On Tuesday, January 2nd several residents concerned about the fate of Urbana's street and yard trees under new tree trimming guidelines proposed by Illnois Power (now owned by Dynegy, Inc) met with Urbana alderwoman Laura Huth (D-5th ward) at the Elite Diner in downtown Urbana to discuss the current status of IP's proposed vegetation management tariff with the Illinois Commerce Commission.

In July of 2000, an amendment to Senate Bill 1541 amended the Public Utilities Act in Illinois to require utilities to provide specific descriptions and advance notice of non-emergency vegetation management activity in the form of a tariff, giving the Illinois Commerce Commission responsiblity for approving such tariffs and giving the ICC exclusive jurisdiction to file complaints against the utilities for failing to follow said tariff. This was partly in response to a feeling that the utilities enjoyed too much discretion in deciding what to cut and were cutting more trees than necessary due to a lack of strict plans, particularly in cases such as the excessive trimming that occurred up on N. Perkins Rd. in Urbana. Illinois Power has responded to this request for rules by drawing up a broad tariff allowing itself far greater leeway in vegetation "management," up to and including removal, than they have had previously. It should be noted that even under a situation of power deregulation, the actual power lines and maintenance of those lines would still be handled by Illinois Power.

If adopted, this tariff would allow Illinois Power to regulate not only trees immediately underneath power lines or in established variances, but also in what they term a "danger zone" extending up to 30 feet on either side of a high voltage line and 15 feet on either side of a low/medium voltage line, and in a "buffer zone" defined only as "space outside of the danger zone" (complete text of the tariff is available at http://www.icc.state.il.us/icc/ec/docs/001218treeip.pdf, with relevant diagrams appearing on page 12). As the tree removal and pruning practices suggested for these zones would threaten much of Champaign-Urbana's award-winning urban forests, Urbana City Arborist Mike Brunk has spoken against the plan, and the Urbana City Council has passed a resolution urging the ICC not to adopt the tariff.

According to conversations Huth has had with Roy Buxton, contact for the ICC's Engineering Program, the ICC has received over 100 paper letters and 100 e-mail messages in support of delaying action on the tariff in order to allow for public hearings which would hopefully lead to the tariff not being adopted. Buxton reports that the ICC is favorably impressed with the volume of public input, more input than the ICC has received on all other issues combined for many years. Although the official comment period ended on December 28th, mail continues to arrive.

On Tuesday, January 9th, the ICC will hold an open meeting at the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago at 10 AM, where the five commissioners will decide on one of two possible courses of action:

• to enact the tariff as is, at which point the suggested regulations become binding, and many lawsuits challenging the tariff will be filed
• to delay any decision in order to hold public hearings on the matter

At this point, Buxton feels it is highly likely that the commission will opt to hold public hearings on the matter. If this happens, the case will get an official docket number and a hearing officer will be assigned. Three weeks from that point, in the week of January 30th, a pre-hearing conference will be held in Springfield, at which people desiring to speak at the actual hearing may establish standing to give testimony. As the object of the legal hearing is to obtain expert testimony, such standing will require an established group, complete with an attorney, to file an "intent to intervene." The ICC will then set dates for the formal hearings, which are likely to take from 10 to 14 months to complete. During this time, Illinois Power will be given opportunities for rebuttal. It is not likely that there will be open public hearings locally, simply because there is not an established mechanism to take sworn testimony in such a situation.

Participants at the Elite meeting also brought up ideas for future public action. First, it might be possible for citizens to get together, possibly with the Illinois Student Environmental Network (http://www.prairienet.org/isen/, director Laura Huth) to form a non-profit group that could hire an attorney and become an official group with standing to speak at the public hearings. At the meeting, John McMahon, a Champaign attorney with experience working for the Prairie Rivers Network, was suggested as a possible candidate. Other suggestions are welcome. Ideas for research this group might pursue included investigating the cost of burying the lines for the Champaign-Urbana vs. cutting trees, and investigating potential impact on property values. Much of the costs quoted by power companies is averaged over many areas and includes costs not applicable to this area, such as the cost of burrowing through rock. Second, people might help spread the word by putting public service announcments on WEFT, or asking Urbana Public Works to display a map of the city with power lines marked on it, such that trees in the danger and buffer zones might be concretely identified.

This Thursday, January 11th, Laura Huth intends to hold another informational meeting regarding the decision made on the 9th. This meeting will be held at the new Strawberry Fields Cafe, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. All are welcome.

Additionally, people wishing to contact Roy Buxton may send him email at rbuxton@icc.state.il.us. Laura Huth may be reached similarly at lhuth@prairienet.org.