Governor signs pipeline bills
into law
North
Platte Bulletin
by Charlie Litton, Nebraska
News Service - 11/22/2011
http://www.northplattebulletin.com/index.asp?show=news&action=readStory&storyID=21898&pageID=3
It
took less than 45 minutes for the 15th day of the Unicameral’s
special pipeline session to pass four bills and for Gov. Dave Heineman to sign them into law.
Following unopposed votes on the floor,
members of the Natural Resources Committee — in a highly unusual move — hand
delivered the bills to the governor who quickly signed them during a
five-minute ceremony in his second-floor office.
“Our
work is done,” Heineman said before signing the bills
while flanked by the eight- member committee.
The
bills were passed before 10 a.m. on Nov. 22.
Nebraska
lawmakers gave the state route authority over future oil pipelines, changed
eminent domain laws and authorized the state to fund and perform its own
supplemental environmental study for pipelines.
The
signing ceremony was the culmination of a growing controversy in the state over
the Keystone XL oil pipeline that reached a fevered pitch late last month. The
growing concern centered on the state’s highly sensitive Sandhills
and the Ogallala Aquifer, a major water source in the Midwest.
The
36-inch, high-pressure Keystone XL pipeline would have cut through the Sand
Hills as it delivered tar sand oil from Alberta to American refineries along
the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental concerns and outcry from the public led Heineman to call a special session with the purpose of
creating legislation that deals with oil pipelines.
“At
times leaders lead, but other times the people lead,” said Fullerton Sen.
Annette Dubas after Heinenman
signed her bill. “And I think, especially on this issue, the people led.”
Dubas’s bill gives the Public Service Commission
authority over siting (or routing) of all future oil
pipelines larger than 6-inches in diameter. An amendment to the bill also
restricts pipeline companies’ use of eminent domain law, which allows them to
use privately owned land as long as it serves the public interest.
Eminent
domain law is commonly used in public works projects such as roads or utility
lines. Prior to the passage of Dubas’ bill, pipeline
companies could pursue eminent domain proceedings at any time. Now, companies
must first have permits before taking action.
Schuyler
Sen. Chris Langemeier’s LB4 gives Nebraska the authority to study at its own
expense the environmental impact of pipeline routes in the state. Once the
study is complete, the governor will indicate which routes he or she approves
for the project and submit that recommendation to federal authorities.
Because
Keystone XL crosses an international border, the U.S. State Department was expected
to issue the building permit to TransCanada by the
end of the year. But in a flurry of late-breaking events, the State Department
said it would put off its decision for another year while it reviewed
environmental concerns.
Less
than a week later — and before any of the five related bills were debated on
the floor — Speaker Mike Flood of Norfolk announced a compromise with TransCanada officials in which they voluntarily agreed to
move the route out of the Sandhills.
A
key component of the compromise is that TransCanada
is exempt from Dubas’ siting
bill, which also removed any specter of opposition to its passage.
TransCanada may be subject to Langemeier’s
environmental impact study bill, however, provided the Department of
Environmental Quality chooses to pursue it. Flood’s compromise was widely
hailed from all corners in the pipeline debate.
Also passed was LB2, the appropriations bill to finance the
special session.