report shall be included:

(a) a description of the area involved in the investigation shown on a suitable map, and the probable location of test holes, sample sites, access roads, staging areas, areas where trees or soil are to be removed, and all other such activities. A suitable map would be one with a scale of 1:24,000, except in unusual cases or situations the department may recommend the scale;

(b) a summary of environmental impacts which would be created by the planned activities and a description of any plans to lessen, eliminate, or enhance such environmental impacts;

(c) a description of activities and methods which will be employed in the investigation.

(2) Each periodic field report for its reporting period shall include:

(a) the location of holes drilled or underground experiments performed;

(b) the number, depth, and diameter of all hole(s) drilled;

(c) the kinds of well logs taken;

(d) the kinds of measurements taken (such as heat flow measurements) ;

(e) the casing installed, removed, or altered in any way;

(f) the methods of closing, plugging, or abandoning of any holes;

(g) the kinds of sampling, such as coring or cuttings taken;

(h) any other methods or activities which the department may require.

(2) The final field report shall be typed, printed, or otherwise legibly reproduced on 8-1/2 x 11" paper. Maps, drawings, charts, or other documents bound in a final field report shall be cut or folded to 8-1/2 x11" size. Maps, drawings, or charts may accompany a final field report as separate exhibits.

(3) Typed or offset material shall have a 1/2" margin on the binding side and a 1" margin on all other sides.

(4) All pages in a final field report shall be consecutively numbered. Maps, drawings, or charts accompanying the final field report as exhibits shall be identified as "Exhibit ____" and, if comprising more than 1 sheet, shall be numbered "sheet ___ of ___."

(5) Within each final field report shall be included a summary of the previous periodic field reports for the entire investigation.

(6) If the investigation ceases 60 days after the initiation of the investigation the periodic field report and the final field report may be the same.

(1) Within 9 months of the initiation of the investigation or 6 months of the completion of the investigation, whichever comes first, and at intervals of 6 months for the duration of the investigation, every person shall submit a geological report to the department.

(2) The geological report shall be typed, printed, or otherwise legibly reproduced on 8-1/2" x 11" paper. Maps, drawings, charts, or other documents bound in a geological report shall be cut or folded to 8-1/2" x11" size. Maps, drawings, or charts may accompany geological reports as separate exhibits.

(3) Typed or offset material shall have a 1 2 " margin on the binding side and a 1" margin on all other sides.

(4) All pages in a geological report shall be consecutively numbered. Maps, drawings, or charts accompanying the geological report as exhibits shall be identified as "Exhibit " and, if comprising more than 1 sheet, shall be numbered "sheet __of__."

(5) Within each geological report shall be included:

(a) a summary of all well logs;

(b) results of all measurements of geologic properties;

(c) data relating to the geologic structure, temperature, and composition of rocks and fluids as determined by the investigation;

(d) any other geologic data generated by the investigation which may be requested by the department.

(2) A person furnishing documents that the person believes are entitled to protection as trade secrets shall notify the department before or at the time the person furnishes the documents to the department. If the department determines that the information is protected, it shall maintain the documents as confidential. If the department determines that the documents are not entitled to protection, it shall notify the person and maintain the documents as confidential for a period reasonably necessary for the person to obtain a court order requiring the department to maintain confidentiality, or to retrieve the documents from the department.

(1) "Act" means the Montana Major Facility Siting Act, Title 75, chapter 20, MCA.

(2) "Alternative technological component" means a reasonable alternate design for a process area or component of an energy generation or conversion facility including, but not limited to, cooling systems, fuel handling or transport systems, pollution control systems, coal combustion, and heat transfer systems.

(3) "Alternative transmission technology" means a reasonable alternate design for a transmission facility including, but not limited to, underground construction, alternative voltage or conductor sizes, direct current transmission, and alternative circuit design or deployment.

(4) "Applicant" means a person filing an application with the department and any other entities that will jointly own, operate, market, and/or use the output or services of the facility applied for in the application.

(5) "Application" means an application to the department for a certificate of compliance under 75-20-211 , MCA.

(6) "Assistance" means public support or subsidies including, but not limited to, tax credits, accelerated depreciation, loan guarantees, low interest loans, price supports and price guarantees.

(7) "Associated facilities" is defined in 75-20-104 (3) , MCA.

(8) "Associated powerline" means an associated facility consisting of an electrical distribution or transmission line that:

(a) is not a facility defined in 75-20-104 (8) (c) , MCA; and

(b) is used in delivery of electrical energy to or from a generation or conversion facility.

(9) "Baseline data" means detailed information which describes the existing natural, physical, cultural, social, and economic environment.

(10) "Baseline study" means a detailed analysis of a proposed site for a generation or conversion facility and impact zones or alternative facility locations and impact zones for a linear facility for purposes of impact assessment and comparison and selection of a preferred facility location.

(11) "Board" means the board of environmental review.

(12) "Block load" means the load of an energy consumer whose individual demand is 5% or more of the applicant's peak demand on a linear facility or the load of any other customer that an applicant serves under a specific contractual agreement rather than under a general rate category.

(13) "Certificate holder" means an applicant that has been granted a certificate or who has received a certificate by transfer and has agreed to be bound by the terms, conditions, and modifications contained in the certificate.

(14) "Decommission" means to permanently remove a facility from service, including any physical changes such as dismantling the facility at the end of its useful life and reclaiming the site or route.

(15) "Demand" means the quantity of energy that customers would be willing to purchase in a specific time period.

(16) "Department" means the department of environmental quality.

(17) "Energy conservation" means reducing the amount of energy required to accomplish a given quantity of work through increases in efficiency in energy use, production or distribution.

(18) "Energy resource" means a resource that can be converted into energy for ultimate end-use, either directly or by intermediate conversion into electricity, synthetic gas or synthetic liquid hydrocarbons. Energy resources include, but are not limited to, coal, natural gas, liquid hydrocarbons, nuclear, geothermal resources, wind, solar, biomass and falling water.

(19) "Energy technology" means a technology for converting an energy resource into the energy form to be produced by a proposed facility.

(20) "Facility" is defined in 75-20-104 , MCA.

(21) "Facility location" means a location for a linear facility accurately depicted to within 250 feet unless otherwise specified by the department by a line one millimeter or less in width drawn on a 1:24,000 map, and which may or may not be surveyed.

(a) "Alternative facility location" means one of the alternative locations potentially suitable for construction of a linear facility that has been depicted on overlays to the base map described in Circular MFSA-2, section 3.3;

(b) "Approved facility location" means the precise location for a linear facility that is approved by the department and accurately depicted to within 250 feet, unless otherwise specified by the department, in the certificate;

(c) "Preferred facility location" means the applicant's desired location for a linear facility as depicted on overlays to the base map described in Circular MFSA-2.

(22) "Impact zone" means the study area in which data is collected during the baseline study in order to make a determination of the impacts from construction, operation, maintenance or decommissioning of a proposed facility or associated facility at the preferred and reasonable alternative locations.

(23) "Inputs" means the basic resources, including materials, equipment, and labor required to construct and operate a facility.

(24) "Interruptible load" means a load that by contract can be interrupted in the event of a capacity deficiency on the supplying system.

(25) "Levelized cost" means the present value of the real cost stream over the life of a project, amortized over the project life.

(26) "Linear facility" means an electric transmission line or a gas or liquid pipeline covered by the Act.

(27) "Load center" means any substation or geographic concentration of substations within a 100 square mile area containing at least 5% of an applicant's load.

(28) "Market area" means a geographic area where a significant portion of the output of a facility proposed by a competitive utility or nonutility would be sold.

(29) "Mitigation" means avoiding an impact by not taking a certain action or parts of an action, or minimizing impacts by limiting the degree or magnitude of an action and its implementation, or rectifying an impact by repairing, rehabilitating, or restoring the affected environment, or reducing or eliminating an impact over time by preservation and maintenance operations during the life of an action, or compensating for an impact by replacing or providing substitute resources or environments.

(30) "Monitoring data" means environmental information that is collected to measure changes resulting from construction, operation, maintenance or decommissioning of a facility approved by the board or that is collected to determine compliance with the conditions of the certificate issued by the board.

(31) "No action alternative" means the alternative of not building a proposed facility or any other facility to meet the need or solve the problem a proposed facility would address.

(32) "Outputs" means the principal product of a facility and the by-products and wastes produced by the facility.

(33) "Overview survey" means the collection and mapping of environmental information within a study area for the purpose of selecting alternative facility locations.

