1. (1) In making a decision to grant or deny issuance of an amended site certificate, the Council must apply the applicable laws and Council standards required under section (2) of this rule and in effect on the dates described in section (3) of this rule.

2. (2) To issue an amended site certificate, the Council must determine that the preponderance of evidence on the record supports the following conclusions:

   1. (a) The facility as amended complies with all applicable laws and Council standards;

   2. (b) For a request for amendment to extend the deadlines for beginning or completing construction, after considering any changes in facts or law relevant to the proposed amendment since the date the current site certificate was executed, the facility complies with all laws and Council standards applicable to an original site certificate application. However, for requests to extend completion deadlines, the Council need not find compliance with an applicable law or Council standard if the Council finds that:

      1. (A) The certificate holder has spent more than 50 percent of the budgeted costs on construction of the facility;
      2. (B) The inability of the certificate holder to complete the construction of the facility by the deadline in effect before the amendment is the result of unforeseen circumstances that are outside the control of the certificate holder;
      3. (C) The standard, if applied, would result in an unreasonable financial burden on the certificate holder; and
      4. (D) The Council does not need to apply the standard to avoid a significant threat to the public health, safety or the environment;
   3. (c)  For a request for amendment to a site certificate for a fossil-fueled power plant, Council must also find the proposed change will not increase the gross carbon dioxide emissions that are reasonably likely to result from the operation of the facility by more than three percent (3%) above the estimated gross carbon dioxide emissions used to determine compliance with the applicable carbon dioxide standard in the site certificate or amended site certificate most recently issued before September 25, 2021.

3. (3) In making findings under section (2) of this rule, the Council must apply the applicable laws and Council standards in effect on the following dates, regardless of when the site certificate was previously approved or amended:

   1. (a) For the applicable substantive criteria under the Council’s land use standard, as described in OAR 345-022-0030, the date the request for amendment was submitted; and
   2. (b) For all other applicable laws and Council standards, the date the Council issues its final order on the request for amendment.

Statutory/Other Authority

ORS 469.470

Statutes/Other Implemented

ORS 469.401, 469.405, 469.413(2) & 469.504

History

EFSC 5-2025, amend filed 10/24/2025, effective 10/24/2025
EFSC 1-2022, amend filed 07/25/2022, effective 07/25/2022
EFSC 1-2020, adopt filed 01/28/2020, effective 01/28/2020
EFSC 9-2019, temporary adopt filed 08/22/2019, effective 08/22/2019 through 02/17/2020