On-Demand Webinar | Eminent Domain in 2020: A Year in Review
[WEBINAR] Creating an Accessible City
A monumental victory for the Swinomish Indian Tribe was announced this spring when a judge in the Western District of Washington ordered BNSF Railway Company to pay nearly $400 million in profits damages to the Swinomish...more
A Céspedes for the Rest of Us! Ex-New York Met Has Himself a Day, Winning a Critical Preliminary Injunction, as Chandler Bats Founder Finds Himself in a Pickle - The companies of ex-MLB player Yoenis Céspedes—La Potencia,...more
For one reason or another, not every parcel of land originally targeted for a renewable energy project is able to be included in a final site plan. Typically, developers try to secure private easements from contiguous...more
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has finalized two rules to further prioritize the health of public lands and facilitate renewable energy leases: the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule and the Rights-of-Way, Leasing,...more
This article discusses certain legal issues on how courts interpret written easements, and provides some highlights on Washington easement law. The quotations below all come from various Washington appellate and federal court...more
Colorado law, as outlined in section 102 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, defines "right-of-way" as the privilege granted to one vehicle operator or pedestrian to proceed in a legal manner over another in situations where...more
When one hears “eminent domain” or “condemnation,” you might envision a governmental agency or utility coming in and acquiring the entirety of a piece of property and leaving nothing behind. However, often times,...more
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced on January 17, 2024, the publication of its draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to help streamline and accelerate utility-scale solar energy development...more
Yesterday, the Court of Appeals of Virginia held that, in order to establish an implied easement, a party must prove the physical location of the easement. In Thomas E. Morris, et al. v. Anthony Heath Parker, et al., Record...more
The Right of Way Consultant’s Council Membership Meeting took place in Downtown Las Vegas on November 3, 2023. Having previously presented an eminent domain topic at the 2022 Membership Meeting, Steven Silva from Nossaman’s...more
This past week I had the opportunity to attend the International Right of Way Association’s (IRWA) Region 1 Fall Forum and Symposium in San Diego, California. On Friday, Brad Kuhn and I presented an update on recent federal...more
2023 has been another interesting year in the eminent domain world. We’ve reported on some interesting court decisions, we’ve seen funding make its way to some critical infrastructure projects in California and changing...more
As of January 1, 2024, New York City will require that all building parapets facing the public right-of-way undergo an annual inspection by a “competent person.” The stated purpose of the mandate is to maintain the city’s...more
On July 27, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s decision to grant the Wilderness Society’s motions to stay of construction on the Mountain Valley Pipeline (“MVP”) pending...more
The Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (AFIDA) requires that foreign investors who acquire, transfer, or hold an interest in U.S. agricultural land report such holdings and transactions to the Secretary of...more
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of Texas held that Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure Inc. and its related entities have eminent domain authority to acquire property for a proposed high-speed rail between Dallas and...more
The U.S. Supreme Court shocked many observers with its recent decision in PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey by holding that sovereign immunity does not insulate State-owned land from being condemned by a private company in...more
The Board of Trustees in the Village of Dering Harbor, located on Shelter Island, adopted a resolution in February of 2018, granting an application of property owners, Brad Goldfarb and Alfredo Paredes, to install and...more
Most professionals in the right-of-way industry are generally aware that partial acquisitions may entitle a property owner to receive compensation not only for the value of the land taken, but also for any damages caused to...more
Determining the width of a right-of-way may be more difficult than you think, even when the dimensions are specifically defined. New York courts take the approach that elevates the right of passage over full use an easement...more
On June 29, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by FERC under section 7 of the Natural Gas Act (“NGA”) authorizes a private company to exercise...more
Late last month, the Federal Courts issued two major rulings involving certificates of public convenience and necessity for natural gas pipelines issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. While a decision by the...more
In a 5-4 ruling decided on June 29, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court in PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC v. New Jersey et al. affirmed the rights of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)-certified pipelines seeking to use eminent...more
On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that private utilities may exercise eminent domain to take state-owned property under the Natural Gas Act (NGA). The decision resolved an issue that could have blocked construction...more