Partner Michelle Rudd was quoted in a Law360 article titled “Energy Boom Tests State Eminent Domain Laws.” The article discusses the effect of the U.S. energy boom on companies’ ability to condemn private property through eminent domain for pipelines and other large projects. Interstate natural gas pipelines are regulated by the federal government, but pipelines that don’t cross state lines or don’t carry natural gas, like the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, are subject to the eminent domain laws of the state in which they are sited.
The size of new energy pipeline projects has resulted in growing numbers of landowners who resist condemnation efforts by energy companies. Differences between state laws can produce different outcomes on the same project in adjacent states. Variations in state law include how, or if, private companies can be granted eminent domain and what qualifies as just compensation for landowners. “Some state constitutions will talk about compensations for taking, some have taking and damages clauses,” said Rudd.
Read “Energy Boom Tests State Eminent Domain Laws,” published May 12, 2014. (Subscription required.)