(34) "Paralleling" means locating a proposed linear facility directly adjacent to or overlapping the right-of-way of an existing linear utility, transportation or communication facility.

(35) "Person" is defined by 75-20-104 (11) , MCA.

(36) "Road" means a way or course that is constructed or formed by substantial recontouring of land, clearing, or other action designed to be permanent or intended to permit passage by most four-wheeled vehicles for a significant period of time.

(37) "Service area utility" means a utility with a legally protected service area or body of customers for whom it has a conventional utility mandate to serve all loads or wholesale energy suppliers with requirements contracts, participation agreements, or similar arrangements with such utilities for the energy form to be produced by a proposed facility. This includes, but is not limited to, investor-owned utilities, rural electric cooperatives, municipal energy utilities and public utility districts, and generating and transmission cooperatives.

(38) "Significant adverse impact" means a detrimental change in the social, economic, cultural, physical or natural environment as a result of the construction, operation, maintenance, or decommissioning of a facility, as determined by the department on the basis of the impact's severity, duration, geographic extent, or frequency of occurrence or the uniqueness of the affected environmental value or its importance to the state and/or to society.

(39) "Site" means the parcel of land the applicant would acquire to construct the buildings, components, and nonlinear associated facilities comprising an energy generation or conversion facility.

(a) "Proposed site" means the applicant's proposed location for an energy generation or conversion facility and the site for which a certificate is sought.

(40) "Siting study" means an analysis conducted by the applicant to identify a preferred route.

(41) "Study area" means a geographical area of variable size and width that is potentially suitable for siting a linear facility.

(42) "Utility facility" means a facility whose output will be marketed as energy.

(2) A person furnishing documents that the person believes are entitled to protection as trade secrets shall notify the department before or at the time the person furnishes the documents to the department. If the department determines that the information is protected, it shall maintain the documents as confidential. If the department determines that the documents are not entitled to protection, it shall notify the person and maintain the documents as confidential for a period reasonably necessary for the person to obtain a court order requiring the department to maintain confidentiality.

(2) The text and attachments shall be consistently and consecutively numbered.

(3) Maps, drawings, charts, photographs or other illustrations may accompany a document as separate attachments that are sized and scaled appropriately to the material presented. Attachments must be identified as "attachment __.. An attachment comprising more than one sheet must be numbered "sheet ___ of ___."

(4) Documents must state the name, title, telephone number, and post office address of the person to whom communications regarding the document are to be made.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

(a) an explanation of the need or demand for the proposed facility as described in subchapter 9, including a demonstration of the immediate and urgent need for the facility and nature of the consequences that would follow from a failure to obtain a waiver;

(b) a description of alternatives to the proposed facility which were considered and an explanation of the reasons for selecting the proposed facility;

(c) a description of the site for a non-linear facility or proposed location for the proposed linear facility, alternative sites or locations which were considered, an explanation of the reasons for selecting the proposed site or location, and a description of the significant environmental advantages and disadvantages of the proposed and alternate locations;

(d) a description of the circumstances which prevented the applicant from determining that a need for the proposed facility existed sufficiently in advance to comply with the requirements of the Act; and

(e) a listing of the provisions of the Act and this chapter for which the waiver is requested.

(1) a description of the event which caused the damage to or destruction of the facility or associated facility;

(2) a description of the extent of damage or destruction;

(3) a description of the effect on customers;

(4) an explanation of proposed actions to replace, repair or relocate the damaged or destroyed facility or associated facility; and

(5) a listing of the provisions of the Act and this chapter for which the waiver is requested.

(1) the county's capability to supply construction and operational labor to the proposed facility, supported by data on the existing labor force, the supply of skilled labor within the county to meet the job requirements of the facility, and present and projected unemployment rates;

(2) effects on local businesses of the increased income resulting from the facility's payroll;

(3) a fiscal analysis comparing increased tax revenue resulting from the facility with increased local expenditures necessitated by the population influx associated with the project, including the relative timing of expected expenditure requirements compared to expected tax increases, as determined by documented consultation with appropriate local government officials; and

(4) economic impacts on residents resulting from changes in ambient environmental factors caused by the proposed facility.

(1) Within 90 days after receipt of the information required by ARM 17.20.603 or 17.20.605, the department shall give notice and set a date for a hearing.

(2) The department shall give notice and set a date for a hearing and render a decision as soon as practicable after receipt of the information required by ARM 17.20.604.

(a) This rule does not apply to emergency repairs of a facility or associated facility.

(2) Information requirements for linear associated facilities are not affected by the waiver and must be addressed as applicable unless the applicant can demonstrate that less detailed information meets the requirements of subchapter 14, based on considerations of size or length of the linear associated facilities, the homogeneity of the geographic area that would be traversed by these facilities, or that impacts are not likely to occur.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

(2) An application must contain an index cross-referencing the material contained in the application.

(3) An application shall be organized according to the following general categories:

(a) introductory material;

(b) description of the proposed facility;

(c) cost of the facility;

(d) explanation of the purpose and benefits of the proposed facility;

(e) explanation of the need for a linear facility;

(f) analysis of alternatives to the proposed facility;

(g) alternative siting study for linear facilities;

(h) environmental concerns;

(i) all maps larger than 8½" x 11" in size and aerial photography shall be presented as an attachment entitled "Attachment A: Maps and Aerial Photography";

(j) technical reports, reference or source documents, and other supplementary material provided by the applicant shall be presented as separate, consecutively arranged attachments, beginning with "Attachment B..

(2) An application should include only information relevant to the facility. The application requirements in these rules address a comprehensive range of issues for the wide range of facilities covered by the Act. The applicability or relevance of the requirements to a particular facility are dependent on its type, its design, how its output will be marketed, its size or length, and on the characteristics and complexity of the geographic area(s) where the facility may be located. An application shall contain the information required by subchapters 8 and 9 and 13 through 15 unless specific provisions for submitting less information are contained in the rule, or unless the department gives written permission, prior to filing the application, to omit certain information. Unless a rule provides differently, an applicant desiring to omit information it considers irrelevant to the project shall submit to the department a written request to make the omission, along with documentation justifying its request. The department shall review the applicant's request and shall make a written determination of whether the information may be omitted. If there is a substantial cost to the department to verify the applicant's justification, the applicant shall contract with the department and reimburse it for expenses incurred pursuant to 75-20-106 , MCA.

(a) studies that an applicant routinely or periodically updates;

(b) changes in the application that result from a change in any statute, standard, permit requirement or implementation plan affecting the facility; and

(c) any other changes materially affecting the basis of need for the facility, the engineering design of the facility, the costs or the environmental impact of the facility.

(2) The penalty defined by 75-20-408 , MCA, shall be imposed for failure to submit supplemental material available to the applicant but not known to the department, effective within 30 days of the date the material becomes available to the applicant. If the material is extensive, the applicant may within the 30-day period submit to the department a notice of intent to supplement the application with a description of the material to be supplied, and supply the material without undue delay in a time period agreed to by the applicant and the department.

(1) The department may determine that a change or addition to an application submitted by the applicant pursuant to ARM 17.20.805 or 17.20.806 requires an amendment to the original application and additional filing fees as provided by 75-20-213 , MCA, if the change or addition would be likely to involve the following:

(a) increased or significantly different environmental impacts than would have been likely based on the information contained in the original application;

(b) significant changes in the basis of the need for a linear facility; or

(c) significant changes in the economics of alternatives to the proposed facility as required by ARM 17.20.1301, 17.20.1302, 17.20.1304, 17.20.1305, and 17.20.1311.

(2) The department may determine that a new application and a filing fee are required if the extensive nature of a change or the timing of the notification of a change or addition to the original application would not allow the department, or the other agencies listed in 75-20-216 , MCA, to discharge their duties and responsibilities under the Act and these rules under the statutory time requirements and filing fee or under contractual terms pursuant to 75-20-215 , MCA. If a new application and a filing fee are required, processing of the original application shall be terminated. If the total filing fee was paid at the time of filing, unexpended portions of the fee shall be returned to the applicant or credited to the new fee at the applicant's request if a new application is to be filed. For an application being processed under a contract pursuant to 75-20-215 , MCA, the applicant shall be billed for the department's expenses up to the date of termination. Any studies completed or partially completed at the time of termination that are relevant to an amended or new application shall not be duplicated.

(3) The department shall inform the applicant in writing, within 30 days of receipt of information provided under ARM 17.20.805 or 17.20.806, of a determination that a change or addition to an original application requires an amendment or a new application.

