Opinion ID: 835909
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: facts, procedural background, and statutory framework

Text: At the heart of these contested cases is the council's decision to issue a site certificate for a new, 24-inch wide, underground natural gas pipeline that will link Northwest Natural's Bacona Station in Washington County with its Molalla Gate Station in Clackamas County. [1] A site certificate not only authorizes an applicant to construct and operate a facility like the pipeline at issue here, [2] it also binds state, county, and city governments in accordance with the council's determination and requires state agencies and local governments to issue any permits specified in the site certificate without further proceedings. ORS 469.401. We begin our discussion of these cases by first providing an overview of the procedures involved in the council's determinations generally, followed by a procedural history of these cases in particular. ORS 469.470(1) places the responsibility for studying each aspect of site selection with the council: The Energy Facility Siting Council shall: (1) Conduct and prepare, independently or in cooperation with others, studies, investigations, research and programs relating to all aspects of site selection.  (Emphasis added.) To aid the council in performing that function, ORS 469.040(1)(b) requires the administrator of the Oregon Office of Energy (OOE) to supervise and facilitate work and research on siting applications at the council's direction. Because of the council's central role in siting determinations, applicants begin the process by submitting a Notice of Intent (NOI) to the council, outlining the proposed site and the characteristics of the proposed facility. ORS 469.330(1). The council, in turn, distributes public notice of the applicant's intent, describing the proposed facility and its site in sufficient detail to inform the public of the facility's use and its location. ORS 469.330(2). After reviewing the NOI, as well as any comments generated by its public distribution, the OOE may hold a preapplication conference with those state agencies and local governments that would have a regulatory or advisory responsibility regarding the proposed facility. ORS 469.330(3). Following that conference, the OOE issues a project order that establishes the applicable statutes, administrative rules, council standards, local ordinances, application requirements, and study requirements governing the application process. Id. A project order is not a final order, and either the council or the OOE may amend it at any time. ORS 469.330(4). When an applicant has completed the project order's requirements, the applicant must submit its application to the council. ORS 469.350(1). The applicant's NOI and application then are distributed to various state agencies, as well as any city or county affected by the application, for comments and recommendations. ORS 469.350(2). It is the OOE's responsibility to determine whether the application is complete and, when it does so, to notify both the applicant and the public. ORS 469.350(4). The OOE reviews the completed application, along with the comments and recommendations submitted by state agencies and local governments. Following that review, the OOE prepares a draft proposed order. ORS 469.370(1). After the OOE issues its draft, the council must hold one or more public hearings on the application in areas that the proposed facility will affect and elsewhere, when the council considers it necessary. ORS 469.370(2). The OOE reviews any testimony taken at those hearings and then issues a proposed order recommending approval or rejection of the application. ORS 469.370(4). The OOE also must issue a public notice concerning the proposed order; the notice must include notice of a contested case hearing, along with deadlines for requesting party status in that proceeding and a date for the prehearing conference. Id. After the council receives the OOE's proposed order regarding the application, the council must hold a contested case hearing in accordance with the provisions of ORS 183.310 to 183.550. ORS 469.370(5). At the conclusion of the contested case, the council issues its final order either approving or rejecting the application. ORS 469.370(7). In 1999, Northwest Natural introduced its pipeline proposal by first submitting its NOI to the council. Northwest Natural then distributed the NOI to the appropriate state agencies, the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde and Siletz, local governing bodies, and individual property owners in areas likely to be affected by the pipeline's construction. In its NOI, Northwest Natural defined an area encompassing roughly 500 square miles for the study of prospective pipeline sites. [3] It then laid out four possible corridors within that area as starting points for analysis and public comment. The OOE subsequently directed Northwest Natural to develop and study three additional alternatives: (1) a route that followed the area's major highwaysUS 26, U.S. 17, and Interstate 5; [4] (2) a route that considered only the factors listed in ORS 215.275(2); [5] and (3) a route that minimized incursions onto EFU-zoned lands. When those studies were completed, Northwest Natural began formulating preferred and alternative pipeline sites for review, using public comments received in response to its NOI and data derived from its research. Under ORS 469.310, siting, construction and operation of energy facilities shall be accomplished in a manner consistent with protection of the public health and safety and in compliance with the energy policy and air, water, solid waste, land use and other environmental protection policies of this state. The different sets of requirements implementing that statute are extensive. [6] This case involves two sets of requirements in particular. The first set of requirements encompasses the statutory criteria that an applicant must meet to locate energy facilities on EFU lands. ORS 215.275 requires an applicant, as a threshold matter, to demonstrate that it has considered reasonable alternatives to placing its facility within an EFU zone. The statute then requires the applicant to show that it nevertheless must site its facilities in an EFU zone due to one or more statutory factors: (1) A utility facility established