Oil and Gas Lawyer Blog
Landowners in Texas challenged the right of pipelines to condemn easements for intrastate lines in Texas in Texas Rice Land Partners, Ltd. v. Denbury Green Pipeline-Texas, LLC, decided in 2011. The Texas Supreme Court held that a pipeline seeking to exercise the power of eminent domain must prove that the pipeline will be put to a “public use.” The case caused a stir among pipeline companies and their counsel, and resulted in new regulations at the Texas Railroad Commission, which approves intrastate pipeline projects, and efforts to bolster pipeline eminent domain authority by legislation.
A group of landowners has now filed suit challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s grant of eminent domain authority for interstate pipeline projects. In Bold Alliance et al. v. FERC et al., No. 1:17-cv-01822 (Bold Alliance v. FERC), in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the plaintiffs allege that FERC does not require pipeline companies to demonstrate that their projects serve a “public use.” The plaintiffs seek to enjoin FERC from issuing certificates of need to Mountain Valley Pipeline for its proposed 301-mile 42-inch gas line in West Virginia and Virginia, and to Atlantic Coast Pipeline for its 564-mile 42-inch line in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.
After all of the concern created by the Texas Supreme Court’s 2011 decision in Denbury, the Court this year finally held that Denbury did in fact have the power to condemn Texas Rice Land Partners’ property. The Court held that “the evidence adduced by Denbury Green on remand established as a matter of law that there was a reasonable probability that, at some point after construction, the Green Line would serve the public by transporting CO2 for one or more customers who will either retain ownership of their gas or sell it to parties other than the carrier.” This is not a high hurdle to overcome. It will be interesting to see what test the DC Court applies to determine whether the projects there challenged will serve a public use.