You asked for a summary of sHB 5418, “An Act Concerning Electric Transmission Line Siting Criteria,” favorably reported by the Energy and Technology Committee.

SUMMARY

The law requires a Siting Council certificate to build an electric transmission line and certain other energy and telecommunications facilities. The bill requires that an application for an electric or gas transmission line or an electric substation to address the impact of any electromagnetic fields (EMF) the proposed facility would produce. It also requires maps submitted with the application to show nearby residential areas, schools, and certain other land uses.

The bill specifically requires the council to make findings regarding the impact of EMFs when deciding whether to grant a certificate for the energy and telecommunications facilities it regulates. In the case of electric transmission lines, it requires that the selected route be the most feasible alternative when considering the line’s impact on residential areas, schools, and certain other land uses, when considered with the other criteria the council must consider. It requires that the line be consistent with the council’s best management practices.

The bill requires the council to adopt standards for best management practices for EMFs. It appears that these standards could apply to the telecommunications facilities the council regulates, as well as to energy facilities.

The bill applies to future and pending applications. Thus, it applies to the proposal to build a transmission line from Norwalk to Middletown.

CERTIFICATE APPLICATION

The bill requires applications for electric and gas transmission lines and electric substations to include an assessment of the impact of any EMF to be produced by the proposed facility. By law, the application must include a map showing the proposed route or site and showing details of settled areas, parks, recreational areas, and scenic areas. The bill additionally requires the map to show residential areas, private and public schools, licensed day care facilities and youth camps, and public playgrounds.

EMF BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

The bill requires the council to adopt standards for best management practices for EMFs. The standards must be based on the latest completed and ongoing scientific research on EMFs. They must require individual, project-specific assessments of EMFs, taking into consideration design techniques such as compact spacing, optimal phasing of conductors, and applicable and appropriate new field management techniques. The council can revise the standards, which are not regulations, as it considers appropriate. The council’s existing EMF best management practices are available online at http://www.ct.gov/csc/cwp/view.asp?a=1112&q=251088.

DECISION CRITERIA

By law, the council must make findings on a facility’s probable impact on public health and safety as well as on the environment and scenic, historic, and recreational values in determining whether to grant a certificate. The bill requires that the findings with regard to all of the energy and telecommunications facilities the council regulates address the EMF the facility may produce.

The bill requires that for the council to grant a certificate for an electric transmission line, it find that the route is the most feasible alternative when considering the line’s impact on residential areas, private or public schools, licensed day care facilities and youth camps, and public playgrounds. It also requires that the council find that the application is consistent with its EMF best management practices.

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