AB70 - Revises provisions related to energy. (BDR 58-454)

- 83rd Session (2025) Assembly Bill No. 70–Committee on Growth and Infrastructure CHAPTER.......... AN ACT relating to energy; authorizing the board of county commissioners of a county to require applicants for a partial abatement of certain taxes imposed on certain renewable energy facilities to reimburse the county for costs incurred by the county to participate in the preparation of a federal environmental impact statement; authorizing the Director of the Office of Energy within the Office of the Governor to condition approval of such a partial abatement on compliance with the requirement to pay such a reimbursement; prohibiting a county from taking certain actions with respect to a renewable energy facility that the county has approved or recommended approval for a partial abatement; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Existing law authorizes certain renewable energy facilities to apply to the Director of the Office of Energy within the Office of the Governor for a partial abatement of certain sales and use taxes and property taxes. As soon as practicable after the Director receives such an application, existing law requires the Director to forward a copy of the application to certain persons and entities, including the board of county commissioners. (NRS 701A.360) Under existing law, the Director is prohibited from approving the application unless the application is: (1) approved by the board of county commissioners; or (2) deemed approved by the board of county commissioners because the board of county commissioners has not approved or disapproved the application within a certain period after the board of county commissioners receives from the Director a copy of the application. (NRS 701A.365) Section 1 of this bill authorizes the board of county commissioners of a county, unless an alternative cost recovery mechanism has been adopted by the county, to require an applicant for a partial abatement of certain taxes imposed on a renewable energy facility located on federal land within the county to reimburse the county for actual administrative and operational costs incurred by the county, in an amount not to exceed $50,000, to participate in the preparation of an environmental impact statement required with respect to the facility pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq. Under section 1: (1) the applicant is authorized to require that the county provide documentation of the actual costs for which the county is seeking reimbursement; and (2) the county is authorized to require the applicant to prepay the anticipated amount of such costs, with the county refunding the amount of any prepayment that exceeds the actual costs for which the county is seeking reimbursement. Section 2.5 of this bill authorizes the Director to condition approval of the application for the partial abatement on the compliance of the applicant with the requirements of section 1. Section 2.5 also prohibits a board of county commissioners from: (1) imposing certain requirements for the applicant to obtain a special use permit for the facility that would reasonably and foreseeably result in the development or operation of the facility becoming financially or operationally impractical or impossible; or (2) – 2 – - 83rd Session (2025) applying to the facility any moratorium on the construction or operation of a renewable energy facility. Section 2 of this bill applies the definitions in existing law relating to the partial abatement of certain taxes for certain renewable energy projects to the provisions of section 1. EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Chapter 701A of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a new section to read as follows: 1. The board of county commissioners of a county may require an applicant for a partial abatement pursuant to this section and NRS 701A.300 to 701A.390, inclusive, for a facility located on federal land within the county to reimburse the county, in an amount not to exceed $50,000, for the actual administrative and operational costs incurred by the county for its involvement in the process of preparing any environmental impact statement required with respect to the facility pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq, unless the board of county commissioners has adopted any other mechanism or fee structure to recover such costs. 2. An applicant for a partial abatement pursuant to this section and NRS 701A.300 to 701A.390, inclusive, who is required to pay a reimbursement to a county pursuant to subsection 1 may require the county to provide documentation of the actual costs incurred by the county for which the county is seeking reimbursement pursuant to subsection 1. 3. A county requiring an applicant for a partial abatement pursuant to this section and NRS 701A.300 to 701A.390, inclusive, to pay a reimbursement to the county pursuant to subsection 1 may require the applicant to prepay the anticipated amount of the reimbursement. If the amount of the actual costs incurred by the county for which reimbursement is required pursuant to subsection 1: (a) Exceeds the amount of the prepayment, the applicant must pay the county the difference between the prepayment and the actual costs incurred by the county. (b) Is less than the amount of the prepayment, the county must refund to the applicant the difference between the actual costs incurred by the county and the amount of the prepayment. – 3 – - 83rd Session (2025) 4. For the purposes of this section, unless the applicant and the county agree otherwise, the provisions of subsection 1 apply to a single facility, including, without limitation, any necessary ancillary facilities or structures necessary to the operation of the facility. 5. As used in this section, “facility” means a facility for the generation of process heat from solar renewable energy, a wholesale facility for the generation of electricity from renewable energy, a facility for the storage of energy from renewable generation or a hybrid renewable generation and energy storage facility in this State. Sec. 2. NRS 701A.300 is hereby amended to read as follows: 701A.300 As used in NRS 701A.300 to 701A.390, inclusive, and section 1 of this act, unless the context otherwise requires, the words and terms defined in NRS 701A.305 to 701A.345, inclusive, have the meanings ascribed to them in those sections. Sec. 2.5. NRS 701A.365 is hereby amended to read as follows: 701A.365 1. The Director, in consultation with the Office of Economic Development, shall approve an application for a partial abatement pursuant to NRS 701A.300 to 701A.390, inclusive, and section 1 of this act if the Director, in consultation with the Office of Economic Development, makes the following determinations: (a) The applicant has executed an agreement with the Director which must: (1) State that the facility will, after the date on which the abatement becomes effective, continue in operation in this State for a period specified by the Director, which must be at least 10 years, and will continue to meet the eligibility requirements for the abatement; and (2) Bind the successors in