Zwiener’s legislation addressing eminent domain brought many speakers to hearing

Rep. Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) presented one of her pipeline-related bills to the House Land and Resource Management Committee on Thursday.

Committee Chair Tom Craddick (R-Midland) noted at the start of the meeting that there were several bills to be laid out that morning and that there was an unusual number of people there to testify about the bills.

“I’ve never seen this many people in suits in this room before,” Craddick said. 

He also stated that the committee would not be voting on any bills Thursday.

Zwiener’s House Bill 3327 would require a common carrier intending to use eminent domain to acquire property for an oil and gas pipeline to send written notice of intent to the county judge in each county included in the proposed pipeline route.

Zwiener emphasized that the bill does not create any layers of bureaucracy at the local level for proposed pipelines.

“It merely creates a venue for local governments to share information with a pipeline operator about their local planning efforts,” she said.

Among the kinds of information that local officials could share with pipeline operators are future plans for public infrastructure, planned developments, site-specific safety concerns and environmental sensitivities, county open space plans and more, Zwiener said.

The proposed route for Kinder Morgan’s Permian Highway Pipeline, which runs through Hays County, crosses through a new development that will eventually have thousands of homes, Zwiener said, and could interfere with city development plans and road work. The pipeline likely would be facing less opposition, she said, if Kinder Morgan had met with local officials and found out about development plans and other information. 

Zwiener said HB 3327 would allow meetings between pipeline companies and local officials to occur in closed session if desired and would “improve the process” and result in “a better route with fewer micro-adjustments.”

Zwiener’s bill was one of several concerning pipeline-related issues that were heard in the Land and Resource Management Committee Thursday morning. Three bills before the committee — HB 991, Senate Bill 421 and HB 1157 — had to do with the process of acquiring real property by an entity with eminent domain authority. HB 1919, proposed by Rep. Ernest Bailes (R-Shepherd), would allow property owners to file complaints against certain entities regulated by the Texas Railroad Commission regarding alleged misconduct during the exercise of eminent domain.

“We have worked extensively with landowners, with industry, with the Railroad Commission as well as the attorney general’s office,” Bailes told the committee. The bill would add language to the Landowners Bill of Rights to indicate who a landowner can call at the Railroad Commission to report misconduct, and if the complaint is deemed actionable, the state attorney general can get involved.

Bailes said that it is meant to prevent threats to “coerce individuals to accept the initial offer.”

Among the witnesses that spoke in favor of various pipeline-related bills were two ranchers with pipelines running through their property. 

A rancher from the Victoria area with pipelines and power transmission lines running through his property noted that whatever offer a pipeline company makes, “If you don’t like their offer, get ready for a lawsuit.”

He also said that the damage done to land once a pipeline is buried under it lasts longer than any payment received for short-term use.

“That land is damaged for as long as that pipe’s in the ground,” he said. 

Another rancher from Erath County said that his property contains several abandoned pipelines and several operational pipelines, and more pipelines are slated to come through. He said his days are mostly spent dealing with lawyers. He called the current eminent domain system “unfair and one-sided” and said that though he is not against the oil and gas industry, he feels that pipeline companies “that hide under the veil of oil and gas” take advantage of Texas’ current eminent domain allowances.

“Texans deserve better from Texas,” he said.