Bill Text: MI SB0621 | 2009-2010 | 95th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Public utilities; electric utilities; uniform standards for tree-cutting activities by electric utilities; establish. Amends 1939 PA 3 (MCL 460.1 - 460.11) by adding sec. 10ee.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-06-03 - Referred To Committee On Energy Policy And Public Utilities [SB0621 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2009-SB0621-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL No. 621
June 3, 2009, Introduced by Senator SANBORN and referred to the Committee on Energy Policy and Public Utilities.
A bill to amend 1939 PA 3, entitled
"An act to provide for the regulation and control of public and
certain private utilities and other services affected with a public
interest within this state; to provide for alternative energy
suppliers; to provide for licensing; to include municipally owned
utilities and other providers of energy under certain provisions of
this act; to create a public service commission and to prescribe
and define its powers and duties; to abolish the Michigan public
utilities commission and to confer the powers and duties vested by
law on the public service commission; to provide for the
continuance, transfer, and completion of certain matters and
proceedings; to abolish automatic adjustment clauses; to prohibit
certain rate increases without notice and hearing; to qualify
residential energy conservation programs permitted under state law
for certain federal exemption; to create a fund; to provide for a
restructuring of the manner in which energy is provided in this
state; to encourage the utilization of resource recovery
facilities; to prohibit certain acts and practices of providers of
energy; to allow for the securitization of stranded costs; to
reduce rates; to provide for appeals; to provide appropriations; to
declare the effect and purpose of this act; to prescribe remedies
and penalties; and to repeal acts and parts of acts,"
(MCL 460.1 to 460.11) by adding section 10ee.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 10ee. (1) As used in this section:
(a) "Affected property owner" means the record owner of real
property on which a transmission company plans to perform tree-
cutting activity, but does not include a property owner that is a
governmental unit.
(b) "Transmission company" means an affiliated transmission
company or independent transmission company as those terms are
defined in section 2 of the electric transmission line
certification act, 1995 PA 30, MCL 460.562.
(c) "Tree-cutting activity" means the cutting down and removal
of 1 or more trees.
(2) In performing any tree-cutting activity, a transmission
company shall follow the tree care and maintenance standard
practices set forth by the American national standards institute.
(3) Not later than January 1, 2010, a transmission company
shall establish written policies that do both of the following:
(a) Provide dispute resolution procedures for affected
property owners.
(b) Describe other rights and remedies, if any, that the
transmission company provides to affected property owners.
(4) The policies required under subsection (3) shall provide
that an affected property owner is entitled to appeal to the
commission any resolution of a case reached through the
transmission company's dispute resolution procedures.
(5) Not later than January 1, 2010, a transmission company
shall make the policies required under subsection (3) available to
the public through the following means:
(a) A written copy of the policies shall be kept on file and
made open to public inspection in every station or office of the
transmission company.
(b) A written copy of the policies shall be kept on file as a
public record in the office of the commission.
(c) The policies shall be available on a publicly accessible
website of the transmission company.
(6) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (12), not more
than 90 days before or less than 21 days before performing any
tree-cutting activity planned to occur after March 15, 2010, a
transmission company shall send notice by first-class mail of the
planned tree-cutting activity to the executive of a municipality or
township in which any part of the tree-cutting activity will occur.
The notice shall include maps, a description by street address, if
any, or another common description of the area to be affected by
the tree-cutting activity. The municipal or township executive
shall keep on file and make open for public inspection the
materials received under this subsection.
(7) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (12), not more
than 90 days before or less than 21 days before performing any
tree-cutting activity planned to occur after March 15, 2010, a
transmission company shall provide the following notice of the
planned tree-cutting activity to affected property owners:
(a) Notice by publication in 1 newspaper of general
circulation in the municipality or county where the tree-cutting
activity will occur. The notice required by this subdivision shall
include a description by street address, if any, or other common
description of the area to be affected by the tree-cutting
activity.
(b) Notice by first-class mail to each affected property
owner. The notice required by this subdivision shall include the
following:
(i) A statement of the tree-cutting activity planned.
(ii) A statement that the written policies required under
subsection (3) are available for public inspection in the public
offices of the transmission company and the office of the
commission, as required under subsection (5).
(iii) The website address required under subsection (5).
(iv) A statement that an affected property owner may appeal the
planned tree-cutting activity through the dispute resolution
procedures of the transmission company. The statement shall inform
the affected property owner of the right to appeal to the
commission any resolution reached through the transmission
company's dispute resolution procedures.
(v) A statement that maps, a description by street address, or
another common description of the affected area is available for
public inspection in the office of the county or municipal
executive.
(8) The duty of a transmission company to provide notice under
subsection (7)(b) requires the transmission company to notify only
affected property owners. If a person other than the affected
property owner resides on an affected parcel of land, it is the
responsibility of the affected property owner to notify the
resident of the planned tree-cutting activity. A transmission
company does not have a duty to extend rights, remedies, or
policies established under subsection (3) to a resident who is not
an affected property owner.
(9) If an affected property owner wishes to appeal the planned
tree-cutting activity described in the notice under subsection
(7)(b), the affected property owner must initiate the dispute
resolution procedures provided by the transmission company no later
than 14 days after receiving the notice.
(10) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (12), if an
affected property owner has initiated dispute resolution procedures
under subsection (9), a transmission company shall not perform any
tree-cutting activity on the affected property owner's property
while the dispute resolution procedures are pending. If the
affected property owner wishes to appeal the resolution of the case
reached through the transmission company's dispute resolution
procedures, the affected property owner shall initiate an appeal
with the commission and notify the transmission company of the
appeal no later than 10 days after the date of the case's
resolution. If the transmission company does not receive notice of
an appeal within the time prescribed in this subsection, the
transmission company may begin the planned tree-cutting activity,
subject to any specifications or limitations reached through the
dispute resolution procedures.
(11) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (12), if a
transmission company receives notice of an appeal to the commission
within the time prescribed in subsection (10), a transmission
company shall not perform any tree-cutting activity on the affected
property owner's property while the appeal is pending.
(12) A transmission company is not subject to the notice
requirements set forth in subsections (6) and (7) or the
prohibition against performing tree-cutting activity during a
pending dispute or appeal set forth in subsection (10) if the
transmission company performs tree-cutting activity that is
necessary to restore reliable electric service in an emergency, as
determined by the commission.
(13) The commission has the sole authority to hear and
determine complaints that a transmission company has failed to
comply with this section.
