(1) All expenses incurred by the Energy Facility Siting Council and the State Department of Energy under ORS § 469.360 and 469.421 that are charged to or allocated to the fee paid by an applicant or the holder of a site certificate shall be necessary, just and reasonable. Upon request, the department or the council shall provide a detailed justification for all charges to the applicant or site certificate holder. Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, the council by order shall establish a schedule of fees which those persons submitting a notice of intent, a request for an exemption, a request for a pipeline described in ORS § 469.405 (3) or a request for an expedited review must submit under ORS § 469.421 prior to submitting the notice of intent, request for exemption, request for pipeline or request for expedited review. The fee schedule shall be designed to recover the council’s actual costs of evaluating the notice of intent, request for exemption, request for pipeline or request for expedited review subject to any applicable expenditure limitation in the council’s budget. Fees shall be based upon actual, historical costs incurred by the council and department to the extent historical costs are available. The fees established by the schedule shall reflect the size and complexity of the project for which a notice of intent, request for exemption, request for pipeline or request for expedited review is submitted, whether the notice of intent, request for exemption, request for pipeline or request for expedited review is for a new or existing facility and other appropriate variables having an effect on the expense of evaluation.

Ask a business law question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified business lawyers.
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(2) If a dispute arises regarding the necessity or reasonableness of expenses charged to or allocated to the fee paid by an applicant or site certificate holder, the applicant or holder may seek judicial review for the amount of expenses charged or allocated in circuit court as provided in ORS § 183.480, 183.484, 183.490 and 183.500. If the applicant or holder establishes that any of the charges or allocations are unnecessary or unreasonable, the council or the department shall refund the amount found to be unnecessary or unreasonable. The applicant or holder shall not waive the right to judicial review by paying the portion of the fee or expense in dispute. [1989 c.88 § 8; 1993 c.569 § 17; 1999 c.385 § 9; 2015 c.488 § 4]

(High Voltage Transmission Lines)