under ORS 215.213(1)(d) or 215.283(1)(d) is necessary for public service if the facility must be sited in an exclusive farm use zone in order to provide the service. (2) To demonstrate that a utility facility is necessary, an applicant for approval under ORS 215.213(1)(d) or 215.283(1)(d) must show that reasonable alternatives have been considered and that the facility must be sited in an exclusive farm use zone due to one or more of the following factors: (a) Technical and engineering feasibility; (b) The proposed facility is locationally dependent. A utility facility is locationally dependent if it must cross land in one or more areas zoned for exclusive farm use in order to achieve a reasonably direct route or to meet unique geographical needs that cannot be satisfied on other lands; (c) Lack of available urban and nonresource lands; (d) Availability of existing rights of way; (e) Public health and safety; and (f) Other requirements of state or federal agencies. (3) Costs associated with any of the factors listed in subsection (2) of this section may be considered, but cost alone may not be the only consideration in determining that a utility facility is necessary for public service. Land costs shall not be included when considering alternative locations for substantially similar utility facilities. The Land Conservation and Development Commission shall determine by rule how land costs may be considered when evaluating the siting of utility facilities that are not substantially similar. (4) The owner of a utility facility approved under ORS 215.213(1)(d) or 215.283(1)(d) shall be responsible for restoring, as nearly as possible, to its former condition any agricultural land and associated improvements that are damaged or otherwise disturbed by the siting, maintenance, repair or reconstruction of the facility. Nothing in this section shall prevent the owner of the utility facility from requiring a bond or other security from a contractor or otherwise imposing on a contractor the responsibility for restoration. (5) The governing body of the county or its designee shall impose clear and objective conditions on an application for utility facility siting under ORS 215.213(1)(d) or 215.283(1)(d) to mitigate and minimize the impacts of the proposed facility, if any, on surrounding lands devoted to farm use in order to prevent a significant change in accepted farm practices or a significant increase in the cost of farm practices on the surrounding farmlands. (6) The provisions of subsections (2) to (5) of this section do not apply to interstate natural gas pipelines and associated facilities authorized by and subject to regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. ORS 215.275. The second set of requirements is found in the structural standards imposed by OAR XXX-XXX-XXXX(1). Under that rule, an applicant seeking site certification must demonstrate that: (a) The applicant, through appropriate site-specific study, has adequately characterized the site as to seismic zone and expected ground motion and ground failure, taking into account amplification, during the maximum credible and maximum probable seismic events; and (b) The applicant can design, engineer, and construct the facility to avoid dangers to human safety presented by seismic hazards affecting the site that are expected to result from all maximum probable seismic events. As used in this rule `seismic hazard' includes ground shaking, landslide, liquefaction, lateral spreading, tsunami inundation, fault displacement, and subsidence; (c) The applicant, through appropriate site-specific study, has adequately characterized the potential geological and soils hazards of the site and its vicinity that could, in the absence of a seismic event, adversely affect, or be aggravated by, the construction and operation of the proposed facility; and (d) The applicant can design, engineer and construct the facility to avoid dangers to human safety presented by the hazards identified in subsection (c). In March 2001, Northwest Natural presented its siting plan to the OOE in an eight-volume site certificate application. At the OOE's direction, Northwest Natural subsequently submitted several supplements to complete the application, among them detailed plans to mitigate possible environmental and agricultural impacts. In September 2002, the OOE issued a proposed order tentatively approving the pipeline's site certificate. At the same time, the OOE also issued a contested case proceeding notice to allow interested parties to challenge the proposed order. Ultimately, the council granted party status to 56 entities and individuals in the administrative proceedings that followed. From December 13, 2002 through January 31, 2003, the parties presented their respective cases. The council then issued a recommended order in February 2003, and the parties filed exceptions and responses. In March 2003, the council issued a final order granting a site certificate for construction of the pipeline. The certificate authorizes Northwest Natural to construct its pipeline within an approximately 62-mile long, 200-foot wide corridor designed around 10 significant constraint points. [7] Inside that corridor, Northwest Natural will build the pipeline within an 80-foot wide, temporary construction easement. Upon completion of the project, the width of the easement will be reduced to 40 feet and become permanent. Approximately 56 miles of the pipeline will pass through EFU zones; in those zones, 35 miles of the pipeline will be buried within, or adjacent to, existing road or highway rights of way. In most locations, the pipeline will be buried at least five feet below ground level, except at road crossings, where the pipeline's depth will be four feet. Two groups of petitioners seek review of the council's siting decision in this case. The firstFriends of Parrett Mountain et al. (Parrett Mountain petitioners)is a community organization comprised of people from the Parrett Mountain and Sherwood areas who live or work in the vicinity of the proposed pipeline. The secondWashington County Farm Bureau et al. (Farm Bureau petitioners)is made up of the Washington County Farm Bureau, its counterparts in Marion and Clackamas counties, and individual farm owners who will be affected by the pipeline's construction. We address the arguments of each group separately.