The Oregon legislature is about to trounce all over private property rights if we don’t contact our representatives and demand they protect them. Senate Business, Transportation and Economic Development Committee rubber stamped Fast Track Bill – HB 2700 yesterday and sent it on, unamended, to the Senate where it will be scheduled for a vote.
If this bill passes as written your neighbor could conceivably take out a permit on your property without your knowledge or permission. This bill will allow foreign owned companies to do the same thing.
UPDATE: These members of the Senate Business, Transportation and Economic Development Committee ignored all the testimony given last week and moved this bill forward without any question or discussion. Be sure and thank them for ignoring your property rights!
Lee Beyer, Chair Jason Atkinson, Vice-Chair Ginny Burdick Chris Edwards Fred Girod Bruce Starr
Jody McCaffree has compiled this information packet.
o listen to yesterdays hearing you can go to the following link:
http://www.leg.state.or.us/listn/
Click on “2011 Session” under “Audio Archives:” (You will have to scroll down to find this section)
Click on “Archives of Committee Meetings from the 2011 Session”
Click on “Business, Transportation and Economic Development”
Click on 5/23/2011 – 3 p.m. (You will have to scroll down to find this section)You will need to have ‘Real Player’ downloaded to be able to listen. HB 2700 was the last item on the agenda.
———————————————————————————–Martha’s 5-23-2011 recap of the HB 2700 work session:
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –It was not a good day for us in Salem. This afternoon about 20 red-shirted, NoLNG-buttoned folks attended the hearing on HB2700 before the Senate Business, Transportation and Economic Development Committee (Senators Lee Beyer, Jason Atkinson, Chris Edwards, Fred Girod, Bruce Starr and Ginny Burdick). After dealing with several other unrelated bills, the committee took testimony from several pro-bill folks, including union reps, the League of Oregon Cities, and Louis Solliday, the director of the Dept. of State Lands (DSL). (We thought there would be no testimony taken today, but we were told that these folks were allowed to speak because they were not able to testify two weeks ago.) They all stressed the importance of the bills for jobs and the economy. There was not a single word addressing our arguments, and no acknowledgement of the special situation of LNG pipelines that involve FERC superceding state and local authority and providing no assessment of need. In a series of leading questions, Sen. Beyer prompted Solliday to lay out her argument that the bill would improve the permitting process and that its provisions would not harm anyone. She said that DSL has a policy of notifying affected and adjacent neighbors about permit applications. The -6 and -7 amendments were referred to, but they were never even read, and there was no debate. The bill was then passed out of committee, with no amendment, with a 4 to 1 vote (Sen. Girod voting no and Sen. Atkinson having left the room).
Now the bill goes to the full Senate, where it is likely to pass. We have just one more chance to stop it or slow it down. So please contact your Senators – or all of them, if you like. Below is a list of all the state Senators and links to their e-mail addresses. If you’re not sure who is your state Senator, you can find out here: http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/
Sen. Betsy Johnson has been our ally in this fight, so she deserves our strong thanks and support. sen.betsyjohnson@state.or.us
Thanks to all of you who have written and called in the last week. Win or lose, we will keep up the fight, and make sure our legislators know we’re keeping score.
Thanks,
Martha
——————————————————————–[ You can send a note to all the Senators at once by copying and pasting the following e-mail addresses into your e-mail “To:” box ]
sen.jeffkruse@state.or.us, sen.jasonatkinson@state.or.us, sen.alanbates@state.or.us, sen.floydprozanski@state.or.us, sen.joanneverger@state.or.us, sen.leebeyer@state.or.us, sen.chrisedwards@state.or.us, sen.frankmorse@state.or.us, sen.fredgirod@state.or.us, sen.jackiewinters@state.or.us, sen.petercourtney@state.or.us, sen.markhass@state.or.us, sen.brianboquist@state.or.us, sen.brucestarr@state.or.us, sen.larrygeorge@state.or.us, sen.richarddevlin@state.or.us, sen.ginnyburdick@state.or.us, sen.alanolsen@state.or.us, sen.suzannebonamici@state.or.us, sen.rodmonroe@state.or.us, sen.betsyjohnson@state.or.us, sen.chipshields@state.or.us, sen.dougwhitsett@state.or.us, sen.chuckthomsen@state.or.us, sen.christelfer@state.or.us, sen.jackiedingfelder@state.or.us, sen.tedferrioli@state.or.us, sen.davidnelson@state.or.us, sen.lauriemonnesanderson@state.or.us, sen.dianerosenbaum@state.or.us,Oregon State Senate – in District Order
Jeff Kruse
sen.jeffkruse@state.or.usJason Atkinson, Committee Vice-Chair
sen.jasonatkinson@state.or.usAlan Bates
sen.alanbates@state.or.usFloyd Prozanski
sen.floydprozanski@state.or.usJoanne Verger
sen.joanneverger@state.or.usLee Beyer, Committee Chair
sen.leebeyer@state.or.usChris Edwards
sen.chrisedwards@state.or.usFrank Morse
sen.frankmorse@state.or.usFred Girod
sen.fredgirod@state.or.usJackie Winters
sen.jackiewinters@state.or.usPeter Courtney, President
sen.petercourtney@state.or.usBrian Boquist
sen.brianboquist@state.or.usLarry George
sen.larrygeorge@state.or.usMark Hass
sen.markhass@state.or.usBruce Starr
sen.brucestarr@state.or.usBetsy Johnson
sen.betsyjohnson@state.or.usSuzanne Bonamici
sen.suzannebonamici@state.or.usGinny Burdick
sen.ginnyburdick@state.or.usRichard Devlin
sen.richarddevlin@state.or.usAlan Olsen
sen.alanolsen@state.or.usDiane Rosenbaum, Majority Leader
sen.dianerosenbaum@state.or.usChip Shields
sen.chipshields@state.or.usJackie Dingfelder
sen.jackiedingfelder@state.or.usRod Monroe
sen.rodmonroe@state.or.usLaurie Monnes Anderson
sen.lauriemonnesanderson@state.or.usChuck Thomsen
sen.chuckthomsen@state.or.usChris Telfer
sen.christelfer@state.or.usDoug Whitsett
sen.dougwhitsett@state.or.usDavid Nelson
sen.davidnelson@state.or.usTed Ferrioli, Minority Leader
sen.tedferrioli@state.or.us______________________________________________
From: Bob Barker
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2011 12:25 AM
To: ‘sen.leebeyer@state.or.us’
Subject: Rationale for Amending HB 2700 to Exclude LNG Send-Out Pipelines (the Dash 6 Amendment)Dear Senator Beyer:
At the Committee work session today, please either amend HB 2700 to exclude LNG send-out pipelines (the Dash 6 Amendment) or reject the bill altogether.
