Chapter 765 Oregon Laws 1999

Session Law

AN ACT

SB 1192

Relating to alternative fuel vehicles; creating new provisions; and amending ORS 469.185, 469.205 and 469.878.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. Section 2 of this 1999 Act is added to and made a part of ORS 469.160 to 469.180.

SECTION 2. (1) The owner of an alternative fuel vehicle as defined in ORS 469.160 may transfer a tax credit otherwise allowed under ORS 316.116 for cost of the vehicle in exchange for a cash payment equal to the present value of the tax credit.

(2) The Office of Energy may establish by rule uniform discount rates to be used in calculating the present value of a tax credit under this section.

SECTION 3. Section 2 of this 1999 Act applies to alternative fuel vehicles placed in service on or after January 1, 2000.

SECTION 4. ORS 469.185 is amended to read:

469.185. As used in ORS 469.185 to 469.225 and 469.878:

(1) "Alternative fuel [fleet] vehicle" means a vehicle [in a fleet] as defined by the administrator of the Office of Energy by rule that is used primarily in connection with the conduct of a trade or business and that is manufactured or modified to use an alternative fuel, including but not limited to electricity, ethanol, methanol, gasohol and propane or natural gas, regardless of energy consumption savings.

(2) "Cost" means the capital costs and expenses necessarily incurred in the acquisition, erection, construction and installation of a facility.

(3) "Energy facility" means any capital investment for which the first year energy savings yields a simple payback period of greater than one year. An energy facility includes:

(a) Any land, structure, building, installation, excavation, machinery, equipment or device, or any addition to, reconstruction of or improvement of, land or an existing structure, building, installation, excavation, machinery, equipment or device necessarily acquired, erected, constructed or installed by any person in connection with the conduct of a trade or business and actually used in the processing or utilization of renewable energy resources to:

(A) Replace a substantial part or all of an existing use of electricity, petroleum or natural gas;

(B) Provide the initial use of energy where electricity, petroleum or natural gas would have been used;

(C) Generate electricity to replace an existing source of electricity or to provide a new source of electricity for sale by or use in the trade or business; or

(D) Perform a process that obtains energy resources from material that would otherwise be solid waste as defined in ORS 459.005.

(b) Any acquisition of, addition to, reconstruction of or improvement of land or an existing structure, building, installation, excavation, machinery, equipment or device necessarily acquired, erected, constructed or installed by any person in connection with the conduct of a trade or business in order to substantially reduce the consumption of purchased energy.

(c) A necessary feature of a new commercial building or multiple unit dwelling, as dwelling is defined by ORS 469.160, that causes that building or dwelling to exceed an energy performance standard in the state building code.

(d) The replacement of an electric motor with another electric motor that substantially reduces the consumption of electricity.

(4) "Facility" means an energy facility, recycling facility, alternative fuel [fleet] vehicle or facilities necessary to operate alternative fuel [fleet] vehicles, including but not limited to an alternative fuel [fleet] vehicle refueling station, or a qualified transit pass contract.

(5) "Qualified transit pass contract" means a purchase agreement entered into between a public mass transit district and an employer, the terms of which obligate the employer to purchase transit passes on behalf of the employer's employees over a specified period of time.

(6) "Recycling facility" means equipment used by a trade or business solely for recycling:

(a) Including:

(A) Equipment used solely for hauling and refining used oil;

(B) New vehicles or modifications to existing vehicles used solely to transport used recyclable materials that cannot be used further in their present form or location such as glass, metal, paper, aluminum, rubber and plastic;

(C) Trailers, racks or bins that are used for hauling used recyclable materials and are added to or attached to existing waste collection vehicles; and

(D) Any equipment used solely for processing recyclable materials such as bailers, flatteners, crushers, separators and scales.

(b) But not including equipment used for transporting or processing scrap materials that are recycled as a part of the normal operation of a trade or business as defined by the administrator.

(7)(a) "Renewable energy resource" includes, but is not limited to, straw, forest slash, wood waste or other wastes from farm or forest land, industrial waste, solar energy, wind power, water power or geothermal energy.

(b) "Renewable energy resource" does not include a hydroelectric or geothermal electric generating facility larger than one megawatt of installed capacity unless the facility qualifies as a research, development or demonstration facility.

SECTION 5. ORS 469.205 is amended to read:

469.205. (1) Prior to erection, construction, installation or acquisition of a proposed facility any person may apply to the Office of Energy for preliminary certification under ORS 469.210 if:

(a) The erection, construction, installation or acquisition of the facility is to be commenced on or after October 3, 1979;

(b) The facility complies with the standards or rules adopted by the administrator of the Office of Energy; and

(A) The applicant will be the owner or contract purchaser of the facility at the time of erection, construction, installation or acquisition of the proposed facility, and:

(i) The applicant is the owner, contract purchaser or lessee of a trade or business that plans to utilize the facility in connection with Oregon property;

(ii) The applicant is the owner, contract purchaser or lessee of a trade or business that plans to lease the facility to a person who will utilize the facility in connection with Oregon property; or

(iii) The applicant is a person to whom a tax credit has been transferred under ORS 469.208.

(B) Notwithstanding ORS 315.354 (9)(a) and (b), the applicant is a public utility as defined in ORS 757.005 or a subsidiary or an affiliated interest of a public utility as defined in ORS 757.015, for purposes of financing rental housing unit energy conservation measures as described in ORS 469.636 or alternative fuel [fleet] vehicles for commercial or industrial customers as provided in ORS 469.878.

(C) Notwithstanding ORS 315.354 (9)(a) and (b), the applicant is a public utility as defined in ORS 757.005 or a subsidiary or an affiliated interest of a public utility as defined in ORS 757.015, for purposes of financing alternative fuel [fleet] vehicles or associated facilities.

(2) An application for preliminary certification shall be made in writing on a form prepared by the Office of Energy and shall contain:

(a) A statement that the applicant or the lessee of the applicant's facility:

(A) Intends to convert from a purchased energy source to a renewable energy resource;

(B) Plans to acquire, construct or install a facility that will use a renewable energy resource or solid waste instead of electricity, petroleum or natural gas;

(C) Plans to use a renewable energy resource in the generation of electricity for sale or to replace an existing or proposed use of an existing source of electricity;

(D) Plans to acquire, construct or install a facility that substantially reduces the consumption of purchased energy;

(E) Plans to acquire, construct or install equipment for recycling as defined in ORS 469.185 (6);

(F) Plans to acquire an alternative fuel [fleet] vehicle or to convert an existing vehicle to an alternative fuel [fleet] vehicle;

(G) Plans to acquire, construct or install a facility necessary to operate alternative fuel [fleet] vehicles; or

(H) Plans to acquire transit passes for use by the applicant's employees.

(b) A detailed description of the proposed facility and its operation and information showing that the facility will operate as represented in the application.

(c) Information on the amount by which consumption of electricity, petroleum or natural gas by the applicant or the lessee of the applicant's facility will be reduced, and on the amount of energy that will be produced for sale, as the result of using the facility.

(d) The projected cost of the facility.

(e) If applicable, a copy of the proposed qualified transit pass contract.

(f) Any other information the administrator of Office of Energy considers necessary to determine whether the proposed facility is in accordance with the provisions of ORS 469.185 to 469.225, and any applicable rules or standards adopted by the administrator.

(3) An application for preliminary certification shall be accompanied by a fee established under ORS 469.217. The administrator may refund the fee if the application for certification is rejected.

(4) The administrator may allow an applicant to file the preliminary application after the start of erection, construction, installation or acquisition of the facility if the administrator finds:

(a) Filing the application before the start of erection, construction, installation or acquisition is inappropriate because special circumstances render filing earlier unreasonable; and

(b) The facility would otherwise qualify for tax credit certification pursuant to ORS 469.185 to 469.225.

SECTION 6. ORS 469.878 is amended to read:

469.878. (1) An investor-owned utility may offer cash payments to assist the utility's commercial and industrial customers in purchasing alternative fuel [fleet] vehicles or facilities necessary to operate alternative fuel [fleet] vehicles including but not limited to an alternative fuel [fleet] vehicle refueling station. The utility may pay the customer the present value to the utility of the tax credit to which the customer would be entitled under ORS 469.185 to 469.225.

(2) As used in this section, "cash payment" and "investor-owned utility" have the meanings given those terms in ORS 469.631.

SECTION 7. The amendments to ORS 469.185, 469.205 and 469.878 by sections 4 to 6 of this 1999 Act apply to preliminary and final tax credit certifications issued by the Office of Energy on or after the effective date of this 1999 Act.

Approved by the Governor July 19, 1999

Filed in the office of Secretary of State July 19, 1999

Effective date October 23, 1999

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