Construction Bills: Recent Changes to Construction Laws

• Author: By Asha A. Echeverria and Brian R. Zimmerman
• Pages: 46-47

THE CONSTRUCTION LAWYER46 Winter 2020

Asha A. Echeverria Brian R. Zimmerman

Published in The Construction Lawyer, Volume 40, Number 1 Winter 2020. © 2020 American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion

thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.

CONSTRUCTION BILLS: RECENT CHANGES

TO CONSTRUCTION LAWS

By Asha A. Echeverria and Brian R. Zimmerman

Asha A. Echeverria is a shareholder at Bernstein Shur in

Portland, Maine. Brian R. Zimmerman is a shareholder

at Hurtado Zimmerman S.C. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Earth, Wind & Shine: Recent Solar and Wind Legislation

In 2019, several states and Puerto Rico passed legislation

promoting the development and construction of

renewable energy projects.

Illinois

On April 19, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) signed state

House Bill 2988 into law. The law claries zoning standards

for wind energy development within the state, limiting the

power of counties and municipalities to establish their own

standards for wind farm development. Townships will no

longer have zoning authority over wind farm development.

The law also creates a 1.5-mile buffer zone outside the

zoning jurisdiction of a municipality. The law was a reac-

tion to the actions of two townships in Douglas County

that enacted zoning regulations that were stricter than the

county’s regulations in an effort to thwart construction of

a particular grid-scale wind farm development.

Maine

Maine’s Governor Janet Mills (D) recently signed two laws

affecting solar energy and net metering in the state. Effective

in April, 2020, state Legislative Document (L.D.) 91 permits

homeowners to feed excess solar electricity onto the grid and

receive a credit equal to what they would pay to buy that

electricity. The law also repealed the requirement that solar-

powered homes and businesses have a second meter installed

to monitor output of solar panels. L.D. 1711 increases dis-

tributed solar generation opportunities by enabling 250 MW

of larger-scale community solar farms in less than ve years,

requiring 10 percent of community solar farms to serve low-

or moderate-income households, lifting the nine-person

limit on community solar, and enabling 125 MW of large-

scale solar arrays to serve a single municipal, commercial,

or industrial consumer.

Maryland

State Senate Bill 516, the Clean Energy Jobs Act of 2019,

went into effect in May 2019 without the signature of Gover-

nor Larry Hogan (R). The Act increases the state’s renewable

electricity standard to 50 percent of the total grid by 2030.

In addition, the law expands the state offshore wind capac-

ity to 1,200 MW, up from 370 MW. Governor Hogan did

not sign the Act, saying that it did not create enough jobs

within the state. According to a letter to the state Senate

president, the governor stated that in the next legislative

session, he would propose his own energy strategy to move

toward 100 percent clean electricity by 2040.

Nevada

Nevada’s Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 358

allowing Governor Steve Sisolak (D) to sign the bill into

law on April 22, 2019, Earth Day. The law sets the state’s

renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to require electricity

producers to buy or generate a minimum of 50 percent

of their power from renewable sources by 2030. The law

also sets a goal of zero carbon emissions from energy

producers by 2050. Currently only about 20 percent of

electricity generated in Nevada comes from renewables.

New Mexico

On March 22, 2019, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D)

signed the Energy Transition Act, Senate Bill 489, to cut

the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. The law commits New

Mexico to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. Renew-

able energy requirements for utility companies are phased

in, with 50 percent renewable energy required by 2030, 80

percent by 2040, and 100 percent by 2045 . Cooperative utili-

ties must be 100 percent renewable by 2050 if it is technically

possible, will not hurt grid reliability, and will not make elec-

tricity unaffordable. The bill also requires the New Mexico

Environmental Improvement Board to limit carbon diox-

ide emissions from coal-red power plants to 1,100 pounds/

MWh, something a standard coal plant cannot achieve.

New York

In July 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo

(D) signed the Climate Leadership and Community