interest in the facility for the specified period. (b) The facility is registered pursuant to the laws of this State or the applicant commits to obtain a valid business license and all other permits required by the county, city or town in which the facility operates. (c) No funding is or will be provided by any governmental entity in this State for the acquisition, design or construction of the facility or for the acquisition of any land therefor, except any private activity bonds as defined in 26 U.S.C. § 141. (d) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (e), if the facility will be located in a county whose population is 100,000 or more or a – 4 – - 83rd Session (2025) city whose population is 60,000 or more, the facility meets the following requirements: (1) There will be 75 or more full-time employees working on the construction of the facility during the second quarter of construction, including, unless waived by the Director for good cause, at least 50 percent who are residents of Nevada; (2) Establishing the facility will require the facility to make a capital investment of at least $10,000,000 in this State in capital assets that will be retained at the location of the facility until at least the date which is 5 years after the date on which the abatement becomes effective; (3) The average hourly wage that will be paid by the facility to its employees in this State is at least 110 percent of the average statewide hourly wage, excluding management and administrative employees, as established by the Employment Security Division of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation on July 1 of each fiscal year; and (4) Except as otherwise provided in subsection [6,] 7, the average hourly wage of the employees working on the construction of the facility will be at least 175 percent of the average statewide hourly wage, excluding management and administrative employees, as established by the Employment Security Division of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation on July 1 of each fiscal year and: (I) The employees working on the construction of the facility must be provided a health insurance plan that is provided by a third-party administrator and includes health insurance coverage for dependents of the employees; and (II) The cost of the benefits provided to the employees working on the construction of the facility will meet the minimum requirements for benefits established by the Director by regulation pursuant to NRS 701A.390. (e) If the facility will be located in a county whose population is less than 100,000, in an area of a county whose population is 100,000 or more that is located within the geographic boundaries of an area that is designated as rural by the United States Department of Agriculture and at least 20 miles outside of the geographic boundaries of an area designated as urban by the United States Department of Agriculture, or in a city whose population is less than 60,000, the facility meets the following requirements: (1) There will be 50 or more full-time employees working on the construction of the facility during the second quarter of – 5 – - 83rd Session (2025) construction, including, unless waived by the Director for good cause, at least 50 percent who are residents of Nevada; (2) Establishing the facility will require the facility to make a capital investment of at least $3,000,000 in this State in capital assets that will be retained at the location of the facility until at least the date which is 5 years after the date on which the abatement becomes effective; (3) The average hourly wage that will be paid by the facility to its employees in this State is at least 110 percent of the average statewide hourly wage, excluding management and administrative employees, as established by the Employment Security Division of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation on July 1 of each fiscal year; and (4) Except as otherwise provided in subsection [6,] 7, the average hourly wage of the employees working on the construction of the facility will be at least 175 percent of the average statewide hourly wage, excluding management and administrative employees, as established by the Employment Security Division of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation on July 1 of each fiscal year and: (I) The employees working on the construction of the facility must be provided a health insurance plan that is provided by a third-party administrator and includes health insurance coverage for dependents of the employees; and (II) The cost of the benefits provided to the employees working on the construction of the facility will meet the minimum requirements for benefits established by the Director by regulation pursuant to NRS 701A.390. (f) The financial benefits that will result to this State from the employment by the facility of the residents of this State and from capital investments by the facility in this State will exceed the loss of tax revenue that will result from the abatement. (g) The facility is consistent with the State Plan for Economic Development developed by the Executive Director of the Office of Economic Development pursuant to subsection 2 of NRS 231.053. 2. The Director shall not approve an application for a partial abatement of the taxes imposed pursuant to chapter 361 of NRS submitted pursuant to NRS 701A.360 by a facility for the generation of process heat from solar renewable energy, a wholesale facility for the generation of electricity from renewable energy, a facility for the storage of energy from renewable generation or a hybrid renewable generation and energy storage facility unless the application is approved or deemed approved pursuant to this subsection. The – 6 – - 83rd Session (2025) board of county commissioners of a county must provide notice to the Director that the board intends to consider an application and, if such notice is given, must approve or deny the application not later than 30 days after the board receives a copy of the application. The board of county commissioners: (a) Shall, in considering an application pursuant to this subsection, make a recommendation to the Director regarding the application; (b) May, in considering an application pursuant to this subsection, deny an application only if the board of county commissioners determines, based on relevant information, that: (1) The projected cost of the services that the local government is required to provide to the facility will exceed the amount of tax revenue that the local government is projected to receive as a result of the abatement; or (2) The projected financial benefits that will result to the county from the employment by the facility of the residents of this State and from capital investments by the facility in the county will not exceed the projected loss of tax revenue that will result from the abatement; (c) Must not condition the approval of the application on a requirement that the facility agree to purchase, lease or otherwise acquire in its own name or on behalf of the county any infrastructure, equipment, facilities or [Text truncated for display. 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