From solar farms to groundwater permits to stopping the spread of sludge on farmland, the Oklahoma Senate Energy Committee finished its work Thursday by approving 7 energy related bills.
Senate Bill 3 by Senator Grant Green of Wellston was approved on a 10-0 vote. It will create a moratorium on the spreading of sludge or treated material onto farmland and stop the Department of Environmental Quality from issuing permits until July 1, 2028.
SB998 by Sen. Todd Gollihare of Kellyville passed on a vote of 11-0 and would require the Corporation Commission to encourage the use and development of natural gas over green energy.
SB132 by Sen. George Burns of Pollard would require the plugging of “shut-in” gas wells and it won approal on a 9-1 vote.Under his bill, such a well would be allowed to exist without being plugged for up to 7 years, then it would have to be plugged.
Another Burns bill, SB133, would create a moratorium on the issuance of groundwater permits in any water basin ” until the Oklahoma Water Resources Board completes a hydrological study and approves a maximum annual yield for a particular basin.” The committee voted 10-1 in support of the measure.
Sen. Lonnie Paxton’s SB650, approved on a vote of 11-0, would require utilities to develop plans for municipal sewage systems.
SB915 by Sen. Green targets solar farms and won approval on a vote of 11-0. It would require any commercial solar energy operation to be “installed on permanent grass that is suitable for livestock grazing.” The Senator complained about valuable farm and ranchland being lost to solar farms.
Sen. Tom Woods authored SB1071 which would create the Wildland Fire Protection Act and was passed on a vote of 11-0. It would require electricutilities to prepare a plan “for the purpose of mitigating a wildland fire within the utililty’s seervice area.”
The votes in the committee came on the last day that legislative committees could act on bills presented for consideration.