+1 State . Lege TREND. Trespassing on Critical Infrastructure like Pipelines. 3 Points from the Bill.

Louisiana Legislature is considering HB 727 (2018) that will:

  • pipelines and the equipment and structures
  • penalize trespassers with up to 5 years in jail
  • creates a new crime of critical damage to critical infrastructure
    • with up to 15 years jail time
    • a convicted person can also be charged the cost of prosecution

The Advocate | Environmentalists see proposed Louisiana law to protect pipelines and penalize protesters as overreach

Legal Trend. Bluebonnet State Attorney General Intervenes in Local Short Term Rental lawsuit

Austin’s short term rental ordinance is being litigated. Texas Attorney General Paxton rational for getting involved in the lawsuit:

  • Austin’s ordinance is ” “a gift to the hotel industry or Austin residents who seek reduced home prices.”
  • He holds up Texans whose relatives housed troops during times of war to support a statewide histroy of short term rentals
  • “By taking away its citizens’ property right to lease their homes as they see fit, the city has violated their constitutional rights,

Texas Attorney General | AG Paxton Urges Texas Appeals Court to Declare Austin’s Short-Term Rental Ordinance Unconstitutional

SE Texas Record | Paxton files brief with appeals court over Austin’s short-term rental policy

Legal TREND. LNG Exports and Property Rights. 4 Key Points to Know Now for Legislation later.

What issue are legal property rights centers looking at?  is there a public good, for eminent domain purposes,  when the public that benefits from the exported good is Europe or China?

What does this have to do with eminent domain? Pipelines, such as those that feed a LNG Export Center, are often uilt with the use of the power of eminent domain.

To exercize eminent domain constitutionally there must be a public use/public purpose for the land

How are property rights legal exeperts looking to intervene in exported oil and gas?   intervening in existing cases to aid property owners fighting eminent domain actions

Is this impacting oil and gas industry? Yes, a Texas pipeline that seeks to serve deregulated Mexican market, included a spur to a small Texas town that had never had natural gas service before to avoid the public purpose issue before the company utilized eminent domain

Houston Chronicle | Are pipeline land takings in the public interest if oil, gas headed overseas?

Idaho Private Property Rights Bill Backed by Texas Billionaires? 3 Reasons for this Theory.

Refreshing our recollection, Idaho is streamling its civil and criminal trespass laws.

A theory in Idaho is that behind the bill are the Wilks brothers because:

  • The brothers have bought 172,000 of Idaho forrest that was previously open and is now closed to hunters, fishermen, ATV riders
  • There’s video of a Wilkes security guard having a run-in with a recreationalist
  • interaction between Wilks’ lobbyists with the bills supporters 

A legisaltor told a Wilks family member that Idaho isn’t Texas, implying you cannot fence off land that was previously open to recreationalists.

Idaho Statesman | This was Texas billionaires’ role in revising Idaho trespass law

Lege Trend. State Equal Control Over All Local Historic Property. 3 Points from the bill.

Tennessee’s bill that would make the State ‘s Historical Commission partial control over all historic property under control of local governments:  HB 2146

Concern of opponents:

  •  HB 2146 would also give the TN Historical Commission new eminent domain authority
  • The bill allows the stsate commission to threaten removal of officve for any local official that ignoed a state histroical commission decision

Supporters of the bill say:

  • the bill is necessary because Memphis tried to remove two controversial statues

USA Today | Tennessee bill that aimed to protect controversial statues killed

 

Eminent Domain Creep. Can eminent domain seized land then be annexed?

Colorado Courts are grappling with “eminent domain creep.”

What’s eminent domain creep? Extending eminent domain through judicial opinion.

What’s the issue in Colorado? City A wants to buy land outside its city limits for open space and then annex the land into City A and offer developers tax incentives. City B opposes the land transaction and wants to use eminent domain to take the land for open space.

Denver Post | Eminent domain creep strikes again

Local TREND. 3 Arguments for Less Regulation of local food trucks. Food Trucks = Private Property Rights?

Empower Texas is arguing for statewide regulations for food trucks because:

  • Houston & Austin regulations, the 6th and 7th worst cities respectively, overburden these small businesses
    • Houston should eliminate “on-site bathrooms for food trucks on private property and the “electronic monitoring fee.”
  • It relies on this report from the US Chamber of Commerce that says food trucks have an average of ” 45 separate government procedures over 37 days and pay over $28,000 in fees for permits, licenses, and compliance
  • Texas cities should streamline inspections & permitting but abolish distance requirements 

Empower Texas | Food Truck Regulations in Houston And Austin Burden Budding Businesses

 

Legal TREND. Can a foreign entity have the power of eminent domain?

A fedceral appeals court will rule whether the power of eminent domain for a pipeline in Ohio. 

What do I need to know?

  • Nexus is a partnership that is partly foreign owned
  • While awaiting a court ruling, a local govenrment in the project’s path, approved a settlement on city lands, but the city legal counsel says the agreement is not elegibile for approval on a ballot
  • The city’s agreement does not impact the landowner lawsuit over the question of eminent domain authority

Akron Beacon Journal | In Green, Nexus battle continues even as trees are cleared

Legal Trend. Pre-condemnation Access. Landowners Need Opportunity to Negotiate via the flowering dogwood state. What you need to know:

Background: Atlantic Coast Pipeline contractors seek access to property to begin tree-cutting, Landowners are asking a court to prevent the tree cutting.

What court? US District Court Judge Terence Boyle, a George HW Bush appointee, in the Eastern District of North Carolina

The court sides with the landowners and said: 

  • landowners should have a reasonable opportunity to negotiate
  • the pipeline can use eminent domain

What pre-requisities on eminent domain use are detailed by the court to protect landowners?

  •  the pipeline must deposit an amount 3 times the appraised value of each parcel it plans to condemn with a federal district court clerk.

    • If the appraised value is less than $3,000, then ACP, LLC must deposit $9,003.

  • The utilities also must obtain a bond twice the appraised value of the parcels

NC Policy Watch | BREAKING: Federal judge rules in favor of two landowners in Atlantic Coast Pipeline case