§22-32-3. Definitions.

As used in this article, unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Board” means the Environmental Quality Board provided for in §22B-1-7 of this code.

(b) “Decommission” or “decommissioning” means:

(1) The removal and proper disposal of the solar generation facility and its foundation after the end of the facility’s useful life or abandonment; or

(2) The removal and proper disposal of an aboveground wind turbine tower and its foundation after the end of a wind generation facility’s useful life or abandonment; and

(3) Except as otherwise provided in §22-32-4 of this code, the removal and proper disposal of buildings, equipment, cabling, electrical components, roads, or any other facilities associated with a wind generation or solar generation facility; and

(4) Except as otherwise provided in §22-32-4 of this code, the reclamation of the surface lands upon which buildings, equipment, and equipment foundations using backfill and compacting of soil in order to return the surface to beneficial use and to prevent adverse hydrologic effects.

(c) “Department”, “agency”, and “DEP” mean the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

(d) “Owner” means a person who owns a wind generation or solar generation facility operated in West Virginia for the generation of electricity.

(e) “Person” means any individual, firm, partnership, company, association, corporation, limited liability company, city, town, or local governmental entity or any other state, federal, or private entity, whether organized for profit or not.

(f) “Solar generation facility” means an installation or combination of solar panels or plates, including a canopy or array, and other associated property, including appurtenant land, improvements, and personal property, that are normally operated together to capture and convert solar radiation to produce electricity, including flat plate, focusing solar collectors, or photovoltaic solar cells, and that has a nameplate capacity, singularly or in the aggregate, greater than or equal to 1.0 megawatts.

(g) “Wind generation facility” means any combination of a physically connected wind turbine or turbines, associated prime movers, and other associated property, including appurtenant land, improvements, and personal property, that are normally operated together to produce electric power from wind and that have a nameplate capacity, singularly or in the aggregate, greater than or equal to 1.0 megawatts.

(h) “Bond” means a surety bond or any other arrangement, including but not limited to letters of credit and escrow accounts, that represent a financial guarantee from the owner of a wind generation facility or solar generation facility to meet decommissioning requirements as established in this Act.