Massachusetts § 69S - Eminent domain with respect to oil pipelines; requisite procedures; rights relative to taking

§ 69S. Eminent domain with respect to oil pipelines; requisite procedures; rights relative to taking

Section 69S. Any company may petition the board for the right to exercise the power of eminent domain with respect to oil pipelines specified and contained in the proposed notice of intention submitted in accordance with section 69J if such company is unable to reach agreement with the owners of land for acquisition of any necessary estate or interest in land. The company shall forward at the time of filing such petition a copy thereof to each city and town affected. The company shall file with such petition or have annexed thereto: (1) a statement of the use for which such land is to be taken; (2) a description of land to be taken sufficient for the identification thereof; (3) a statement of the estate or interest in the land to be taken for such use; (4) a plan showing the land to be taken; (5) a statement of the sum of money established by such company to be just compensation for the land to be taken; and (6) such additional maps and information as the board requires.

[Second paragraph effective until March 1, 2026. For text effective March 1, 2026, see below.]

The board after such notice as it may direct, shall give a public hearing or hearings in the community in which the greater portion of said land in question is located. The board may thereafter authorize the company to take by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine such lands necessary for the construction of the oil pipeline as required in the public interest, convenience and necessity. The board shall transmit a certified copy of its order to the company, to the clerk of each affected community and to each affected land owner.

[Second paragraph as amended by 2024, 239, Sec. 73 effective March 1, 2026. See 2024, 239, Sec. 139. For text effective until March 1, 2026, see above.]

The board, after such notice as it may direct, shall hold at least 1 public hearing in the city or town in which the greater portion of said land in question is located. The board may thereafter authorize the company to take by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine such lands necessary for the construction of the oil pipeline as required in the public interest, convenience and necessity. The board shall transmit a certified copy of its order to the company, to the clerk of each affected community and to each affected land owner.

If the board dismisses the petition at any stage in said proceedings, no further action shall be taken thereon, except that the company may file a new petition after the expiration of a year from such dismissal.

Following a taking under this section, the company may forthwith proceed to utilize such land. If the company shall not utilize the land so taken for the purpose or purposes authorized in the board's order within such time as the board shall determine, its rights under such taking shall cease and terminate.

No land, rights of way or other easements therein in any public way, public place, public park or reservation shall be taken by eminent domain under the provisions of this section.

This section shall apply only to oil pipelines which are facilities as defined in section sixty-nine G.