35-12-105. Appointment and duties of administrator; staff; rules and regulations.

(a) The director shall appoint an administrator of the division who shall serve at the director's pleasure as the executive and administrative head of the division. The administrator is responsible to and under control and supervision of the director. The director shall employ such other staff as deemed necessary by the director to carry out the functions and responsibilities of the division.

(b) The council shall promulgate rules and regulations pursuant to the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act, implementing this chapter. The director, or the administrator if designated by the director, shall administer and enforce this chapter and any rules, regulations and orders approved or issued by the council.

(c) The director, administrator and the staff of the division are authorized to the extent possible, at the request of local governments, to provide technical assistance to local governments in the preparation of anticipated impacts related to a proposed project consistent with W.S. 39-15-111(c) and (d) and 39-16-111(d) and (e) and negotiation of agreements with applicants as provided for in W.S. 35-12-107.

(d) In addition to the rules and regulations adopted under subsection (b) of this section, the council shall promulgate rules and regulations prescribing decommissioning and site reclamation standards for facilities permitted under W.S. 35-12-102(a)(vii)(E) and (F). Such standards shall preempt county rules or regulations concerning decommissioning and reclamation and shall be designed to assure the proper decommissioning and interim and final site reclamation of commercial facilities generating electricity from wind and wind energy facilities during construction and operation of the facility, at the end of their useful life, upon revocation of a permit authorizing their operation or upon the happening of any event which causes operations to cease. The council's regulation shall only preempt those facilities regulated under this act. In the event of any conflict between a standard applied under this subsection and a valid order of the Wyoming public service commission, the order of the public service commission shall be applied.

(e) In addition to the rules and regulations adopted under subsection (b) of this section, the council shall promulgate rules and regulations prescribing financial assurance requirements for facilities permitted by it pursuant to W.S. 35-12-102(a)(vii)(E) and (F). These rules and regulations shall not apply to facilities that are public utilities and regulated by the Wyoming public service commission. These rules and regulations shall preempt county rules and regulations concerning financial assurances and shall be designed to provide adequate assurance that the permitted facilities will be properly reclaimed and decommissioned at the end of their useful life, upon revocation of a permit authorizing their operation or upon the happening of any event which causes operations to cease. The elements to consider when establishing adequate levels of financial assurance shall include credit worthiness, financial strength, credit history, credit rating and any other factors that reasonably bear upon the decision to accept a financial assurance. The financial assurance may be in any form acceptable to the council and may include a corporate guarantee, letter of credit, bond, deposit account or insurance policy.

(f) In addition to the rules and regulations adopted under subsection (b) of this section, the council shall promulgate rules and regulations requiring applicants for facilities described in W.S. 35-12-102(a)(vii)(E) and (F) to provide notice to record owners of mineral rights located on or under the lands where the proposed facility will be constructed. Such notice may include notice by publication.

(g) The council may adopt such rules and regulations, including fee structures, as are appropriate to accept and consider applications referred by any board of county commissioners under W.S. 18-5-509.