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91_SB1541enr SB1541 Enrolled LRB9110220JSgc 1 AN ACT to amend the Public Utilities Act by adding 2 Section 8-505.1. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by adding 6 Section 8-505.1 as follows: 7 (220 ILCS 5/8-505.1 new) 8 Sec. 8-505.1. Non-emergency vegetation management 9 activities. 10 (a) In conducting its non-emergency vegetation 11 management activities, an electric public utility shall: 12 (1) Follow the most current guidelines set forth by 13 the International Society of Arboriculture and the most 14 current applicable Occupational Safety and Health 15 Administration or American National Standards Institute 16 standards. 17 (2) Provide direct notice of vegetation management 18 activities at least 21 days before beginning those 19 activities. If the vegetation management activities will 20 occur in an incorporated municipality, the notice must be 21 given to the mayor. If the vegetation management 22 activities will occur in an unincorporated area, the 23 notice must be given to the chairman of the county board. 24 Maps or a description of the area to be affected by 25 vegetation management activities must accompany the 26 notice. Notification may be discontinued upon the 27 request of the governing body of the municipality or 28 county. Requests for the termination of notices shall be 29 in writing. 30 (3) Directly notify affected customers no fewer 31 than 7 days before the activity is scheduled to begin. SB1541 Enrolled -2- LRB9110220JSgc 1 (4) Provide notified customers with a toll-free 2 telephone number to call regarding the vegetation 3 management activities. 4 The Commission shall have sole authority to investigate 5 and issue complaints against the utility under this 6 subsection (a). 7 (b) A public utility shall not be required to comply 8 with the requirements of paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of 9 subsection (a) when (i) it is taking actions to restore 10 reliable service after interruptions of service; (ii) there 11 is a franchise, contract, or written agreement between the 12 public utility and the municipality mandating specific 13 vegetation management practices; or (iii) there is a mutual 14 agreement between the municipality or county and the public 15 utility to waive the requirements of paragraph (2), (3), or 16 (4) of subsection (a), to the extent of the waiver agreement. 17 (c) If (i) no franchise, contract, or written agreement 18 between a utility and a municipality mandates a specific 19 vegetation management practice, (ii) no applicable tariff 20 governing non-emergency vegetation management practices has 21 been approved by the Commission, and (iii) the municipality 22 enacts an ordinance establishing standards for non-emergency 23 vegetation management practices that are more restrictive 24 than the standards established by this Section, then the 25 electric public utility may recover from the municipality the 26 difference between the costs of complying with the standards 27 established under the municipality's ordinance and the costs 28 of complying with the standards established by this Section. 29 Before beginning any non-emergency vegetation management 30 activities in a municipality that has enacted an ordinance 31 establishing standards for vegetation management practices 32 that are more restrictive than the standards established by 33 this Section, an electric public utility shall provide to the 34 municipality a good faith estimate of the costs of complying SB1541 Enrolled -3- LRB9110220JSgc 1 with the more restrictive municipal standards for vegetation 2 management practices. 3 The provisions of this Section shall not in any way 4 diminish or replace other civil or administrative remedies 5 available to a customer or class of customers under this Act 6 nor invalidate any tariff approved or rule promulgated by the 7 Commission. 8 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 9 becoming law.