2007 Minnesota Statutes

216G.03 PIPELINE PROPOSAL; EASEMENT ACQUISITION.
    Subdivision 1. Compliance; penalty. Any person proposing to construct or operate a
pipeline shall comply with the provisions of this section before negotiating or acquiring any
easement or right-of-way agreement for that purpose. Any person who negotiates or acquires an
easement without complying with the provisions of this section is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
    Subd. 2. When routing permit required. Any person proposing to construct or operate a
pipeline for which a pipeline routing permit is not required under section 216G.02, shall so notify
the Public Utilities Commission and the county board of each county through which the pipeline
will be constructed. The notice shall include a description of the route on which the pipeline is
proposed to be located, the size and type of pipeline to be constructed, the types of commodities
to be carried and the construction and operational characteristics of the pipeline. The proposed
route shall be described in sufficient detail so that the owners or lessees of property on which the
route is located can be identified. Notice to the Public Utilities Commission shall be accompanied
by a fee of $25,000 for preparation of an information book as provided in section 216G.04 and
for expenses incurred by state agencies to participate in public meetings as provided in section
216G.05. All fees received are appropriated to the Public Utilities Commission for its own use
and for distribution to state agencies for these purposes. The Public Utilities Commission shall
refund any amount that exceeds the actual cost to the commission of preparing the information
book, including necessary revisions, and to state agencies for participating in the public meetings.
If the pipeline route described in the notice is changed to the extent that, in any county, 20
percent or more of the owners or lessees of property on which the new route is located were not
owners or lessees of property on which the other route was located, the person proposing to
construct and operate the pipeline shall notify the Public Utilities Commission and the county
board of that county of the change in the proposed route. No additional fee shall be required
for a notice of change of a proposed route.
    Subd. 3. When routing permit not required. (a) If a pipeline routing permit is not required
for construction of a pipeline under section 216G.02, a person may not negotiate or acquire an
easement or right-of-way agreement for the purpose of constructing and operating a pipeline
until 30 days after:
(1) a public meeting has been held as provided in section 216G.05 in the county in which
the right-of-way in question is located; and
(2) that person has provided to the owner or lessee from whom the easement or agreement is
acquired a copy of the information book prepared pursuant to section 216G.04.
(b) If the original information book is revised pursuant to section 216G.04, each owner or
lessee of property which the original route did not affect shall be provided with a copy of the
revised book.
History: 1979 c 194 s 2; 1987 c 353 s 2,3; 2005 c 97 art 3 s 19