Bonnie Watson Coleman: “I have a motion to recommit the bill with instructions to add language prohibiting the use, really the abuse, of Federal…”

“I have a motion to recommit the bill with instructions to add language prohibiting the use, really the abuse, of Federal eminent domain authority by large gas pipeline companies. Currently, the law allows pipeline companies--given authorization by FERC--to circumvent landowner opposition and exercise the right of eminent domain to acquire land necessary for pipeline construction, which is privately owned, so that the pipeline construction can operate and maintain--meaning for-profit pipeline companies can seize private land from owners who are unwilling to sell. More often than not, compensation provided to the property owner is far from fair or just and the negotiations are rarely conducted in good faith. In the event that fair compensation is paid, no one should be forced to sell against their will. The bottom line is simple: too often eminent domain authority is exercised without the determination of a true public benefit. Certificate holders can manipulate this authority to take whatever land they deem necessary for their gas pipeline projects. With the recent boom in domestic gas production, this is happening all across the United States and harming property owners in many of our districts. This practice is wrong, and it must be stopped.…”