House Bill Tackles Pipeline Companies’ Eminent Domain Powers
“This common carrier status, which means the company is carrying competitors’ products as well as its own to serve the public good, grants companies the right to take land without getting landowners’ consent. Oliveira’s House Bill 3547 attempts to set up a process to ensure companies claiming the status are actually common carriers. The House Business and Industry Committee discussed the bill last night.
In Texas, there is currently no process to verify whether a company is actually carrying competitors’ products. All a company has to do is check a box on its permit application to the Texas Railroad Commission.”
Mosqueda, Priscilla. Texas Observer 10 April 2013.