releases: https://raskin.house.gov/media/press-releases/ferc-pressed-failure-protect-landowners-natural-gas-construction-projects
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://raskin.house.gov/media/press-releases/ferc-pressed-failure-protect-landowners-natural-gas-construction-projects | FERC Pressed on Failure to Protect Landowners in Natural Gas Construction Projects | 2020-12-10 | 2020 | 2020-12 | Democrat | Senate | MD | Jamie Raskin | R000606 | raskin.house.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON, D.C. --Yesterday, Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties,pressed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for failing to protect the rights of landowners whose properties are affected by natural gas projects, and followed up on theinvestigationandvideo reportthe Subcommittee released earlier this year. ChairmanRaskin opened the bipartisan hearing, saying: These areRepublicans. These are Democrats. These are American citizens whose rights are being trampled bya combination of big business and a compliant biggovernment working for big business.These are Americans who have a right to their property andtheir rights are being demolished. FERC justclears the way for pipelinecompanies to trample the property rights of the people. Chairman Raskin also released new datashowing that FERC approved 89 out of92certificate extension requestsover the last 12 years.Duringthatsame timeframe, FERC denied everylandowner appealit received. Chairman Raskin stated: A system where corporations win nearly 100% of the time and people win 0% of the time isnot a fair, unbiased, and balanced system. It is rigged. That is not a system of justice or of administrative process that anyone can recognize for a democratic society. FERC's witnesses, Mr.DavidMorenoff, Acting General Counsel,and Mr.TerryTurpin,Director of the Office of Energy Projects,faced pointed questions from committee members and made several key admissions. In response to questions from Chairman Raskin, FERC admitted that it does not use authority it has to protect landowners. For example, FERC does not condition its pipeline approval on a requirement that the company return unused land to its owners when a construction project is cancelled. In response to questioning from Oversight ChairwomanCarolynMaloney about FERC'srequest for legislationbarring eminent domain cases from proceeding while FERC appeals are pending, FERC acknowledged that it has independent authoritywhich it chooses not to exerciseto suspend its certificates and forestall eminent domain without any action from Congress. Rep.DebbieWasserman Schultz relayed the story of theHollerans, a family in Pennsylvania who, in 2016,lost 90% of the maple treesin their small maple syrupbusiness due to pre-construction for the Constitution Pipeline. That pipeline was cancelled earlier this year. Despite asserting that the business's destruction was not an outcome that the FERC review process was ever intended to allow to have happen, FERC nevertheless acknowledged that its recent changes in procedure do not guarantee that such an outcome cannot happen again. In response to Rep.RobinKelly's question about why FERC has failed tocreatethe Office of Public Participation that Congress authorized 40 years ago, FERCclaimed that it needs funds to do so,despite never having requestedsuch fundsfrom Congress. When challenged by Rep.RashidaTlaibforfailing tosufficientlyeducatelandowners about their rights,FERC admitted thatit does not proactively notifylandowners that they are in the path of apipeline or of how to asserttheir rights. Instead, FERC delegates that responsibility to pipeline companies. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |