The Senate gave its approval to new language designed to regulate anemometers after an earlier piece of legislation was vetoed.
The Senate passed the floor substitute for House Bill 3348 36 to 8. The language in the floor substitute requires the Aeronautics Commission to promulgate rules regulating the appearance of anemometer towers to ensure that anemometer towers are clearly recognizable in clear air during daylight hours.
The bill establishes guidelines for the rules. The bill also requires the commission to establish and maintain a database containing the location of all anemometer towers by November 1, 2015. It permits the commission to contract with a governmental entity or private entity to create and maintain the database.
The measure also requires the commission to promulgate rules requiring an owner of an anemometer tower to provide the commission with information specifying the location height of the tower, and any other information the commission requires to ensure aviation safety and to requiring any person proposing to construct an anemometer tower to notify the commission.
The legislation establishes that the commission will require the owner of the proposed tower to provide information specifying the location and height of the tower, and any other information the commission requires to ensure aviation safety. It also requires the commission to promulgate rules requiring the anemometer tower’s owner to notify it upon removal or destruction of an anemometer tower.
The bill authorizes the commission to promulgate the rules and to implement administrative penalties and provides that violations of the provisions established by the bill are prohibited.
State Sen. Charles Wyrick (R-Fairland) said he worked with the Gov. Mary Fallin’s office after she vetoed SB1195. He said the governor’s staff is comfortable with the language in the floor substitute adopted Thursday. Members agreed by unanimous consent to suspend the rules to allow the bill to be heard even thought it had failed to meet the April 24 deadline for measures to be heard on the floor of the opposite chamber.
State Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-Broken Arrow) asked the only question regarding the bill, noting it contained specific language that said violation of its provisions were prohibited. That language, said Wyrick, was in the previous version of the bill and had the approval of the governor’s office. The bill now returns to the House for consideration of Wyrick’s amendments.
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