LINCOLN — Opponents of a controversial pipeline that will cross Nebraska’s Sand Hills said Wednesday that a recently discovered federal memo proves state lawmakers should know — and should have known late last year — that they have the power to regulate such projects.
The memo, dated Sept. 20, 2010, was sent from the Congressional Research Service to U.S. Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., and shared with some state lawmakers. It says “state laws establish the primary siting authority for oil pipelines.”
Ken Winston, an attorney and a representative of the Sierra Club of Nebraska, said that should give lawmakers “crystal-clear” guidance that they can pass regulations on the Keystone XL pipeline.
Winston and representatives of the Nebraska Farmers Union, Nebraska League of Conservation Voters and Nebraska Wildlife Federation said the memo should inspire the Legislature to advance one of the three pipeline bills now bogged down in the Natural Resources Committee.
“The time for excuses is over, the time to act is now,” said Duane Hovorka of the Wildlife Federation.
But two state senators involved in the issue said they don’t believe the memo clearly states what precise authority the state possesses.
Sen. Chris Langemeier of Schuyler, who heads the Natural Resources Committee, said it’s unclear what siting authority means. Does it mean, he said, that the state can direct the route around the Sand Hills, or does it mean only that the state can say how deeply the pipeline must be buried.
Sen. Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids, who said her bill deals with holding pipeline company TransCanada Inc. liable for spills and cleanups, said she was aware of the memo but didn’t think it affected her bill. It received only two of the five votes necessary to advance from the Natural Resources Committee.
Langemeier said he plans to refocus the pipeline bills.
Groups like the Sierra Club and BOLD Nebraska have joined a call issued by U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., to consider new routes for the pipeline that don’t cross the groundwater-rich Sand Hills. Environmental and farm groups also want clearer liability standards for TransCanada.
The company has said alternative routes would increase environmental risks and that their pipeline will be the safest ever built.
Some state lawmakers have said the state lacks the authority to regulate crude-oil pipelines. They say that is a federal responsibility.
Federal regulators announced recently that they plan additional environmental reviews of the project, which would carry crude oil from the tar-sands region of western Canada to the Gulf Coast of the United States.
That delay, Winston and other said, gives the state additional time to pass reasonable protections for Nebraskans and its landowners.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com
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