(4) The applicant shall give notice upon filing an amendment or a new application as set forth in 75-20-211 , MCA.

(5) An amendment to an application shall explain any change or addition in a degree of detail comparable to that required for an original application.

(1) An application for a facility defined in 75-20-104 , MCA, must contain estimates and a description of total costs and expenses attributable to the engineering, construction, and startup of the proposed facility and associated facilities up to the time of commercial operation. Cost estimates may be based on preliminary engineering or if available, standardized engineering estimates.

(2) As used herein, engineering costs include all direct costs related to planning, design, permitting, quality control, and land acquisition. Construction costs include costs related to site or route preparation, erection and assembly, and commissioning costs. Cost estimates must be itemized into relevant categories as follows unless other categories are agreed to by the department:

(a) engineering and overhead costs;

(b) land acquisition costs, and site or right-of-way preparation costs;

(c) plant costs, itemized by major process area and by major equipment. For proprietary processes itemization by major process area is sufficient for the application;

(d) costs of transportation links;

(e) mitigation costs;

(f) front end royalty payments;

(g) initial inventories of coal, chemicals or materials;

(h) startup expenses and working capital; and

(i) any other costs necessary and incidental to the construction of the facility and preparation for initial operation.

(3) The application must contain an explanation of the methods, including rules of thumb, used to estimate costs required by (2) of this rule.

(4) An estimate must be presented of the accuracy of all cost estimates.

(5) Costs must be provided for all portions of the facility both in and outside Montana.

(6) All costs must be estimated by instantaneous total cost of construction escalated to the date of the projected start of construction. Escalated costs as of the projected start of construction must then be adjusted to the construction expenditure schedule based on percentages of total cost incurred in each period and escalated to the date of incurrence. Cost escalation must be based on the most appropriate Handy Whitman or other industry recognized and department approved construction cost index.

(7) The department may request additional detail on costs as necessary for comparison of alternatives.

This rule has been repealed.

(1) An application for a linear facility must contain a detailed analysis of the annual costs of the facility for purposes of comparing the facility with alternatives, as required by 75-20-301 , MCA, including detail on the capital and operating costs and operational characteristics of the facility.

(2) All estimated construction costs must be escalated to the appropriate date in the construction schedule as explained in ARM 17.20.811(6) .

(3) An application must contain information about the likely methods of financing construction of the facility. For facilities taking longer than one year to construct, allowance for funds used during construction must be added to the escalated construction costs to calculate the capital costs as of the date the facility is placed in commercial operation.

(4) Amortization costs must be calculated by standard industry practice for the estimated life of the bonds or other borrowing, or for the economic life of the facility.

(5) Costs for the first, fifth and tenth full operational year of the facility must be estimated. If current costs are used as a basis they must be escalated, using an appropriate index or indices of recent cost escalation specified in ARM 17.20.811(6) , to the first full operational year. The same index or other department approved index or indices must be used to escalate operating costs over the life of the facility.

(a) Annual costs must be disaggregated by relevant categories including, but not limited to, amortization, depreciation, taxes, insurance, interim replacements, any other capital-related annual costs, operational labor costs, operational material costs, pumping costs, water costs, waste disposal costs, and maintenance costs. Assistance shall be specified. All assumptions used in estimating the costs must be explained.

(6) An application must contain a description of design capacity and expected operational characteristics of the facility.

(7) For pipelines, energy transport costs for the first, fifth and tenth full operational year must be calculated by dividing the appropriate year's costs by the expected annual net throughput of the facility during full operation.

(8) For pipelines, levelized energy transport costs must be calculated by dividing levelized annual costs by the expected annual net throughput of the facility during full operation.

(9) First, fifth and tenth year and levelized costs must be calculated in constant dollars for a specified year, preferably the year of application. The index used to convert nominal to constant dollars must be specified.

(10) An application must contain an explanation of the methods, including rules of thumb, used to estimate costs and operating characteristics.

(11) An application must contain estimates of the accuracy of all costs and operating characteristics.

This rule has been repealed.

(2) For internal costs the information provided under ARM 17.20.811 or 17.20.815 is sufficient.

(3) For external costs the information provided under Circular MFSA-2, sections 3.7 and 3.8 is sufficient.

(4) Information on benefits must include, where relevant, benefits to the consumer, benefits to the applicant, and benefits to Montana. Information concerning these benefits may include increased reliability, increased transient stability, increased power transfer capability, decreased chance of voltage drop and other economic considerations such as current system costs. The applicant may not double count benefits and shall include nonmonetary benefits wherever possible.

(1) An application must contain an explanation of the purpose of the proposed facility and the benefits that it will provide. This includes a discussion of the likely markets it will serve and any other purposes it will serve and benefits it will provide.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

(a) a description of the existing and desired levels of transmission system reliability and how the proposed facility affects the level of reliability;

(b) as relevant, an explanation of the rationale for the selection of the applicant's desired level of reliability;

(c) the planning assumptions and rules used to maintain the desired level of transmission reliability;

(d) as relevant, the expected frequency of interruption of service to customers on the applicant's transmission system under current reliability criteria, and the extent to which that frequency of interruption is associated with outages of generation, transmission, and distribution facilities; and

(e) an economic evaluation of alternate levels of reliability.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

(1) An application for an electric transmission line must contain an explanation of the need for the facility based on, but not limited to, one or more of the following conditions:

(a) transient stability considerations under normal or contingent operating conditions;

(b) power transfer capacity under normal or contingent operating conditions;

(c) voltage drop in the transmission or subtransmission network under normal or contingent operating conditions;

(d) reliability of service considerations; and

(e) economy considerations.

(a) an explanation of the normal or contingent operating conditions, under which a transient stability problem exists, identification of the criteria used to determine these conditions, and an explanation of the rationale for their use; and

(b) at least two stability studies, one to demonstrate the problem situation and one to demonstrate the solution.

(a) where thermal rating is referenced, identification of both the normal and emergency thermal ratings and an explanation of their effect on power flows;

(b) where normal transfer capacity of a transmission line is referenced, identification of a standard power factor and voltage drop limit;

(c) where emergency power transfer capacity under contingent operating conditions is referenced, identification of the voltage drop and power factor acceptable for the period of contingency;

(d) identification of any applicable design or operating voltage drop standards or legal or contractual voltage drop restrictions;

(e) a minimum of three load flow studies. The load flow studies must clearly indicate any assumptions made, including any relevant input data, and must include a single line diagram showing megawatts and megavar loads and flows and voltage levels for each study. The studies must include the following unless otherwise approved by the department:

(i) the base case, illustrating the problem;

(ii) a study showing the immediate effect of the facility; and

(iii) a study showing the effect of the facility five years later.

(f) ten-year historical and 10-year projected load growth at each point of distribution in the area that would be served by the facility, including the following:

(i) a description of the assumptions used in making the projection, and an evaluation of the extent to which load growth in the area to be served by the facility will follow or differ for the patterns shown in overall service area load growth of the applicant;

(ii) if additional block loads equal to 10% or more of a given substation load are anticipated, a list of the total connected load and the after-diversity-maximum demand for each additional load;

(iii) for substations which are delivery points for resale customers, the applicant may substitute the resale customer's forecast of load growth at that delivery point for the applicant's own forecast. In such cases an evaluation of the resale customer's forecasting method must be included; and

(iv) an explanation of the amount of excess capacity which will be available after the proposed transmission line is built, under contingent and normal conditions, and an estimate of when additional reinforcement will be necessary.

(a) the information required by ARM 17.20.922(5) and (6) ;

(b) a description of the planning assumptions and rules by which the applicant attempts to maintain its desired level of generation and transmission reliability, and an explanation of the rationale for the selection of the desired level of reliability. To the extent this information has been provided in ARM 17.20.907, it need not be duplicated here.

(c) to the extent available 10 years historical line outage data in the area to be served by the proposed facility including the duration, location, and cause of the outage, the load lost, and the number and type of customers affected, if known.

(a) a system cost study for the 10 years following the date the proposed line is to be placed in service, showing system costs with and without the proposed line;

(b) an analysis of markets and prices for surplus energy or of the need for and alternative sources of firm energy to be transmitted over the proposed line;

(c) an analysis of sources and prices for purchased energy to be received over the proposed line;

(d) an analysis of the demand for and price of wheeling services to be provided by the proposed line;

(e) other economic analysis relevant to demonstrating the need, economic feasibility or financial viability of the proposed line;

(f) a discussion of the relationship of the capacity of the proposed facility to the size of projected flows over the facility; and

(g) if transmission capacity exists that could carry the desired energy or power flows without violating voltage drop, transfer capacity or other transmission planning criteria, a discussion of efforts by the applicant to reach an acceptable agreement with the owners of this transmission capacity to make it available to the applicant at reasonable cost and an explanation of why the proposed facility is preferable to use of the existing facility.

