(BISMARCK, ND – JUNE 24, 2014) – Agriculture Commissioner candidate Ryan Taylor and Public Service Commissioner candidates Tyler Axness and Todd Reisenauer released the following statement today on the Governor’s Pipeline Summit…

“Try as they might, the Governor’s Pipeline Summit cannot cover up the fact that under one-party rule, North Dakota’s pipeline oversight system has become a confusing bureaucratic disaster. North Dakotans are witnessing, on an almost weekly basis, saltwater spills that sterilize our ground and oil spills that cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to clean up. This undermines public trust in state government and undercuts public confidence in energy development.

“Taxpayer funded summits and state agency-issued news releases cannot hide one-party state government’s repeated failures to sensibly develop and manage pipeline development. North Dakotans deserve better.

“Our campaigns are focused on providing the solutions North Dakotans need and deserve. We offer the new ideas and leadership that will clean up Bismarck’s bureaucratic disaster. Our V.I.P. (Verification of the Integrity of Pipelines) Plan streamlines and modernizes the system by making the Public Service Commission the single point of responsibility for pipeline oversight in the state. Our Landowner’s Bill of Rights balances the interests of producers with developers in a bipartisan, common sense way.

“Our opponents are busy today playing election year heroes. We don’t need any more election year heroes in Bismarck. We need leaders who believe that the state-industry relationship must go beyond rules and regulations to create the public-private partnerships that build the modern infrastructure needed to preserve our prosperity. That’s what our campaigns are all about.”

THE AXNESS-REISENAUER V.I.P. PLAN

As proposed on June 12 by PSC candidates Tyler Axness and Todd Reisenauer.

1) PIPELINE AUDIT: The PSC will pursue a pipeline audit of all pipelines in the state that will be used to develop a new pipeline infrastructure map.

2) SINGLE POINT OF RESPONSIBILITY: The PSC will ask the 2015 Legislature to consolidate jurisdiction of all pipelines and place authority with the PSC.

3) IMPROVE PARTNERSHIPS TO MAXIMIZE EFFICIENCY: The PSC will work to improve partnerships with the federal government, private industry, landowners, and municipalities in order to simplify, modernize, and make more efficient the current oversight process.

4) FULLY EXERCISE THE PSC’S AUTHORITY: The PSC will fully exercise its existing jurisdiction and authority as provided in the North Dakota Century Code (NDCC 49-02), which vests the PSC with the oversight of “pipeline utilities engaged in the transportation of gas, oil, coal, and water.”

RYAN TAYLOR’S LANDOWNER’S BILL OF RIGHTS

As proposed on June 17 by Agriculture Commissioner candidate Ryan Taylor.

• A RIGHT TO PRIVATE SPACE: Increase from 500 feet to 1,320 feet (one-quarter mile) the distance that operations for drilling of a well must be placed from an occupied dwelling.

• A RIGHT TO SAFETY: On pipelines not regulated by the PSC, require flow meters and pressure cutoff switches on gas and liquid transmission lines.

• A RIGHT TO RECLAMATION: Extend to private landowners the same protections afforded to land use on public lands, as established by the State Land Board.

• A RIGHT TO MEDIATION: Fix mediation procedures to level the playing field between landowners and developers.

• A RIGHT TO TRANSPARENCY: The debate of the issues affecting landowners will take place in full view at public and recorded meetings, not in the darkened corners of the political back rooms.

The post Taylor, Axness, and Reisenauer: We need leaders, not election year heroes appeared first on North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party.

From: Dem-NPL News