Bill Text: MS SB2398 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Military bases: establish a process to ensure adequate notice and opportunity to mitigate adverse mission impacts.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2021-02-02 - Died In Committee [SB2398 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2021-SB2398-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2021 Regular Session
To: Veterans and Military Affairs; Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency
By: Senator(s) DeLano
Senate Bill 2398
AN ACT TO CODIFY SECTIONS 17-30-1, 17-30-2, 17-30-3, 17-30-4 AND 17-30-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CREATE THE MILITARY BASE PROTECTION ACT; TO ENSURE MILITARY INSTALLATIONS ARE PROVIDED NOTICE OF LOCAL LAND USE DEVELOPMENT PLANNING; TO PROVIDE THAT THE MILITARY SERVICES SHALL BE GIVEN ADEQUATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED WIND ENERGY FACILITIES AND TALL STRUCTURES SO AS TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO MITIGATE ANY ADVERSE IMPACTS ON MISSION ACTIVITIES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 17-30-1, Mississippi Code of 1972:
17—30—1. Short title. This chapter may be cited as the "Mississippi Military Base 15 Protection Act."
SECTION 2. The following shall be codified as Section 17-30-2, Mississippi Code of 1972:
17-30-2. Definitions. For purposes of this chapter:
(a) "Local government" means any county or municipality.
(b) "Local planning proposal" means any adoption or amendment by a local government of a proposed zoning plan, comprehensive master plan, or land development regulations that, if approved, may or will significantly affect any area or airspace that is within two (2) miles of a military installation.
(c) "Military installation" means any base, camp, post, station, airfield, yard, center, or any other land area under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Defense, including any leased facility, the total acreage of which installation is in excess of five hundred (500) acres. The term military installation does not include any facility used primarily for civil works, river projects, or flood control projects.
(d) "Tall structure" means any building, structure, or unit within a multiunit building with a vertical height of more than two hundred (200) feet measured from the top of the foundation of the building, structure, or unit and the uppermost point of the building, structure, or unit. The term does not include: wind energy facilities, slender structures and minor vertical projections of a parent building, including chimneys, flagpoles, flues, spires, steeples, belfries, cupolas, antennas, poles, wires, except that no such structures or vertical projections shall project more than twenty (20) vertical feet above the parent building.
(e) "Wind energy facility" means an electrical generation facility or expansion thereof, substations, meteorological data towers, aboveground and underground electrical transmission lines, transformers, control systems, and other buildings or facilities under common ownership or operating control used to support the operation of the facility, and whose primary purpose is to offer electricity supply for sale.
(f) "Department of Defense Siting Clearinghouse" means the Military Aviation and Installation Assurance Siting Clearinghouse of the Department of Defense, as established by Section 183a of Title 10 of the United States Code.
(g) "Adverse impact on military operations and readiness" has the same meaning as provided for that term in Section 183a(h) of Title 10 of the United State Code.
(h) "Notice of presumed risk" means the notice provided by the Department of Defense Siting Clearinghouse to an owner of an energy facility pursuant to Section 183a(c)(2) of Title 10 of the United States Code.
SECTION 3. The following shall be codified as Section 17-30-3, Mississippi Code of 1972:
17-30—3. Review by military installation, submission of comments; effects on local government. (1) Each local government whose territorial boundaries are within two (2) miles of all or any portion of a military installation shall provide written notice to the military installation's commanding officer and the flying mission commanding officer if applicable, or their designees, of any local planning proposal.
(2) Prior to approving any proposed tall structure or wind energy facility, the local government shall follow the requirements of Section 17-30-5. The requirements of Section 17-30-5 shall apply regardless of the distance of the tall structure or wind energy facility to any military installation and regardless of whether the local government's territorial boundaries are within two (2) miles of all or any portion of a military installation.
SECTION 4. The following shall be codified as Section 17-30-4, Mississippi Code of 1972:
17-30—4. Review by military installation, submission of comments; effects on local government planning. (1) Upon submission of the information required by Section 17-30—3 about a local planning proposal, the military installation shall have thirty (30) calendar days before any final action is taken or any public hearing is held regarding the proposal. During that time, the military installation may review the information and submit comments to the local government on the impact of the proposal upon the mission of the military installation. The comments may include any of the following:
(a) If the military installation has an airfield, whether the local impact issue will be compatible with the safety and noise standards contained in the air installation compatible use zone recommended by the United States Department of Defense for that airfield.
(b) Whether the local planning proposal is compatible with the installation environmental noise management program of the military installation.
(c) Whether the local planning proposal is compatible with any joint land use study for the area within which the changes are to take place, if such study has been completed.
(d) Whether the military installation's mission will be adversely affected by the local planning proposal.
(2) The local government shall review any comments received from the commanding officer or the flying mission commanding officer, or their designees, pursuant to this section when considering approval of the local planning proposal.
(3) No provision of this chapter shall be construed to confer additional powers or expand existing powers of any local government over zoning, planning or land use.
(4) If an existing joint land use study exists between any local governmental body and a military installation, this chapter shall not be construed to supersede the provisions of that existing agreement.
SECTION 5. The following shall be codified as Section 17-30-5, Mississippi Code of 1972:
17—30—5. Tall structures and wind energy facilities review by Department of Defense Siting Clearinghouse and the Mississippi Military Department. (1) Construction or operation of any tall structure or wind energy facility in the state shall not encroach upon or otherwise have an adverse impact on military operations and readiness of any military installation or branch of military.
(2) All local governments, prior to approving an application for the construction of any tall structure, as defined in Section 17-30-2, shall require the applicant to file an application with the Federal Aviation Administration under Section 44718 of Title 49 of the United States Code, and provide the local government either of the following:
(a) A written "Determination of No Hazard to Air Navigation" issued by the Federal Aviation Administration pursuant to Subpart D of Part 77 of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations; or
(b) In coordination with the affected military department(s) and the Mississippi Military Department, a written determination resolving any adverse impact to military operations identified during the aeronautics study conducted pursuant to Subpart D of Part 77 of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(3) All local governments considering an application for the construction of a wind energy facility, as defined in Section 17-30—2, must require the applicant to provide the following documentation at least two hundred seventy (270) days prior to planned construction:
(a) That the owner or applicant has transmitted notice relating to the construction of the wind energy facility to the Department of Defense Siting Clearinghouse, the Mississippi Military Department and the Aeronautics Division of the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
(b) A map showing the specific location and tower hub height with rotor diameter for each proposed wind turbine.
(c) Documentation that the facility owner has either initiated an informal review under Section 211.7 of Title 32 of the Code of Federal Regulations, with the Department of Defense Siting Clearinghouse, or filed for a formal review with the Secretary of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration pursuant to Section 44718 of Title 49 of the United States Code.
(4) The local government, prior to approving the application for the construction of a wind energy facility, shall not approve the construction prior to receiving documentation of any of the
following:
(a) Completed Department of Defense Siting Clearinghouse informal review resulting in a determination of no presumed risk;
(b) A mitigation agreement between the owner or applicant and the Department of Defense Siting Clearinghouse resolving any notice of presumed risk; or
(c) A written "Determination of No Hazard to Air Navigation" issued by the Federal Aviation Administration pursuant to Subpart D of Part 77 of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(5) Should any dispute arise between local government, applicant or military department relating to the approval of any tall structure or wind energy facility, the local government shall
provide notice to the Mississippi Military Communities Council. The council will review the dispute and provide a recommendation to the Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority, who will serve as the dispute resolution authority.
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2021.