(2) If the transmission grid is managed by a regional transmission organization (RTO) formed under FERC order 2000, the application must report:

(a) the extent of congestion and the costs of congestion throughout the year, with and without the proposed facility, for each affected flow path on the regional grid;

(b) a projection of the transmission rights that would be created by the proposed facility; and

(c) planning evaluations of the proposed facility written either by the RTO or another regional planning organization.

(1) Applicants for other types of linear facilities, such as pipelines, should contact the department for appropriate information requirements for determining need for the facility.

(1) An application for a linear facility must include either a copy of any and all interconnection agreements involving the proposed facility, or the following information for each such agreement:

(a) a brief description of the obligations of and the benefits to the facility under the agreement;

(b) a list of all parties to the agreement;

(c) the time period during which the agreement is in effect;

(d) a summary of the terms of the agreement; and

(e) the financial agreements.

(2) An application for a linear facility must include a description of all current and planned negotiations with respect to interconnection of the facility and transmission of energy. The description must include a list of the parties to any negotiations and a general discussion of the history and current status of the negotiations.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

(2) An application must contain an evaluation of the no action alternative, wherein no action would be taken to meet the purpose or provide the benefits the proposed facility is designed to meet or provide.

(3) An application must contain an evaluation of alternative technological components and subsystems that could be employed by the proposed facility that could substantially reduce the cost or environmental impacts of the proposed facility including, but not limited to, air and water pollution control systems, cooling systems, and transmission and distribution systems and those required by ARM 17.20.1418(10) and department Circular MFSA-1, Sections 3.11 and 3.12.

(2) An application must include a detailed description of the methods and criteria used by the applicant to select the proposed facility given the capacity, availability, and types of alternatives, and to determine the proper size and timing of construction, in order to achieve maximum economies of scale and the applicant's desired level of reliability at the lowest economic cost. Documentation for process tradeoff studies performed by the applicant must be provided. Published tradeoff studies may be cited by reference. A description of the methods used to select the proposed designs for major process areas must be included.

(3) In addition to the applicant's criteria for comparison, all appropriate alternatives which have no insurmountable environmental, technical or other problems serious enough to warrant elimination from further consideration, must be ranked by the levelized delivered cost of energy, including known mitigation costs. Alternatives whose levelized delivered cost of energy is not more than 35% higher than the cost of energy from the proposed facility, or which have significant environmental advantages over the proposed facility, must be compared on the basis of performance, system impact, and environmental impact as follows:

(a) performance criteria include:

(i) the first year and levelized delivered cost of energy, including known mitigation costs, incremental transmission costs and the effect of line losses; and

(ii) the estimated on-line life of the alternative and the projected capacity factor during the on-line life of the alternative.

(b) environmental impact criteria include:

(i) significant environmental advantages and disadvantages; and

(ii) significant siting constraints.

(4) In comparing the no action alternative with the other alternatives, the costs of no action shall include, if relevant, the net losses to consumers who would be deprived of the output of the facility and would have to obtain the energy or product of the facility from other sources.

(5) An explanation must be given of the reasons for dropping any alternative from further consideration at any stage in the evaluation process.

This rule has been repealed.

(2) An application for an electric transmission line must include an evaluation of transmission alternatives, including alternative end points and intermediate substation locations for the transmission line and upgrading or replacing an existing facility that would serve to provide the needed reinforcement that would be provided by the proposed facility. An application must also evaluate alternative timing of other electric transmission lines planned by the applicant, which in whole or in part would address the problem situation or opportunity or provide the needed reinforcement that would be provided by the proposed facility. For each transmission alternative, a minimum of three load flow studies must be provided, as required by ARM 17.20.922.

(3) Alternative energy resources and energy conservation alternatives are those that can individually or in combination offset or postpone the need for the proposed facility, or provide services comparable to the proposed facility. The evaluation must include a description of each alternative energy resource or energy conservation measure, the location and quantity available, any constraints to its availability and predictable daily and seasonal variations in the availability of the energy resource, if applicable.

(4) Alternative transmission technologies are those capable of providing comparable services or addressing the problem or opportunity the proposed facility is designed to address.

(5) An application based on reliability of service considerations must contain an evaluation of alternative levels of transmission reliability, and of the provision of backup generation to customers with articular needs for reliability.

(6) Nonconstruction alternatives include the use of curtailable and interruptible load contracts with customers and load management.

(7) The no action alternative means no facility would be constructed to meet the need or provide the services the proposed facility is designed to meet or provide.

(a) An application must include a detailed description of the methods and criteria used by the applicant to select a facility which best addresses the problem or opportunity situations identified as the basis of need (see ARM 17.20.920) given consideration of economics, engineering, and environmental concerns.

(2) In addition to the applicant's criteria for comparison, an application must include a ranking of all relevant alternatives which have no insurmountable environmental, technical or other problems serious enough to warrant elimination from further consideration, by levelized annual cost, including known mitigation costs. Alternatives whose levelized annual cost is not more than 35% higher than the proposed facility or 25% higher when the proposed facility is a transmission line 230 kV or higher and at least 30 miles long, or which have significant environmental advantages over the proposed facility, must then be compared based on performance, system impact, and environmental impact as follows:

(a) performance criteria include:

(i) total construction cost and levelized annual cost;

(ii) reliability;

(iii) duration of the solution; length of time before additional reinforcement is needed; and

(iv) constraints to implementation.

(b) system impact criteria include:

(i) for generation alternatives, the need for future expansion of the existing transmission and distribution system;

(ii) total transmission system losses;

(iii) effect, if any, on timing and need for constructing new generating facilities; and

(iv) effect on the ability of the applicant to take advantage of opportunities for economy transactions.

(c) environmental impact criteria include:

(i) significant environmental advantages and disadvantages; and

(ii) significant siting constraints.

(3) In comparing the no action alternative with other alternatives, the costs of no action shall include, if relevant, the net losses to consumers who would be deprived of the services of the facility.

(4) A full explanation must be given of the reasons for dropping any alternative from further consideration at any stage in the evaluation process.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

(1) An application for a pipeline facility must contain an evaluation of alternatives including, but not limited to, the use of alternative transportation modes, alternative starting points or destination points, alternative diameter pipe, alternative flow rates, alternative rates of pumping or compressing, alternative size, number and location of pump or compressor stations, alternative pump or compressor fuels and fuel sources, alternative pipe wall thickness and alternative pipe material, and the no action alternative. Service area utilities shall also evaluate alternate methods of meeting the need for the energy being transported.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

(2) The applicant shall depict the proposed site and its boundaries, and the proposed and any alternate locations of all on-site and off-site associated facilities, as appropriate, using symbols or lines approximately one-half millimeter or less in width drawn on a 1:24,000 topographic base map.   This base map shall indicate any upgrade, replacement or removal of existing equipment or installation(s) that would be necessary for construction or operation of the proposed facility and associated facilities.   The applicant shall provide one mylar copy of this base map to the department and an electronic equivalent acceptable to the department.   Each electronic submittal shall be accompanied by metadata describing the submittal.

(3) An application must contain one set of 1:4800 topographic maps and an electronic equivalent acceptable to the department showing the locations, as applicable, of the generators, emission control devices, condensers, shift conversion facilities, reactors, stacks, catalyst production and regeneration facilities, cooling towers, water storage ponds, waste disposal ponds, roads, parking areas, railroad spurs, substations, pumping stations, on-site pipelines, storage facilities, any other structures or buildings, nonlinear associated facilities, and any existing structures for the proposed site, noting structures that would be relocated or destroyed.

(4) An application must contain an overlay or overlays and an electronic equivalent(s) acceptable to the department, as appropriate, to the base map required by (2) of this rule of the baseline data required by department Circular MFSA-1 that can be mapped and are within the impact zones associated with the proposed site and the proposed and any alternate locations of associated facilities.   The applicant shall organize the information according to the requirements of department Circular MFSA-1 and shall present the information on the minimum number of overlays to the base map. The applicant shall provide one mylar copy of each overlay to the department.   All overlays shall clearly show section lines or corners and township and range locations.

