Sen. Danny Carroll

Designate a portion of Kentucky Route 293 in Caldwell County as the Chief Deputy Jody Wayne Cash Memorial Highway.

Recognize April 2024 as Autism Acceptance and Awareness Month.

Adjourn in honor and loving memory of Francis M. "Frank" Burch.

Adjourn in honor and loving memory of William "Mac" Tucker.

Honor Roy Trimble upon the occasion of his retirement from the food service industry.

Honor the extraordinary service of Senator John Schickel to the Commonwealth of Kentucky upon his retirement from the General Assembly.

Adjourn in honor and loving memory of Jessie "Jess" J. Adkins.

Honor Senator Denise Harper Angel upon her retirement from the General Assembly.

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.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to make findings and declarations; define terms; establish the Energy Planning and Inventory Commission and administratively attach it to the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (UK CAER); provide for membership of the commission board and executive committee; provide for gubernatorial appointments of members of the commission board and executive committee and require Senate confirmation of those appointments; require the election of two of the executive committee members by the commission board from the board membership; provide for commission and executive committee terms; prohibit the compensation of members; make members subject to the requirements of the executive branch code of ethics; provide for the election of the commission chair and vice chair; allow the executive committee to adopt bylaws governing the conduct of the commission's business; prohibit any direct financial relationship between a member of the executive committee and a utility; prohibit a member from serving if it would cause a conflict with or result in the disclosure of confidential information relating to any research projects at the UK CAER; require recusal and replacement of an executive committee member to prevent the disclosure of confidential information; prohibit the Governor from reorganizing the commission or executive committee; allow the commission to employ an executive director, subject to confirmation by the Senate; provide for the duties of the commission, which shall include the examination and study of energy generation related topics and review of the decommissioning notices given by utilities as required by the Act; require the commission to submit annual reports on December 1 to the Legislative Research Commission, the Governor, and the Public Service Commission to make recommendations based on the issues that the commission has examined; require any utility seeking to decommission, demolish, or retire any existing coal, oil, or natural gas-fired electric generating plant to give notice to the executive committee no later than 365 days before submitting a retirement application to the Public Service Commission as required under KRS 278.264; provide for the requirements of the notice; prohibit the disclosure of confidential information as part of the notice; require that within 180 days of receiving a notice, the commission shall hold a public hearing in the county where the retirement is proposed to occur; require that within 270 days of receiving notice and after the public hearing has occurred, the executive committee submit a final report with written findings and recommendations regarding the retirement to the Public Service Commission; provide for the contents of the written findings and for the accommodation of dissenting findings with the executive committee members; require the Public Service Commission to consider the findings of the report before approving a retirement under KRS 278.264; require that the executive committee or executive director, if authorized by the executive committee, to have standing to intervene in any case or proceeding before the Public Service Commission; allow the executive committee to employ administrative staff or third-party consultants if funding is available; require that the commission cease to exist on December 31, 2035; create a new section of KRS 278.010 to 278.450 to require the Public Service Commission to issue final orders within six months of the filing of an application by a utility; amend KRS 278.110 to require final reports of investigations or special inquiries to be filed within the public record for the case for which it was prepared; require the contracted person to be subject to written information requests and cross-examination in any public hearing for the case in which the report was prepared; amend KRS 278.264 to require that an application for the retirement of an electric generating unit include a statement certifying compliance with the requirements of Section 1 of this Act; require the Public Service Commission to find that a utility seeking to retire an electric generating unit will replace it with new electric generating capacity that has the same or higher capacity value and net capability, unless the utility can demonstrate that it is not necessary and to find that utility shall not commence the retirement until the replacement generating capacity is fully constructed, permitted, and in operation; define "dispatchable" and "intermittent"; provide for the staggering of initial appointments to the Energy Planning and Inventory Commission; EMERGENCY.