August 14, 2020 3:30 a.m.

Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley plan to introduce legislation they say would strengthen the rights of landowners facing eminent domain claims from private companies.

A release from the senators claimed those companies are exploiting public interest provisions to confiscate property for natural gas pipeline development. It said the bills come in response to the natural gas industry’s increased use of eminent domain for pipeline development. The senators say the Federal Energy Regulator Commission has failed to protect landowners’ rights.

Wyden and Merkley said property owners in southern Oregon along the potential path of the Jordan Cove project provide a clear example of what they say is “an alarming trend”.

Wyden said the legislation would “…restore a much-needed balance that defends landowner’s rights with due process that’s both fair and common sense”.

Merkley said “for decades, the deck has been stacked in favor of private pipeline companies who can steamroll people’s private rights to build export pipelines that won’t benefit Americans”. He said if big pipeline corporations want to use land in southern Oregon or America, “…they should negotiate with the landowners for the right”.

Wyden’s Reaffirming Property Rights Through Natural Gas Modernization Act would end the legal presumption that gas exports are by definition in the public interest. It would also standardize gas developers’ communications to landowners while also setting time limits on FERC actions, set stricter standards on eminent domain claims, and provide a more robust appeals process for landowners, according to the release.

Merkley’s Ending Natural Gas Companies Seizure of Land for Export Profits Act would prohibit companies building export pipelines from using eminent domain claims for private land. In addition, it would affirm that the federal government does not have the authority to allow companies to use eminent domain to seize state land for natural gas pipelines, according to the release.

It said that both senators will introduce their bills when the Senate returns to business in September. Wyden and Merkley and co-sponsoring each other’s bills.