(5) An application must contain one set of color contact prints at a scale of approximately 1:48,000 or 1:24,000 that provide complete aerial stereo coverage of the proposed sites, the geographic area within a five mile radius of the proposed site, and within a 1/2 mile buffer of the proposed and any alternate locations of off-site associated facilities.   These photos shall be taken during a season of full foliage no more than three years prior to filing the application unless otherwise approved by the department.   An application must contain advance or final USGS 7.5 minute orthophoto quads, where available, for the impact zones or portions of impact zones that are not covered by the aerial photos.   However, this requirement does not apply to the impact zones associated with assessment of social and economic impacts required by secton 3.6 of department Circular MFSA-1.

(6) For the proposed site, the applicant must certify in the application that purchase options or access for purposes of conducting the studies required by these rules have been obtained.   For off-site associated facilities, the applicant shall describe the location(s) where options or access for the purpose of conducting these studies have been denied and the reason(s) for denial.

(7) An application must contain a summary of the results of consultation with appropriate government agencies to identify their concerns about the proposed facility's possible effects on the environment, and the way the applicant considered these concerns in identifying mitigating measures to address potentially significant impacts of the facility.

(8) An application may contain any valid and useful existing studies, reports, or data prepared on the energy generation or conversion facility and may be submitted by the applicant towards fulfilling the requirements of department Circular MFSA-1 but shall be subject to supplementation and shall be used by the department only to the extent it considers them applicable.

(9) An application must contain, for the proposed site and the proposed and any alternate locations of off-site associated facilities, information required by the department or board necessary to make or issue any decision, opinion, order, certification, or permit required under laws administered by the department, other than those contained in the Act pursuant to 75-20-216(3) , MCA.

(10) An application must identify and discuss available alternative levels and types of mitigation to reduce or eliminate potentially significant adverse impacts of the facility at the proposed site and the proposed and any alternate locations of off-site associated facilities, including, but not limited to:

(a) alternative pollution control and waste disposal strategies, equipment and/or facilities;

(b) alternative strategies, equipment and/or facilities for reducing water consumption;

(c) alternative locations of associated facilities; and

(d) plans to reduce adverse impacts on local communities, including, but not limited to, plans for meeting the service needs of the work force and maintaining the existing quality of services.

(11) An application must contain the estimated cost of implementing each level and type of mitigating measure to reduce or eliminate potentially significant adverse impacts that would occur during construction, operation, or decommissioning of the proposed facility and associated facilities.   Estimated costs of mitigation measures for potentially significant adverse impacts also must be included for associated facilities whose operations would be modified to serve the proposed facility.

(12) An application must contain a summary of the baseline study and impact assessment for the proposed site and for each off-site associated facility which includes the following:

(a) a summary of potentially significant adverse impacts of the proposed site and off-site associated facilities, and the impact zones around them as determined by the baseline study conducted pursuant to department Circular MFSA-1;

(b) description of mitigating measures, if any, proposed for potentially significant adverse impacts;

(c) an evaluation of any increased impact to other resources resulting from implementation of each mitigating measure;

(d) a summary of potentially significant adverse impacts at the proposed site and off-site associated facilities for which no mitigation has been identified;

(e) a summary of any unmitigated impacts of the proposed site and off-site associated facilities that may pose a threat of serious injury or damage to the environment, social and economic conditions of inhabitants of the affected area or the health, safety, or welfare of area inhabitants;

(f) a comparison of the estimated cost and the degree of mitigation achieved, for each alternative level and type of mitigation measure considered to address each potentially adverse significant impact; and

(g) an explanation of the applicant's reasons for selecting the proposed mitigating measures and an explanation of the applicant's reasons for not selecting other mitigating measures.

(13) Information for (12) (a) through (g) above must be provided for the impact categories listed in department Circular MFSA-1.

(14) The board hereby adopts and incorporates by reference department Circular MFSA-1, which sets forth the baseline study requirements and impact assessment to be included in an application for a proposed energy generation and conversion facility and associated facilities.   Copies may be obtained from the Department of Environmental Quality, PO Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620-0901.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

(2) The board adopts and incorporates by reference department Circular MFSA-2, "Application Requirements for Linear Facilities", which sets forth the requirements for an alternative siting study and the baseline study requirements and impact assessment to be included in an application for a linear facility. Copies may be obtained from the Department of Environmental Quality, Environmental Management Bureau, P.O. Box 200901, Helena, Montana 59620-0901.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

(1) An application for an energy generation or conversion facility must contain an engineering description of the facility in detail sufficient to enable the department to assess the environmental impacts of construction, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning, and to assess reliability and construction and operation costs of the proposed facility at the proposed site as specified in ARM 17.20.1502 through 17.20.1505. These requirements apply specifically to fossil-fueled facilities and other facilities that utilize transportable energy resources. An equivalent description and design is required for all energy generation or conversion facilities defined by 75-20-104(8), MCA. Applicants for energy generation or conversion facilities that employ a nontransportable energy resource must consult with the department concerning facility description and design requirements.

(2) An application must identify design features that were selected to reduce adverse environmental impacts.

(3) An application must describe any design features that are oversized to accommodate future increases in plant capacity.

(4) The engineering description required by (1) of this rule must include the following major facility components or process areas as applicable: boilers, reactors, generators, condensers, shift conversion facilities, cooling facilities, emission control devices, stacks, and catalyst production and regeneration facilities.

(5) An application must contain a description of associated facilities, including:

(a) a description of any major existing or new transportation system or terminal that would be used during the construction, operation, maintenance or decommissioning of the proposed facility and an estimate of the type, duration, and intensity of that use;

(b) a description meeting the requirements of ARM 17.20.1509 and 17.20.1510, for facilities of 230 kV and larger; for power lines smaller than 230 kV, a general description of the components listed in ARM 17.20.1509 is sufficient;

(c) communication installations;

(d) the proposed source of the fuel to be used by the facility and, if applicable, alternative fuel sources consistent with department Circular MFSA-1, Section 3.11, and a description of equipment and portions of the site that will be used to store, prepare and transfer the fuel to the point of consumption;

(e) all sources of water to be used by the facility, structures that would pump, convey, store, or treat the water, proposed drainage or flood control structures, and a description of the processes used to deliver water to and discharge water from the site, including operation and monitoring plans for water-supply reservoirs, ponds, and other diversions for municipal or industrial use;

(f) all waste-handling systems, both on and off-site, including a description of the collection, storage, treatment, disposal processes and monitoring procedures and plans for each system, consistent with the requirements of ARM 17.20.1504(5) (Operation and Maintenance Analysis) ;

(g) any other permanent structures or installations, and temporary structures or installations, both on- and off-site,   that would be used only during the construction phase; and

(h) for water and fuel pipelines, a description meeting the requirements of ARM 17.20.1509 and 17.20.1511.

(6) An application must contain a topographic map at a scale of 1:4800 showing the proposed location of all facility structures and nonlinear associated facilities at or associated with the proposed site.

(2) An application for a generation or conversion facility must contain a description of the following:

(a) plans for construction camps for the crew, if any, and any other temporary facilities used during construction;

(b) the methods the applicant will use to reclaim any temporary facilities;

(c) a schedule showing the anticipated timing of activities;

(d) methods the applicant will use for fire control; and

(e) for associated powerlines, a description meeting the requirements of ARM 17.20.1510, for voltages of 230kV and larger.   For voltages less than 230kV, a general description of the components listed in ARM 17.20.1510 is sufficient; and

(f) for associated pipelines, a description meeting the requirements of ARM 17.20.1511.

(2) An application must contain a discussion of the ability of the proposed facility to withstand possible destructive natural phenomena such as earthquakes, floods, and accidents; equipment malfunction or failure; a description of structural problems, and safety problems, or adverse environmental effects that may result from facility failure due to natural phenomena or accidents, and design features that will be incorporated or contingency measures that will be taken to reduce the problems.

(2) Contingent operating conditions include, but are not limited to:

(a) extraordinary environmental conditions such as extreme cold, heat, drought, flooding, or earthquake, or extensive wildland fires;

(b) technical contingencies such as failure of facility components; and

(c) external system conditions such as transmission or pipeline system outages that lead to excessive congestion or inadequate capacity to carry the full output of the facility or to provide needed energy for the facility.

.

(1) An application must include:

(a) either a copy of any and all interconnection and transmission agreements involving the proposed facility, or the following information for each such agreement:

(i) a brief description of the obligations of and the benefits to the facility under the agreement;

(ii) a list of all parties to the agreement;

(iii) the time period during which the agreement is in effect;

(iv) a summary of the terms of the agreement; and

(v) the financial agreements; and

(b) a description of all current and planned negotiations with respect to interconnection of the facility and transmission of energy.   The description must include a list of the parties to any negotiations and a general discussion of the history and current status of the negotiations.

