PREFILED JAN 04 2024
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REFERENCE TITLE: solar panel disposal fund |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session 2024
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HB 2133 |
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Introduced by Representative Griffin
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An Act
amending title 49, chapter 4, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding article 10.1; relating to solar panels.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 49, chapter 4, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding article 10.1, to read:
ARTICLE 10.1. SOLAR PANEL DISPOSAL FUND
49-885. Solar panel disposal fund; exemption; use; purpose; annual report
A. The solar panel disposal fund is established consisting of legislative appropriations and solar panel installation fees collected and distributed pursuant to section 49-886. The department shall administer the fund. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated and are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190 relating to lapsing of appropriations.
B. On notice from the department, the state treasurer shall invest and divest monies in the fund as provided by section 35-313, and monies earned from investment shall be credited to the fund. The department may retain up to one percent of the monies in the fund for the costs of administering the fund. Grants made pursuant to this section are exempt from title 41, chapter 24.
C. Monies from the fund may be used to provide grants to cities, towns and counties to aid in the following:
1. Decommissioning, recycling and disposing of solar panels.
2. Groundwater quality remediation efforts necessitated by improper solar panel disposal.
D. The department shall give priority to grant applications that aid groundwater quality remediation efforts and shall consider the degree to which financial assistance from the department is necessary to ensure that corrective actions will be conducted.
E. Each entity seeking grant funding pursuant to this section shall submit an application to the department with the entity's proposal as prescribed by the department. On or before June 30 of each year, each grantee shall report the outcomes and an accounting of the expenditures of the grant monies received, including program data requested by the department.
F. On or before August 15 of each year, the department shall submit a report to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate and shall provide a copy of the report to the secretary of state. The report shall include, at a minimum, a listing of the grant recipients in the preceding year, the amount of each grant, the programs or projects the grant monies are supporting and the outcomes of those programs or projects.
49-886. Fees
the owner or installer of each solar panel that is installed in this state shall pay to the department a fee of $1 per panel installed. The department shall deposit, pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, The fees collected under this section in the solar panel disposal fund established by section 49-885. The director shall adopt rules to provide for the orderly imposition and collection of the fees imposed by this section.
Sec. 2. Requirements for enactment; two-thirds vote
Pursuant to article IX, section 22, Constitution of Arizona, this act is effective only on the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature and is effective immediately on the signature of the governor or, if the governor vetoes this act, on the subsequent affirmative vote of at least three-fourths of the members of each house of the legislature.