(2) Pursuant to a written contract or agreement, the council may compensate a state agency or a local government affected by the application for expenses directly related to participation by the compensated agency or local government in the following evaluation activities:

(a) Consultation initiated by an applicant after payment of the fee under ORS 469.421 (2) for the notice of intent or request for expedited review but prior to submittal of the notice or request;

(b) Review of the notice of intent, the application or a request for an expedited review; and

(c) Participation in a council proceeding, excluding legal expenses of the agency or local government incurred as a result of participation by the state agency or local government as a party in a contested case conducted by the council pursuant to ORS 469.370 (5).

(3) Compensation for consultation expenses under subsection (2)(a) of this section shall be limited to the expenses established in an estimate provided by the council and agreed to by the applicant. The applicant may request that the estimate be revised to allow for additional consultation activities at any time prior to submitting the notice of intent.

(4) Pursuant to a written agreement, the council may compensate a tribe identified by the Commission on Indian Services as affected by the application for expenses directly related to the tribe’s review of a notice of intent, site certificate application or request for expedited review.

(5) As part of its evaluation, the council also may commission an independent study by an independent contractor, state agency, local government or any other person, of any aspect of the proposed facility within its statutory authority to review. The council may commission an independent study under this subsection only after the council makes a determination that the council is unable to fully evaluate the application without assistance and identifies specific issues to be addressed and only pursuant to a written contract or agreement with the independent contractor, state agency, local government or other person. The council shall compensate the independent contractor, state agency, local government or other person only to the extent the costs are directly related to issues identified by the council.

(6) The council shall provide funding to state agencies, cities or counties required to contract with another entity to complete comments and recommendations pursuant to ORS 469.350.

(7) In addition to compensating state agencies, tribes and local governments pursuant to this section, the council may provide funding to the Department of Environmental Quality for the department to conduct modeling and provide technical assistance to expedite preparation, submission and review of applications for permits under ORS 468A.040 required for energy facilities. [Formerly 453.355; 1987 c.450 §1; 1989 c.88 §3; 1993 c.569 §7; 1995 c.505 §10; 2001 c.683 §11; 2015 c.488 §1]