(1) An application must contain an engineering description of the facility in detail sufficient to enable the department to assess the environmental impacts of construction, operation and maintenance and reliability of the proposed facility located on the preferred route.

(2) An application must contain a list of any reports, documents, studies, or calculations indicating that the preliminary design specifications and performance objectives for the major components of the facility are adequate and can be maintained in the continuous operation of the facility.

(3) An application must identify facility design features that were selected in order to reduce adverse environmental impacts.

(4) For an electric transmission facility, an application must contain an engineering description of major facility components, including the following: structure design and materials; height range of structures; approximate number of structures per mile; ground wire configurations; types and designs of markers and other warning devices; number and spacing of conductors; and location, size, and overall plan of new and modified substations, including present and future land requirements.

(5) For an electric transmission facility, an application must contain specifications for design peak voltage and amperage under adverse climatic conditions and under expected peak loading conditions.

(6) For an electric transmission facility, an application must include an estimate of radio and television interference, and electric and magnetic field strengths.   This information on electric and magnetic fields must be provided for cross-sections of the right-of-way and must include maximum conditions under the conductors and at the edge of the right-of-way or easement, and attenuation rates beyond the edge of the right-of-way.   This information is also required at the property boundaries surrounding each substation which is proposed to be located in residential or subdivided areas and must include estimates of attenuation rates beyond the property boundaries.

(7) For an electric transmission facility, an application must contain a statement certifying that the facility will meet the standards of the national electric safety code.

(8) For pipelines, an application must contain an engineering description of the facility, including conduit size and thickness, tensile strength, test and operating pressure, methods of joining sections of conduit, trenching depth, amount of ground cover over the pipeline, the location, size and overall plan for new or modified pumping and compressor stations, cathodic protection systems, and other safety features.   Facility design specifications or criteria must also

(9) For pipelines, an application must contain a description of quality control and testing procedures and the information necessary to demonstrate that the facility can meet industry and US department of transportation pipeline standards.

(10) For pipeline, an application must contain a description of the source of power for pump and compressor stations and indicate on maps at a scale of 1:24,000, the proposed and alternative location of power supply lines for these stations.

(11) An application must contain a description of communication facilities that will be used to control and monitor operation of the facility and their location, including, but not limited to, radio, microwave, or satellite antennas, and any fiber optic cables.   If fiber optic cables are used, the application must describe the use of any excess communication capacity.

(12) An application must contain a specific engineering or design explanation of the opportunities and constraints for paralleling or sharing existing utility or transportation rights-of-way, or portions thereof, and if such opportunities were not chosen for part of the preferred route, an explanation of the reasons, including insufficient right-of-way and/or other land use constraints.

(1) An application must contain a preliminary construction schedule, a description of typical construction equipment to be used, and a description of the steps involved in carrying out major construction activities, including plans for and use of staging areas, right-of-way clearing, access road construction, structure assembly, and conductor and sock line stringing.

(2) An application must contain an estimate of the amount of ground disturbance resulting from construction at a representative structure site, pulling site, and reel site.

(3) An application must contain a description of the types and sizes of roads needed to build and maintain the facility.

(4) An application must contain estimates of the minimum and maximum right-of-way widths for which permanent easements would be purchased for the cleared right-of-way, estimates of the minimum and maximum widths of any additional construction easements, a description of the criteria used to determine right-of-way widths, a description of any land use restrictions that would be placed on the permanent easement, and a general description of standard conditions in the easement agreement pertaining to protection of the facility from damage or pertaining to public safety and liability.

(5) An application must contain a description of the camps planned for the construction crew, if any, and how they will be operated.

(6) An application must contain a description of the reclamation methods the applicant will use and the scheduled timing of activities proposed to restore the right-of-way.

(7) An application must contain a description of methods the applicant will use for fire control.

(2) An application must contain an estimate and discussion of the width of the level work pad needed for construction operations.

(3) An application must contain an estimate of the area of ground disturbance resulting from construction activities, including an estimate of mileage of flat terrain where no cut and fill excavation would be needed and estimates of mileage of terrain where cut and fill excavation to construct a level work pad would be required.

(4) An application must contain a description of the methods that will be used to salvage topsoil, including:

(a) the width of the construction right-of-way where topsoil will be salvaged;

(b) the depth to which topsoil would be salvaged;

(c) the locations where alternative methods of topsoil salvage would be implemented; and

(d) the methods to be employed to remove coarse rock from surface soils following construction.

(2) An application must contain a discussion of the ability of the proposed facility to withstand destructive natural phenomena such as mass movement, earthquakes, floods, icing conditions and high winds or accidents, a description of the environmental impacts and/or public safety problems resulting from facility failure due to natural phenomena and accidents, and a general discussion of measures proposed to reduce the problems.

(3) An application must contain a description of the methods the applicant will employ to control land uses on the right-of-way, including encroachment of buildings.

(4) An application must contain a description of the right-of-way management procedures that will be used, including vegetation and weed control, herbicide use, and the scheduled timing of the proposed management activities.

(5) For pipelines, an application must describe the size and frequency of leaks that can be expected over the life of the proposed project.

(6) For pipelines, an application must describe leak detection systems to be employed during operations including sensitivity of the leak detection system, the time necessary to shut down the facility in the event of a leak, and expected time necessary to respond to a leak.

(7) For liquid pipelines, an application must include a detailed spill contingency plan describing:

(a) immediate notification procedures;

(b) the type and location of emergency response personnel and equipment;

(c) any mutual aid agreements to supply personnel and equipment and respond in the event of a spill;

(d) response procedures;

(e) equipment testing procedures;

(f) frequency of field training exercises; and

(g) plan update procedures.   The plan shall be sufficiently detailed so that the department can determine the likely environmental effects resulting from a spill.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

(1) In order for the department to find that a proposed facility will serve the public interest, convenience and necessity as required by 75-20-301, MCA, the department must find and determine that the discounted net present value of benefits (less costs) is greater for the facility than for any other reasonable alternative, based on a determination of the following:

(a) the findings required by ARM 17.20.1606;

(b) the cumulative environmental impacts of the facility, as determined for ARM 17.20.1607(1)(g);

(c) the benefits to the applicant, the state of Montana, the applicant's customers, and any other entities benefitting from the facility;

(i) benefits include internal benefits and external benefits; nonmonetary benefits must be quantified to the extent reasonably possible.

(d) the effects of the economic activity resulting from the proposed facility; 

(e) the costs of the facility including internal costs of construction and operation and mitigation costs, plus other external costs and unmitigated environmental costs; nonmonetary costs must be quantified to the extent reasonably possible; and

(f) any other factors the board considers relevant.

(2) In making this finding the department shall consider the effects of the facility on the public health, welfare and safety.

(1) In making its decision under 75-20-301(3), MCA, the department shall identify all:

(a) significant environmental impacts; and

(b) reasonable, cost-effective mitigation measures for those impacts.

(2) For those significant environmental impacts that cannot be mitigated below the level of significance, the department shall determine whether there is a threat of serious injury or damage to the environment, the social and economic conditions of inhabitants of the affected area, and the health, safety, or welfare of area inhabitants.

(3) In determining the reasonableness of mitigating measures under 75-20-301(3)(a), MCA, the department shall consider appropriate factors including, but not limited to, whether the measure:

(a) is within or can reasonably be expected to be within an applicant’s or the department’s ability to implement;

(b) is technologically feasible as shown through research, successful prototype testing, or successful implementation in similar situations;

(c) is likely to succeed in mitigating the identified significant impact when implemented individually or in conjunction with other adopted measures; and

(d) can be monitored for implementation and effectiveness.

(4) In determining whether a mitigating measure is cost-effective under 75-20-301(3)(a), MCA, the department shall use the following analysis:

(a) estimate the net present value of the cost of implementing the mitigating measure;

(b) estimate the net present value of the benefits of implementing the measure, including: 

(i) reductions in adverse environmental impacts of the facility and any other benefits, that are readily quantifiable and valued in monetary terms; and

(ii) reductions in adverse impacts, and any other benefits, that are not readily quantifiable or not readily valued in monetary terms.

