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Eminent Domain Changes Signed into Law

The League successfully worked with authors to prevent impacts on municipal public service corporations.
(Published May 12, 2010)

A bill to clarify the eminent domain authority of public service corporations has been signed into law. Gov. Pawlenty signed Chapter 288 (Rep. David Bly, DFL-Northfield/Sen. Kevin Dahle, DFL-Northfield) on April 30, and it went into effect on May 1.

The final law, amended by the authors to address concerns raised by the League, says that high-voltage transmission lines and ancillary substations and petroleum or natural gas pipelines and their ancillary compressor or pumping stations must use the 2006 version of property assessment and acquisition to use eminent domain to gain easements. The new requirements would no longer apply to municipal water, sewer, wastewater, and stormwater utilities, municipal airports, watershed districts, drainage authorities, cable and other telecommunication utilities, and distribution level electric and gas infrastructure.

The Public Utilities Commission must also consider using existing high-voltage routes on routes parallel to existing highway rights of way and must explain why such options were not chosen if they are not used.

Background
When state statutes related to eminent domain were changed in 2006, an intentional exemption to some of those far more restrictive requirements was allowed for public service corporations, which includes any municipal utilities, as well as all manner of electric and gas companies. The exemptions were left because the projects undertaken by public service corporations were determined to have projects so clearly tied to "public purpose" that their continued access to a thorough, but streamlined eminent domain proceeding was appropriate.

The original versions of HF 1182/SF 1112 proposed to completely remove those exemptions, which could dramatically increase costs for all easements needed by municipal utilities. In many cases, the extension of city utilities affected are required for public health or environmental purposes and may even be mandated by state or federal law and are clearly being done for public purpose. The League and the Minnesota Municipal Utility Association asked that any changes made to existing law be targeted at the high-voltage transmission lines and pipelines that are causing controversy, rather than completely removing the entire public service corporation exemption.

In 2009, in response to controversy related to a high voltage power line siting, Minnesota Statutes, section 117.189 was amended to increase the limit of reimbursement to a property owner for assessment to $1,500. If high-voltage transmission lines are involved, the limit is raised to $3,000. Other exemptions to the new more restrictive eminent domain procedure for public service corporations were left intact.

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