Assembly Bill No. 71

Assembly Bill No. 71-Committee on Government Affairs

CHAPTER

189

AN ACT relating to public utilities; revising the definition of "utility facility" for the purposes of the Utility Environmental Protection Act to exclude certain telephone and telegraph buildings, facilities and sites; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

[Approved June 25, 1997]

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

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Section 1. NRS 704.825 is hereby amended to read as follows:
704.825 1. The legislature hereby finds and declares that:
(a) There is at present and will continue to be a growing need for electric, gas [, telephone, telegraph] and water services which will require the construction of new facilities. It is recognized that such facilities cannot be built without in some way affecting the physical environment where such facilities are located.
(b) It is essential in the public interest to minimize any adverse effect upon the environment and upon the quality of life of the people of the state which such new facilities might cause.
(c) Present laws and practices relating to the location of such utility facilities should be strengthened to protect environmental values and to take into account the total cost to society of such facilities.
(d) Existing provisions of law may not provide adequate opportunity for natural persons, groups interested in conservation and the protection of the environment, state and regional agencies, local governments and other public bodies to participate in any and all proceedings before the public service commission of Nevada regarding the location and construction of major facilities.
2. The legislature, therefore, hereby declares that it is the purpose of NRS 704.820 to 704.900, inclusive, to provide a forum for the expeditious resolution of all matters concerning the location and construction of electric, gas [, telephone, telegraph] and water transmission lines and associated facilities.
Sec. 2. NRS 704.860 is hereby amended to read as follows:
704.860 "Utility facility" means:
1. Electric generating plants and their associated facilities;
2. Electric transmission lines and transmission substations designed to operate at 200 kilovolts or more, and not required by local ordinance to be placed underground when constructed outside any incorporated city;
3. Gas transmission lines, storage plants, compressor stations and their associated facilities when constructed outside any incorporated city;
4. [Telephone and telegraph equipment buildings, their associated facilities and the sites thereof, when constructed outside any incorporated city;
5.] Water storage, transmission and treatment facilities; and
[6.] 5. Sewer transmission and treatment facilities.
Sec. 3. This act becomes effective on July 1, 1997.
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