(c) if (4)(a) is greater than (4)(b)(i), and (4)(b)(ii) is not deemed significant, the mitigating measure is not cost-effective; and

(d) if (4)(a) is less than or equal to (4)(b)(i), or if (4)(a) is greater than (4)(b)(i) and (4)(b)(ii) is deemed to be significant and sufficient to outweigh the value of (4)(a) minus (4)(b)(i), the mitigating measure is cost-effective.

(5) All mitigating measures upon which the department relies in its decision must be made conditions of the certificate.

(6) For each facility and associated facilities, a certificate of environmental compatibility must contain:

(a) an approved reclamation plan;

(b) an approved monitoring plan;

(c) any construction and reclamation bonds required by the department;

(d) a set of environmental specifications addressing measures to reduce impacts of construction, operation, and decommissioning; and

(e) a topographic map having a scale of 1:24,000 showing section lines, the site boundary, location of the facility, facility components, and any associated facility(ies).

(7) A certificate holder must comply with all terms of a certificate of environmental compatibility including, but not limited to, the items in (5) and (6) above. 

(1) In order to find that there is a need for an electric transmission facility as required by 75-20-301 , MCA, the department must find that the services of the facility are needed by finding and determining the following:

(a) For facilities for which insufficient power transfer capacity at adequate voltage levels under normal operating conditions is a stated basis of need in the application, either that:

(i) the transfer capacity of the proposed facility will be required within two years of the date the proposed facility is to be placed in service; or

(ii) if the finding in (1) (a) (i) cannot be met, that the expected benefits of constructing a transmission line with the transfer capacity of the proposed line, instead of a line for which the finding in (1) (a) (i) can be met, warrant the costs based on a finding and determination of the following:

(A) the expected benefits of building the proposed line compared with a line that would satisfy (1) (a) (i) ; and

(B) the extra costs of building the proposed line compared with a line that would satisfy (1) (a) (i) .

(b) For facilities for which insufficient power transfer capacity at adequate voltage levels under contingent operating conditions is a stated basis of need in the application, that:

(i) there is or will be a power transfer capacity shortage under contingent conditions that will be rectified by the proposed facility within two years of the date the proposed facility is to be placed in service; and

(ii) the contingent conditions under which existing transfer capacity is insufficient, are sufficiently likely to occur to give a reasonable assurance that the expected benefits of the proposed facility exceed the costs of the facility.

(c) For facilities for which transient stability under normal operating conditions is a stated basis of need in the application, that there is or will be a transient stability problem under normal operating conditions, that will be rectified by the proposed facility within two years after the date the proposed facility is to be placed in service.

(d) For facilities for which transient stability under contingent operating conditions is a stated basis of need in the application, that:

(i) there is or will be a transient stability problem under contingent operating conditions that will be rectified by the proposed facility within two years of the date the proposed facility is to be placed in service; and

(ii) the contingent conditions under which the transient stability problems arise are sufficiently likely to occur to give a reasonable assurance that the expected benefits of the proposed facility exceed the costs.

(e) For facilities for which excessive voltage drop under normal operating conditions is a stated basis of need in the application, that:

(i) there is, or will be within two years after the proposed facility is to be placed in service, an excessive voltage drop that will be rectified by the proposed facility; and

(ii) the applicable design or operating voltage drop criteria used to justify the proposed facility are reasonably likely to result in benefits in excess of costs.

(f) For facilities for which excessive voltage drop under contingent operating conditions is a stated basis of need, that:

(i) there is or will be within two years after the proposed facility is to be placed in service a problem of excessive voltage drop under contingent operating conditions which will be rectified by the proposed facility; and

(ii) the applicable design or operating voltage drop criteria and the expected frequency and duration of the contingent operating conditions under which the problem exists are such as to give a reasonable assurance that the expected benefits of the proposed facility exceed the costs of the facility.

(g) For facilities for which reliability of service is a stated basis of need in the application:

(i) that the reliability criteria of the applicant will be violated within two years of the date the proposed facility is to be placed in service if the proposed facility is not built or some other solution is not implemented; and

(ii) that the value of the savings from reduced outage plus any value for general reliability of service, over the life of the facility, is reasonably likely to exceed the cost of the proposed facility.

(h) For facilities for which economy considerations are a stated basis of need:

(i) that the expected benefits of the proposed facility exceed the costs of the facility, given:

(A) the difference between expected system costs with and without the line;

(B) the expected location and size of markets and price for surplus power; and

(C) the expected source, quantity and price of purchased economy energy; and

(ii) that the benefits of the line warrant the resource commitment associated with it given the degree of uncertainty surrounding the benefits, likely markets, and economy purchases identified in (1) (h) (i) ; and

(iii) if transmission capacity exists that could carry the desired energy power flow without violating voltage drop, transfer capacity or other transmission planning criteria, that:

(A) the existing capacity is not available to the applicant at reasonable cost;

(B) the applicant has made every reasonable effort to reach agreement with the owners of the existing capacity;

(C) no agreement has been reached with the owners of the existing capacity; and

(D) no means exist for reaching a reasonable agreement with the owners of the existing capacity or for otherwise gaining access at reasonable terms to the existing capacity.

(i) For all facilities, that any forecast of loads is consistent with available information about loads and load growth in the area to be served by the proposed facility.

(1) In order for the department to find and determine that a linear facility represents the minimum adverse environmental impact, considering the state of available technology and the nature and economics of the various alternatives as required by 75-20-301 , MCA:

(a) the department finds and determines:

(i) that the expected net present value of costs, including monetary costs of construction to the applicant, external monetary costs, and the value of reasonably quantifiable environmental impacts is lower for the proposed facility than for any other available alternative that would meet the need finding required by ARM 17.20.1606. Other available alternatives include transmission alternatives, alternative energy resources and energy conservation, alternative transmission technologies, alternative levels of transmission reliability and the no action alternative;

(ii) that unquantified environmental impacts are not significantly adverse to alter the finding required by (1) (a) (i) ;

(iii) that all mitigation measures included in the mitigation plan in (1) (a) (vii) (C) have been incorporated in the cost finding required by (1) (a) (i) ;

(iv) that the final location for the facility achieves the best balance among the preferred location criteria listed in Circular MFSA-2, section 3.1 considering environmental impact and economic cost;

(v) that the final location for the facility will not cross one of the areas listed in Circular MFSA-2, section 3.2(1) (d) (i) and (ii) , unless the legislative or administrative unit of government with direct authority over the area has given the applicant permission to locate the facility there;

(vi) that reasonable alternative locations for the facility were considered in selecting the final location, pursuant to Circular MFSA-2, section 3.0;

(vii) that the final location for the facility will result in less cumulative adverse environmental impact and economic cost than siting the facility in any reasonable alternative location, based on the following:

(A) identification of any probable significant adverse environmental impacts;

(B) identification of reasonable mitigation for these significant adverse environmental impacts;

(C) adoption of an acceptable mitigation plan based on the measures identified in (1) (a) (vii) (B) , including environmental specifications, that will be included in conditions to the certificate; and

(D) adoption of an acceptable monitoring plan, including a reclamation plan, that will be included in conditions to the certificate.

(viii) if in making the finding required by (1) (a) (vii) , the final location for the facility crosses one or more of the areas listed in Circular MFSA-2, section 3.2(1) (d) (iii) through (xi) and section 3.4(1) (b) through (w) for transmission lines and in Circular MFSA-2, sections 3.2(1) (e) and 3.4(2) for pipelines, either that no significant adverse environmental impacts would result in the area(s) ; or

(A) that any significant adverse environmental impacts affecting the environmental resources, qualities or characteristics for these areas have been identified;

(B) that reasonable mitigation for these significant adverse environmental impacts has been identified;

(C) that an acceptable mitigation plan based on the measures identified in (1) (a) (viii) (B) , including environmental specifications, has been identified and will be included in conditions to the certificate; and

(D) that an acceptable monitoring plan, including a reclamation plan, has been identified, and will be included in conditions to the certificate.

(2) The department must condition its approval of a facility on the following standards:

(a) for electric transmission facilities, that average annual noise levels, as expressed by an A-weighted day-night scale (L_DN) will not exceed:

(i) 50 decibels at the edge of the right-of-way in residential and subdivided areas unless the affected landowner waives this condition;

(ii) 55 decibels at the edge of the property boundaries of substations in residential and subdivided areas.

(b) for electric transmission facilities, that appropriate mitigation has been identified to prevent unacceptable interference with stationary radio, television, and other communication systems and will be included in conditions to the certificate;

(c) for electric transmission facilities, that the facility will adhere to the national electric safety code regarding transmission lines.

