Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.Click here to read more about the Keystone XL pipeline.
* * * * *
LINCOLN — Nebraska appears to be on track to have oil pipeline routing laws in place by this time next week.
Two pipeline bills that are scheduled for a final vote Tuesday carry the emergency clause.
That means they would take effect as soon as they are signed into law, assuming they pass the Legislature with at least 33 votes. Both measures cleared second-round votes this week with strong support.
Gov. Dave Heineman is expected to sign both bills, most likely on Tuesday, according to his spokeswoman, Jen Rae Hein.
Heineman called the Legislature into special session because he opposed the Keystone XL pipeline's proposed route through the ecologically sensitive Sand Hills.
The governor, however, did not propose any legislation or make public comments about the bills that were introduced.
Lawmakers came together around two bills after Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood reached a compromise with TransCanada Inc., the company behind the $7 billion, 1,700-mile Keystone project.
TransCanada agreed to change the route to avoid the Sand Hills and dropped its opposition to state legislation.
The compromise emerged after officials with the U.S. State Department extended their review to do further study of the Sand Hills portion of the route. The State Department is involved because the pipeline would cross an international boundary.
Legislative Bill 4 would authorize Nebraska to participate in the federal approval process for oil pipelines, including the continuing review for the controversial Keystone XL project.
The bill would direct the state Department of Environmental Quality to do supplemental environmental impact statements on proposed pipelines in collaboration with federal officials.
The governor would use the state review as a basis for making a recommendation to the federal government.
The other measure, Legislative Bill 1, would set up a state approval process for all future oil pipelines in and through Nebraska.
Pipeline companies would have to seek approval for their proposed projects from the Nebraska Public Service Commission.
Under the bill, pipeline companies would have to wait for that approval before using eminent domain to obtain easements across private land.
Contact the writer: 402-473-9583, martha.stoddard@owh.com
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
