Section 21417.

(a) As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) "Meteorological instrument" means an instrument for measuring and recording the speed of the wind.

(2) "Meteorological tower" means a structure, including all guy wires and accessory facilities, on which a meteorological instrument is mounted for the purposes of documenting whether a site has wind resources sufficient for the operation of a wind turbine generator.

(3) "Prime agricultural land" means land that satisfies the requirements of paragraph (1), (2), or (4) of subdivision (c) of Section 51201 of the Government Code.

(b) A meteorological tower below 200 feet in height and above 50 feet in height that is located on prime agricultural land, or within one mile of prime agricultural land, and erected after January 1, 2013, shall be marked as follows:

(1) The full length of the meteorological tower shall be painted in equal, alternating bands of aviation orange and white, beginning with orange at the top of the tower and ending with orange at the bottom of the marked portion of the tower. The bands shall be between 20 and 30 feet in width.

(2) Two or more high visibility spherical marker balls, also called cable balls, that are aviation orange shall be attached to each outside guy wire that is connected to a meteorological tower.

(3) One or more seven-foot high visibility safety sleeves shall be placed at each anchor point and shall extend from the anchor point along each guy wire attached to the anchor point.

(c) A light may be affixed to the highest point on a meteorological tower as an additional option for the marking of the meteorological tower.

(d) (1) A local agency may incorporate any requirements of this section into any applicable land use permit that the agency administers.

(2) This section shall not be construed to authorize a local agency to require a new permit that applies to a meteorological tower.

(3) To the extent that the requirements of this section conflict with local permitting requirements, the requirements of this section shall supersede those permitting requirements.

(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.

(Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 182, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2013. Repealed as of January 1, 2018, by its own provisions.)