35-12-102. Definitions.

(a) As used in this chapter:

(i) "Advisory member" means an advisory member of the council provided by W.S. 35-12-104(f);

(ii) "Applicant" means any person who applies for a permit pursuant to this chapter;

(iii) "Commence to construct" means:

(A) Any clearing of land, excavation, construction or other action that would affect the environment of the site of any facility, but does not include changes needed for temporary use of sites for less than ninety (90) days, changes required to conduct required studies and tests under this chapter, or any other state or federal act or regulation, or access roads and services associated with utilities, or routes for nonutility purposes or for uses in securing geological data but not limited to necessary borings or drillings to ascertain foundation conditions;

(B) The nuclear fracturing of underground formation, if any such activity is related to the possible future development of a facility subject to this chapter, but does not include the gathering of geological data by boring of test holes or other underground exploration, investigation or experimentation.

(iv) "Council" means the industrial siting council;

(v) "Director" means the director of the department of environmental quality;

(vi) "Impacted area" means an area of Wyoming in which sudden or prolonged population growth may occur or may cause environmental, social or economic stresses of such nature that the total local, state and federal resources available are not sufficient to alleviate them properly and effectively as determined by the council;

(vii) "Industrial facility" or "facility" means any industrial facility with an estimated construction cost of at least ninety-six million nine hundred thousand dollars ($96,900,000.00) as of May 30, 1987. Exempt activities shall not be included in the estimated construction cost of an industrial facility. The council shall adjust this amount, up or down, each year using recognized construction cost indices as the council determines to be relevant to the actual change in construction cost applicable to the general type of construction covered under this chapter. "Facility" also includes, regardless of construction cost:

(A) Any commercial waste incineration or disposal facility capable of receiving greater than five hundred (500) short tons per day of household refuse or mixed household and industrial refuse;

(B) Any commercial facility which incinerates or disposes of any regulated quantity of hazardous wastes which are subject to hazardous waste shipping manifest requirements under subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 6921 through 6939e);

(C) Any commercial radioactive waste management facility defined by W.S. 35-11-103(d)(v);

(D) Until July 1, 1999, any facility constructed solely for the disposal of overburden, development waste rock or refuse from mining as defined under W.S. 35-11-103, except for the following facilities:

(I) Facilities permitted or licensed under article 4 of the Wyoming Environmental Quality Act;

(II) Facilities specifically exempt from permitting requirements under article 4 of the Wyoming Environmental Quality Act;

(III) Facilities specifically identified under W.S. 35-11-103(d)(v)(A).

(E) Any commercial facility generating electricity from wind and associated collector systems that:

(I) Consists of thirty (30) or more wind turbines in all planned phases of the installation; or

(II) Expand an existing installation not previously defined as a facility to include a total number of turbines greater than or equal to the thresholds in subdivision (a)(vii)(E)(I) of this section.

(F) Any facility over which a board of county commissioners has authority to issue the permit required by W.S. 18-5-502 and which facility the board of county commissioners has referred to the council under W.S. 18-5-509.

(viii) "Local government" means any county, city, town or school district or any combination thereof as formed under the Wyoming Joint Powers Act;

(ix) Repealed by Laws 1992, ch. 60, § 4.

(x) "Permit" means the permit issued by the council and required for the construction or operation of any industrial facility or facilities;

(xi) "Person" includes an individual, group, firm, partnership, corporation, cooperative, association, or other entity excluding the state, federal government and local government. "Person" also includes the parent company, partnership or holding entity for a commercial facility generating electricity from wind;

(xii) "Administrator" means the administrator of the division;

(xiii) "Division" means the industrial siting division of the department of environmental quality;

(xiv) "Collector system" means the electrical transmission infrastructure, including conductors, towers, substations, switchgear and other components necessary to deliver power from any commercial facility generating electricity from wind up to, but not including, electric substations or similar facilities necessary to interconnect to existing or proposed transmission lines that serve load or export energy from Wyoming;

(xv) "Affected landowner" means any person holding record title to land on which any portion of a commercial facility generating electricity from wind is proposed to be constructed and including any portion of any collector system located on those same lands. For purposes of this chapter, an affected landowner may be represented by any designated person.