FW: URGENT: Help defeat BAD common carrier bill Fri. am

[Maria Selva]

see email below from Ben Franklin
Maria

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Date: Thu, 2 May 2013 20:05:22 -0500
Subject: Fwd: URGENT: Help defeat BAD common carrier bill Fri. am
From: veryl...@gmail.com

Out of town, but this is important
Benjamin Franklin
Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do. ~Voltaire

Dear Friends,           (circulate far and wide- we need lots of calls)

Your urgent help is needed before Friday. Call you local House Representative and a few more-tell them to VOTE NO against HB 2748. (see list at bottom of letter)

Currently, a pipeline company can claim they are a common carrier by simply checking a box on the one page, T-4 form at the Railroad Commission. These companies are automatically given eminent domain/condemnation rights over landowners.  There are no current procedures at the Railroad Commission to verify a common carrier in Texas. 

Landowners across the state have been left to go through the entire condemnation process with no recourse till after condemnation to challenge a pipeline’s common carrier status.

Texans’ private property rights need to protected through the full due process of law. 

HB 2748 modifies the current process by which the Railroad Commission (RRC) reviews and approves common carrier permit applications-- but this bill is BAD for landowners for the following reasons:

• Fails to include mailed notice to affected landowners whose property may be impacted by the pipeline – two weeks notice in a newspaper is insufficient.
• The opportunity for landowners to protest the application is too short (21 days).
• Most importantly, the Railroad Commission decision will be a ‘conclusive determination’ for the purpose of judicial review, which severely limits a landowner’s ability to appeal.

Groups who want the Lewis HB 2748 bill killed include groups of all political persuasions: Public Citizen, Sierra Club, WeTexans, IndyTexans, Texas Farm Bureau, Texas Forestry Association, Texas Wildlife Association, Texas Cattle Feeders Association, Texas Land & Minerals Association, Texas and Southwestern Cattleraisers Association.

René Oliveira’s bill HB 3547, which is sitting in Calendars, will provide a GOOD process by which a company has to prove it meets the criteria for common carrier. This process requires evidentiary review. It gives a process for landowners which will requires notice, a hearing, and a process through the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH), where independent judges can rule on whether a company, is in fact, a common carrier. It provides that a certain that 33% of what is carried in the pipeline be allocated for more than one shipper/carrier.  

Tell you Representative to VOTE NO on HB 2748 coming up Friday so this better bill has an opportunity to truly protect landowners.  CALL please, it's better than emailing

Rep. Rafael Anchia 512.463.0746             Rep. Stefani Carter  512.463.0454                             Rep. Roberto Alonzo   512.463.0408         Rep. Angie Button  512.463.0486                                 Rep. Lon Burnam  512.463.0740               Rep. Myra Crownover   512.463.0582                                 Rep. Bennet Ratliff  512.463.0468             Rep. Toni Rose  512.463.0664                                        Rep. Yvonne Davis, 512.463.0598            Rep. Pat Fallon  512.463.0694
Rep. Linda Harper-Brown  512.463.0641    Rep. Eric Johnson  512.463.0586                                   Rep. Jodie Laubenberg  512.463.0186       Rep. Tan Parker  512.463.0688                                 Rep. Helen Giddings  512.463.0953          Rep. Craig Goldman  512.463.0608                               Rep. Kenneth Sheets  512.463.0244         Rep. Jonathan Stickland  512.463.0522                                Rep. Van Taylor   512.463.0594                Rep. Chris Turner   512.463.0574                                 Rep. Jason Villalba  512.463.0576            Rep. Bill Zedler  512.463.0374                                             Rep. Nicole Collier   512.463.0716             Rep. Cindy Burkett, 512.463.0464                                            Rep. Dan Branch  512.463.0729

Thanks, Rita Beving, Public Citizen 

[Dee yadira]

Does anyone know  the status of  HB 2748 and  HB 3547?

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From: selv...@hotmail.com
To: 770dis...@txgreens.org; codepin...@lists.riseup.net; occupyhous...@lists.riseup.net; occupy...@lists.riseup.net; ows...@googlegroups.com; no...@googlegroups.com
Subject: FW: URGENT: Help defeat BAD common carrier bill Fri. am
Date: Fri, 3 May 2013 04:24:45 +0000

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[Dee yadira]

Deadline for bills to be introduced in Tx House has passed and both HB 2748 (bad carrier bill) and  HB 3547 (review for carrier status) dies unless resurrected in senate, which is highly unlikely or a special session is called determining what is eligible. 

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From: deyad...@hotmail.com
To: ows...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: URGENT: Help defeat BAD common carrier bill Fri. am
Date: Mon, 13 May 2013 12:35:18 -0500