(d) for electric transmission facilities, that the electric field at the edge of the right-of-way will not exceed one kV per meter measured one meter above the ground in residential or subdivided areas unless the affected landowner waives this condition, and that the electric field at road crossings under the facility will not exceed seven kV per meter measured one meter above the ground.

(e) for electric transmission facilities, that the facility will comply with the identification and marking standards established by the federal aviation administration.

(f) for pipeline facilities, that compliance with applicable U.S. department of transportation pipeline standards will be achieved.

(g) for all linear facilities, that the facility will comply with environmental specifications developed for the facility.

(h) for all linear facilities, that any other standards the department deems important will be met.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

This rule has been repealed.

(1) any change in location or design or any addition to a facility or an associated facility that could reasonably be expected to result in a material increase in any environmental impact;

(2) any change in location or design or any addition to a facility or an associated facility that could reasonably be expected to result in impacts to new geographic areas or human, animal or plant populations that were not evaluated prior to the issuance of the certificate;

(3) any change in or addition to a facility or an associated facility affecting compliance with a condition of the certificate; and

(4) any change in or addition to a facility or associated facility that would materially change the basis of any finding required by subchapter 16.

(1) The certificate holder shall provide drawings, analyses, maps, and other information at a level of detail equivalent to that required in an application to describe any proposed change to a facility in a notice for amendment to a certificate. Material pertaining to a proposed amendment to a certificate that was previously submitted in an application or during the board's hearing on the facility may be referenced.

(a) within 10 days of the issuance of an amendment by the department or board, the certificate holder shall serve the department with a certified copy of the amendment;

(b) the department shall issue a notice of proposed action to modify the certificate to fully and completely incorporate the amendment authorized by the department or board;

(c) upon the timely filing of a request for hearing, the board shall hold a show-cause hearing why the proposed action should not be taken. A request for hearing may be made by any person affected by the proposed action;

(d) a person requesting a show-cause hearing shall file with the board all testimony, evidence and exhibits in writing that it intends to present at the hearing within 15 days after filing a request for hearing. Failure to comply with this rule shall be deemed a waiver of a person's request for hearing and of rights to participate in the hearing, if any;

(e) if no show-cause hearing is requested or required, the department shall take the proposed action as set forth in the notice pursuant to (1) (b) ;

(f) a show-cause hearing, if any, shall be limited to issues over which the board has jurisdiction.

(2) In making the findings required by (1) , the department shall limit itself to consideration of the effects that the proposed change or addition to the facility contained in the notice for the certificate amendment may produce.

(2) The certificate holder shall reimburse the department for all costs incurred relative to the monitoring plan approved by the department in accordance with 75-20-402 , MCA.

(3) All activities of the certificate holder or the certificate holder's representative during preconstruction, construction, reclamation, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of the facility shall be conducted in accordance with the environmental specifications and conditions to the certificate approved by the department.

(1) Within 15 days of the department's approval of a final location, the department shall designate an environmental inspector to monitor compliance with the environmental specifications and any other conditions contained in the certificate. The environmental inspector shall be the certificate holder's liaison with the department on all subsequent activities related to the facility.

(2) Within 15 days of the department's approval of a final location, the certificate holder shall designate a chief field representative to be the department's liaison with the certificate holder on all subsequent activities related to the facility.

(3) The certificate holder shall submit to the department a notice of intent to begin construction and shall make a reasonable effort to notify or otherwise inform landowners whose property would be crossed by the facility and/or associated access roads at least 15 days prior to the commencement of construction activities on the facility.

(4) The certificate holder shall submit the following information to the department at least 15 days prior to the commencement of construction of any segment of the project. Any information previously submitted in an application may be referenced.

(a) On orthophoto mosaics or plan and profile maps, or on available USGS 7.5 minute topographic maps, at a scale of 1:24,000, the location of the following as appropriate:

(i) the centerline;

(ii) all construction and maintenance access roads;

(iii) structures;

(iv) clearing backlines, clearing limits or disturbance limits, staging sites, and pulling sites, if known;

(v) borrow pits;

(vi) campsites; and

(vii) storage or other buildings.

(b) A list of contractors, an estimate of the number of workers, and a description of the types of heavy equipment that will be employed, and a proposed schedule of construction activities for each segment of line.

(5) The certificate holder shall promptly notify the department of any changes or updates in the schedule after the initial schedule is submitted.

(6) If a construction bond is required by the certificate, the certificate holder shall submit to the department proof that the construction bond has been obtained prior to the commencement of construction. Pursuant to the certificate, this bond may be held until construction is complete and the department has determined that all environmental specifications have been followed, that cleanup is complete, that damage has been repaired, and that recontouring, site restoration, and revegetation are progressing satisfactorily.

(a) In the event the department finds that the certificate holder is not correcting damage created during construction in a satisfactory manner, the department may determine the amount and disposition of all or a portion of the bond to correct any damage that has not been corrected by the certificate holder.

(7) For electric transmission lines greater than 230 kV and pipeline facilities, the certificate holder shall hold a preconstruction conference at least 15 days prior to commencement of construction activities to brief the following persons regarding the content of the environmental specifications required by the certificate, to identify any specific geographical areas of concern where special construction precautions may be required, and to explain the role of the environmental inspector:

(a) the certificate holder's field representative;

(b) all contractors involved in the facility;

(c) the contractors' environmental inspectors, if any;

(d) representatives of affected local, state, and federal agencies; and

(e) the environmental inspector.

(8) The certificate holder shall submit a written notice to the department describing the date and nature of proposed construction activities in any problem area specified at the preconstruction conference at least five days prior to beginning the activity.

(9) If a construction and reclamation bond is required by the certificate pursuant to ARM 17.20.1706(2) , at the time the construction bond is released by the department, the certificate holder shall submit proof that the reclamation bond has been obtained. Pursuant to the certificate, portions of this bond or bonds may be held for one year and five years, respectively, or until the department determines that revegetation and road closures adequately meet the requirements specified in the certificate and in (10) .

(a) In the event the department finds that revegetation has not attained the growth required after one year or five years specified in (10) , the department may find the certificate holder in substantive noncompliance with the terms of the reclamation bond and may determine the amount and disposition of all or a portion of the bond or bonds to achieve satisfactory reclamation and revegetation.

(10) The following standards for reclamation shall be used to determine reclamation bond release or to determine that expenditure of the reclamation bond is necessary to meet the requirements of the certificate for transmission lines, unless otherwise determined by the department:

(a) in rangeland, coverage of desirable perennial plant species excluding, specifically, species recognized as noxious weeds, shall be 30% or more of that on adjacent rangeland of similar slope and topography the year following revegetation, and 90% or more of the coverage of adjacent rangeland of similar slope and topography within five years following revegetation;

(b) in forested land, revegetated land exclusive of the right-of-way or permanent roads, shall be planted with trees by the end of five years so that the approximate stand density of the adjacent forest will be attained at maturity;

(c) on private lands the certificate holder may contract with the landowner for revegetation or reclamation which would release the certificate holder from the reclamation bond performance on the property upon showing the department that the property owner wants different reclamation standards from those specified in (10) (a) and (b) applied on his property and that not reclaiming to the standards specified in (10) (a) and (b) would not have adverse impacts on the public and other landowners; and

(d) on public lands the certificate holder may contract with the affected land management agency for revegetation or reclamation which would release the certificate holder upon showing the department that the land management agency wants different reclamation standards from those specified in (10) (a) and (b) applied on its lands and that not reclaiming to the standards specified in (10) (a) and (b) would not have adverse impacts on the public and other landowners.

(11) The department may formulate and carry out a plan to ensure that the standards in (10) are accomplished.

(12) In the event that the department finds the contractor responsible for construction of the facility to be in violation of the construction and mitigation standards or any of the conditions of the certificate, and finds that the certificate holder cannot or will not take appropriate action to correct the problem, the department shall immediately file an incident report with the certificate holder, as follows:

(a) The incident report shall describe the nature, location, date, and extent of the violation and the sections of the construction and mitigation standards or conditions to the certificate that have been violated, and recommend corrective actions.

(b) Upon receipt of an incident report, the certificate holder shall immediately correct the violation or immediately file with the department a statement explaining why the violation may not be corrected.

(c) Upon correction of any violation described in an incident report, the department shall file a compliance report with the certificate holder stating that the problem has been satisfactorily resolved.

(d) Failure by the certificate holder to comply with the directives of an incident report shall result in appropriate enforcement action taken in accordance with 75-20-408 , MCA.