Create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to establish the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority; declare that the mission of the authority is to serve as the nonregulatory, trusted state government agency on nuclear energy issues and to support and facilitate the development of the nuclear energy ecosystem across the Commonwealth; establish the membership and responsibilities of the advisory board to govern the authority; require the advisory board to hire a director of the authority; establish that the purposes of the authority are to assist interested communities in understanding advanced nuclear opportunities, provide information to the public, develop the capacity for nuclear energy development in the Commonwealth, seek clarity on early nuclear site permitting, work with energy communities that have hosted nuclear-related or fossil fuel activities to assist in exploring nuclear energy opportunities, strengthen engagement with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, build the organizational capacity to convene a consortium of nuclear stakeholders to share best practices, engage with United States Department of Energy National Laboratories and private companies to develop technologies to reprocess or recycle spent nuclear fuel, and maintain awareness of potential events that could initiate or accelerate the development of new nuclear technologies in the Commonwealth; require the authority, with the approval of the advisory board, to propose and adopt bylaws for the management and operation of the authority, develop and adopt a strategic plan for carrying out the purposes of the authority, create and update at least once every two years a nuclear energy economic impact analysis, and beginning December 1, 2025, and every December 1 thereafter, submit a report to the Governor and the Legislative Research Commission; require the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority to develop criteria for a nuclear-ready community designation; create a new section of Subchapter 12 of KRS Chapter 154 to require the Cabinet for Economic Development to create and implement a financial assistance program to support the nuclear energy ecosystem in the Commonwealth; provide for the staggering of initial appointments; require the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Authority to conduct a study to identify the workforce needs to develop and support the nuclear ecosystem and to submit its findings to the Governor and the Legislative Research Commission on or before December 1, 2024; require the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority to contract for services to produce a site suitability study to identify the best potential locations for nuclear facility sites in the Commonwealth and report its findings to the Governor and the Legislative Research Commission on or before December 1, 2025; require the Kentucky Nuclear Energy Development Authority to contract for services to develop and implement a nuclear marketing and education plan.
Amend KRS 452.010, 452.030, 452.050, and 452.090 to establish application for a transfer for a change in venue in specified actions; amend KRS 452.005 to conform; EMERGENCY.
Amend KRS 6.681 to require the Legislative Ethics Commission provide a draft of its proposed response to an advisory opinion request at least 10 days before it is scheduled to consider the advisory opinion; amend KRS 6.686 to require the commission to determine whether there is reason to believe a person has committed or about to commit an ethics code violation; provide that if the commission finds by a vote of at least five members that there is reason to believe a violation has been or is about to be committed, it shall initiate a preliminary inquiry into the alleged violations; provide that if less than five members find there is reason to believe a violation has been or is about to be committed, then it shall dismiss the complaint; provide that a reason to believe finding is not a finding that a person has violated the code, but that the finding merits further inquiry and investigation.
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 77 to define "environmental audit" and to provide that a person or facility subject to the requirements of KRS Chapter 77 that performs an environmental audit according to the requirements of KRS 224.1-040 shall be entitled to all of the benefits, privileges, and protections afforded by that section; amend KRS 224.1-040 to allow facilities regulated by air pollution control districts established under KRS Chapter 77 to avail themselves of the same environmental audit process available to facilities regulated by the Energy and Environment Cabinet under KRS Chapter 224; allow owners or operators of facilities regulated by air pollution control boards under KRS Chapter 77 to make voluntary disclosures as a result of the findings of an environmental audit; create an environmental audit privilege to protect the confidentiality of communications relating to voluntary internal environmental audits of facilities regulated under KRS Chapter 77; prohibit an air pollution control district from seeking civil penalties against a facility for a violation of KRS Chapter 77 or the rules, orders, or administrative regulations promulgated thereunder if certain conditions are met.
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 511 to define terms; prohibit the operation of unmanned aircraft, video or audio recording devices, or photography equipment on or above a concentrated animal feeding operation or commercial food manufacturing or processing facility without written consent of the owner or authorized representative of the facility; establish a Class B misdemeanor for violations.
Create various sections of KRS Chapter 186 to establish a regulatory framework for the operation of fully autonomous vehicles on public highways; define terms; establish requirements for autonomous vehicles and automated driving systems; require submission of a law enforcement interaction plan with the Transportation Cabinet and the Kentucky State Police and identify required elements of the plan; establish requirements for proof of insurance or self-insurance in the amount of $1 million for death or bodily injury and property damage for personal and commercial fully autonomous vehicles; require titling and registration of fully autonomous vehicles; establish the Transportation Cabinet as the sole agency responsible for administering statutes and regulations regarding fully autonomous vehicles; limit the regulatory authority of local governments in regard to the operation of fully autonomous vehicles; amend KRS 186.410 to establish that when an automated driving system is installed and engaged on a motor vehicle, the owner of a fully autonomous vehicle shall be considered operator of the vehicle for the purpose of assessing compliance with traffic or motor vehicle laws, and that the automated driving system is considered to be the licensed to operate the vehicle; create a new section of KRS Chapter 189 to exempt fully autonomous vehicles designed to be operated exclusively by an automated driving system from any vehicle equipment requirements of KRS 189.020 to KRS 189.205 that relate to vehicle operation by a human driver; amend KRS 189.635 to establish responsibility for the filing of accident reports and notification of law enforcement after accidents involving fully autonomous vehicles; amend KRS 281.010 to define terms relating to the operation of fully autonomous vehicles as motor carriers; amend KRS 281.630 to establish that any administrative regulations promulgated by the department that apply only to a human driver shall not apply to a fully autonomous vehicle; amend KRS 281.764 to require only the lead vehicle in a truck platoon to have a human driver behind the wheel of their vehicle; amend KRS 281.655 to establish minimum insurance requirements fully autonomous vehicles operating under a certificate issued under KRS Chapter 281 in the amount of $1 million for death or bodily injury and property.
