Category Archives: public use or benefit

Lege Trend: 5 year moratorium on private company eminent domain use.

Which state legislature is moving a 5 year moratorium on private company eminent domain use? South Carolina

What motivated this move? The Palmentto pipeline

What is the Legislature required to do in those 5 years? Study the use of eminent domain, specifically as it applies to pipelines. 

Jasper County Sun Times | S.C. Senate approves scaled-back eminent domain bill

 

3 Reasons an Ethics Professor Says the Arlington Baseball Stadium Should Have Not Used Eminent Domain

  • A ball park is neither a public use nor a public purpose
  • There is no public benefit of a ball park
    • And, if you try to say there is an economic benfit, he’ll throw studies at you to say that is not true
  • Taking land from one property owner to give it to another so they can make money is no different than Kelo, and that’s what happened in Arlington

–Richard Galvin is the Betty S. Wright Professor in Applied Ethics at Texas Christian University. Star Telegram | Greene got it wrong on use…

3 Take Aways from Eminent Domain Experts Opposing Sweeping Constitutional Changes for Eminent Domain. Be Informed.

  • Private Entities are the Target of Eminent Domain Reform. The concerns about eminent domain are generally not about the government snapping up pieces of property, it is private entities snapping up property using eminent domain as a tool
  • Public Use Needs to be Reformed.Re-defining public use does not require sweeping constitutional reform
  • Look to Justice Thomas Dissent in Kelo for answers. Just like Clarence Thomas says, when the Supreme Court analyzes whether a search warrant can get…

Comptroller Touts Eminent Domain Database. 5 Points to Know Now. Fine Likely to Increase.

  • Comptroller sympathizes with land owners
    • ​“With 94 percent of Texas lands held privately, our citizens naturally feel a deep connection with the land they own. I’m one of them, farming land that’s been in my family since the mid-19th century.”
  • Minimal use of eminent domain passes muster with the Comptroller.
  • Most flagrant eminent domain abuse. The Bureau of Land Management’s seizure of farm lands on the border with Oklahoma. 
  • Transparency key to eminent domain.
  • The $2,000 fine…

2015 Media Top 10: Eminent Domain in the Palmetto State

Eminent domain tops the headlines for 2015 in South Carolina.

What’s the eminent domain issue in South Carolina? A pipeline that caused private proeprty right activist snd environmental activists to join forces.

What’s the legislative and regulatory impact? The issue with the pipeline is whether a public benefit occurs in South Carolina. The pipeline has hit hiccups with the regulatory agency and the legislature. 

The Augusta Chronicler | Top 10: Palmetto Pipeline creates stir in 2015

Trend: Eminent Domain Reform. Private Entities Using Eminent Domain in Crosshairs.

South Carolina’s 2016 legislative session and eminent domain reform is on the list.

What group is targeting eminent domain by private entities? The Republican Caucus for the South Carolina House.

What reforms do South Carolina Republicans want?

  • tighten public use so that land “will never be diverted to private control”

Bluffton Today | What to expect in the next session

4 Reasons Midwestern Elected Officials Oppose Eminent Domain for Transmission Lines. Localizing Public Benefit.

State Rep. Grassley, grandson to US Senator Grassley, has 2 points to make to a clean energy line that wants to use eminent domain in Iowa:

  • The Iowa Utilities Board has told you 2 times that eminent domain cannot be separated from your permit application
  • If you don’t allow Iowans to plug in, you’re not a utility & therefore don’t deserve eminent domain powers
  • Missouri also denied your transmission line request (our numbers are growing)
  • We’re also watching your attempt to end run the…

One State Treats Natural Gas Pipes Differently than Petroleum Pipelines. One needs Willing Buyers. The Other– not so Much.

In the 1990s, Georgia wants to protect wealthy quail plantation owners from a new oil pipeline, so it passed new laws related only to oil pipelines.

What does an oil pipeline have to do that a natural gas pipeline doesn’t have to do for eminent domain approval? A pipeline that carries gasoline, diesel and ethanol must:

  • Get Georgia DOT approval and
  • Be approved by Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division 

Has this been a hurdle? yes, it has stopped a pipeline by Kinder Morgan. The…

Trend: Texas Groups Opposed to Eminent Domain by Private Entities. 3 Point Message with 3 Targets

The Texas Wildlife Association via the Hill Country Alliance raises the issue of private companies and eminent domain.

3 Points are stressed:

  • That eminent domain is traditionally only exercised by government officials
  • That eminent domain must have public accountability (elected officials only?)
  • That Texas grants too many entities eminent domain authority. Specifically:
    • gas or electric corporations
    • groundwater conservation districts
    • common carrier pipelines.

Hill Country Alliance…