Here’s why the State of Oregon should not pass legislation to fast-track LNG:
No Public Benefit and Need
The taking of private property by eminent domain is a very serious matter and should only be supported or allowed for linear projects that meet public benefit and need requirements of the citizens of Oregon. The State of Oregon has documented that LNG is totally unnecessary for Oregon’s energy needs. With regard to LNG projects in Oregon, there is a (well documented) 100 year supply of domestic natural gas, The Ruby pipeline from the Rocky mountains is currently being built to supply domestic natural gas to the west coast, the vast majority of the gas is going to California markets and foreign source LNG is not needed for domestic consumption.
The State of Oregon Has No Say in Siting LNG Projects
Unlike other linear projects, LNG siting is determined by private out of state companies and the federal government. Multiple and overlapping projects are approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) without consideration of the devastating impact on thousands of Oregon landowners. Oregon should not change existing law to fast track LNG projects over which they have no say.
The Increased Likelihood of Export
The backers of these LNG pipeline projects have finally admitted they are considering exporting (not importing) LNG. Out-of-state energy speculators are pushing huge coastal LNT terminals to market low-cost U.S. natural gas around the world. This will raise prices for the average U.S. homeowner for heating and cooking and harm our economy. Just this week, a major foreign investor in the Jordan Cove LNG project, Veresen, indicated that it is exploring the option of exporting LNG. According to Veresen, “Given current market conditions, Veresen is exploring alternative used for the proposed Jordan Cove Energy Project and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline. A number of natural gas producers have expressed strong interest in converting Jordan Cove from an import facility into a liquefaction and LNG export facility.”
The Spirit of Measure 39
Oregon Ballot Measure 39, passed in the 2006 General Election, prohibits the government from condemning property from one private party (by eminent domain) on behalf of another private party. The use of eminent domain for LNG projects for export and in the absence of public benefit and need run counter to the spirit of Measure 39.
This is Not a Jobs Bill
In a down economy, we are all conscious of the need to support job creation. For linear projects that involve the use of eminent domain, job creation should be based on the need for the end product (natural gas in the case of LNG projects) and not any temporary jobs created to build an unnecessary infrastructure. As we know from the current construction of the Ruby pipeline in Southern Oregon, most of the skill jobs for LNG projects will go to out-of-state workers and that much of the work performed will be on the private land of Oregon citizens who have had their land taken by eminent domain or the threat thereof.
Let the Court Rule on the Lawsuit Filed by Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline Claiming that the Existing “landowner signature requirement” is Unconstitutional
The lawsuit against the State of Oregon, which only applies to LNG, should be decided on its own merits and not rendered moot by the version of HB 2700 passed by the House.
Safety
We know all too well from recent events in California and Japan that LNG terminals and pipelines present significant safety risks. The Oregon coast sits on the dangerous Cascadia earthquake fault – the West Coast fault zone that mirrors Japan’s fault zone. California, New Jersey, and other coastal states have recently denied LNG projects for safety reasons.
Personal Impact
As a landowners along the proposed Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline route, we know personally of the devastating impact construction of these unnecessary pipelines will have on our property and our lives. In our case, one-third of our forest property will be cleared of all vegetation for both the route and a temporary work area during completing of a 3000 foot drill under the Rogue River from our property. My neighbor on one side will be unable to build on his property (due to the size of his lot and the location of the pipeline) and my neighbor on the other side is unable to sell his property because no one wants to buy property with a 30 inch pipeline running through it. Individuals who farm, ranch or manage forests on their property have serious ongoing economic impacts.
Please amend HB 2700 to exclude LNG send-out pipelines or reject the bill altogether.
Thank you.
Bob and Gail Barker
Shady Cove
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THEN WHY THE HELL ISN’T THAT IMPORTANT FACT BEING MENTIONED?
ANYWHERE?
HE’S SUPPOSED TO BE A DEMOCRAT ISN’T HE?
Sorry about the caps, but that man is a coward, and not tying him directly to this filthy legislation for industry only encourages him..
I do think Roblan was one of the co-sponsors of this bill or one of the earlier versions
Am I mistaken in thinking this was the bill Arnie Roblan was sponsoring? I don’t see his name anywhere.