Amend KRS 65.503, relating to the board of the West End Opportunity Partnership, to stipulate that the board has the authority to set its own procedures to determine successors; allow more than one nominee from the institutions from which members are appointed by the Governor; listed in paragraph (f) of subsection (1) of the section, and to allow successor members to be appointed to the board if an institution refuses to comply with the board procedures for successor determination, in which event the institution is deemed to have forfeited its membership.
Amend KRS 118.720 to require the Governor to sign a proclamation for an election to fill a vacancy in the office of United States Senator; extend the term of the candidate who wins special election to the remainder of the term; repeal KRS 63.200, which requires the Governor to fill vacancies in the office of United States Senator; amend KRS 118.740 and 118.770 to conform.
The State/Executive Branch Budget: Detail Part I, Operating Budget; detail Part II, Capital Projects Budget; detail Part III, General Provisions; detail Part IV, State Salary/Compensation, Benefit, and Employment Policy; detail Part V, Funds Transfer; detail Part VI, General Fund Budget Reduction Plan; detail Part VII, General Fund Surplus Expenditure Plan; detail Part VIII, Road Fund Budget Reduction Plan; detail Part IX, Road Fund Surplus Expenditure Plan; detail Part X, Phase I Tobacco Settlement; and detail Part XI, Executive Branch Budget Summary; APPROPRIATION.
Retain original provisions; direct the director of the Division of Real Property Boards and the chair of each board to submit written recommendations to the Public Protection Cabinet regarding sufficient staffing needs; require the Public Protection Cabinet to consider the staffing recommendations and requests submitted by the executive director of the Kentucky Real Estate Authority, the director of the Division of Real Property Boards, and the chair of each board; require the executive director of the Kentucky Real Estate Authority and the director of the Division of Real Property Boards to have a minimum of seven years of experience in the real estate industry within the last 15 years; require the Public Protection Cabinet to provide the division, the authority, and boards with documentation showing the income and expenditures of all license fees; establish a grace period for licensees who began their continuing education prior to December 31; establish the conditions upon which a license may be canceled; amend various other sections to conform.
The Legislative Branch Budget: Detail Part I, Operating Budget; detail Part II, General Provisions; detail Part III, Budget Reduction or Surplus Expenditure Plan; APPROPRIATION.
Create new sections of KRS Chapter 224A to define terms; establish the Kentucky Water and Wastewater Assistance for Troubled or Economically Restrained Systems Program under the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority (KIA) to provide for a loan application and evaluation process for eligible public water and wastewater systems to seek loan funds from the General Assembly; require the KIA to make available applications under the program, verify eligibility of proposed recipients, award loans as directed by the General Assembly, enforce compliance with loan conditions, and report quarterly to the General Assembly on the status of all loans under the program; allow the Kentucky Rural Water Association (KRWA) to contract or consult with third-party consultants, state agencies, or special purpose governmental entities in discharging its duties; require finalized loan applications to be made available to the public; allow eligible public water and wastewater systems to submit applications for regional projects; provide for forfeiture and repayment of loans; require the KRWA to evaluate applications according to specified criteria and to submit an annual report to the Legislative Research Commission containing the evaluations and scores of the proposed loan recipients; establish the Kentucky water and wastewater assistance for troubled or economically restrained systems fund; provide that all moneys in the fund shall be allocated by the General Assembly for providing loans for eligible projects; require that interest rates for loans be set in the same manner as the interest rates for loans from the federally-assisted wastewater and water supply resolving funds, except that the interest rates shall be one-half of a percent lower; establish the emergency Kentucky water and wastewater assistance for troubled or economically restrained systems fund; provide that moneys from the fund be dedicated to providing loans for capital and non-capital expenses relating solely to restoring or avoiding imminent interruption of utility service provided by a public water or wastewater system after a statewide or local emergency has been declared; allow the authority to require a corrective action plan to be submitted with a loan application; require that interest rates for loans be set in the same manner as the interest rates for loans form the federally-assisted wastewater and water supply resolving funds; create a new section of KRS Chapter 96 to define terms; create a forbearance period of three years for a utility acquiring a public water or wastewater system with existing violations; require the acquiring utility to correct past violations during the forbearance period; defer fines and penalties during the forbearance period; prioritize funding from the KIA for projects where the acquiring utility is making improvements to the acquired system; allow for a waiver of accrued fines and penalties if all deficiencies have been corrected and the public water or wastewater system has been sold to the acquiring utility or if the utility adopts a management and operations agreement handled by a well-operated utility; require the acquiring utility to make records available to ensure compliance; after the expiration of the forbearance period, allow the Energy and Environment Cabinet and the Public Service Commission to either waive fines and penalties, collect fines and penalties, or grant a discretionary extension of the forbearance period; allow priority in funding from the KIA to be predicated on timely payment of deferred fines and penalties; prohibit an acquired water or wastewater systems to which a forbearance period applied from being eligible for any additional forbearance periods; amend KRS 224A.316 to remove repetitive language and to require the KIA to prioritize funding for a utility acquiring a public water or wastewater system for the correction of deficiencies in the system identified in state and federal violations; APPROPRIATION.
