SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2185        FILED ON: 2/25/2012

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2172

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Richard T. Moore

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to the conveyance of land in the town of Sutton.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2185        FILED ON: 2/25/2012

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2172

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Twelve

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An Act relative to the conveyance of land in the town of Sutton.

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to authorize the conveyances of certain easements in the town of Sutton, therefore, it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  Notwithstanding sections 40E to 40J, inclusive, of chapter 7 of the general laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation with the director of the division of fisheries and wildlife, may convey by deed, a permanent easement of 65 feet in width lying 15 feet north of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company's 24-inch pipeline and 50 feet south of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company's 24-inch pipeline, comprising approximately 2,210 square feet, more or less, in, under and through the land managed and controlled by the division of fisheries and wildlife located in the town of Sutton to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, its successors and assigns, as more particularly shown on a plan of land on file with the division of fisheries and wildlife entitled "Existing 24 & 30" pipelines, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife and Department of Environmental Management Property, Worcester County, Mass., TB-L12-200-2-542."

The easement shall be used to lay, construct, maintain, operate, repair, change the size of, remove or replace the gas transmission lines which are installed underground, together with appliances and appurtenances necessary thereto.

SECTION 2.  Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall be independent appraisals of the easements described in section 1 to be conveyed as authorized by this Act to determine the diminution in value to the respective property as a result of the granting of those easements, based upon professional appraisals.  In order to expedite said conveyances, the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance may, in consultation with the director of the division of fisheries and wildlife, accept appraisals of the easements that may have been conducted before the effective date of this Act that may have been accepted and agreed to previously.  In consideration of the conveyance of the easements authorized in said section 1, the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company shall compensate the commonwealth in an amount at least equal to or graeter than the full and fair market value of the diminution, as determined by the independent appraisals.  The Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company shall assume all reasonable costs associated with any engineering, surveys, appraisals, deed preparation, and other expenses deemed necessary by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance to execute the conveyances authorized in said section 1.  All monies paid to the commonwealth by the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company as a result of the conveyances and easements authorized in said section 1 shall be deposited into the Wildlands Acquisition Account within the Inland Fisheries and Game Fund established in section 2A of chapter 31 of the general laws.

The commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance shall submit the appraisals and report thereon to the inspector general for his review and comment.  The inspector general shall review and approve the appraisals.  The review shall include an examination of the methodology used for the appraisals.  The inspector general shall, within 30 days after receipt of the appraisals and the reports thereon, prepare a report of his review and file the report with the commissioner.  The commissioner shall then submit a report to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the house and senate commitees on bonding, capital expenditures and state assets before the execution of the conveyances.

SECTION 3.  Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no instrument conveying, by or on behalf of the commonwealth, the easement described in section 1 shall be valid unless the instrument provides that the easement shall be used solely for the purposes described in said section 1, as the case may be.  The easement instrument shall state that if the pipelines within the easement are abandoned by the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, or its successors or assigns, and the same is approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the easement shall revert to the commonwealth under the control of and used by the division of fisheries and wildlife, as the case may be, upon such terms and conditions as the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance may reasonbly determine.  If an easement granted pursuant to said section1 reverts to the commonwealth, any further disposition of the easement shall be subject to sections 40E and 40J, inclusive, of chapter 7 of the general laws and the prior approval of the general court. 

SECTION 4.  Section 9 of chapter 288 of the acts of 1989 is hereby amended in the first sentence by deleting the words "department of environmental management" and inserting in place thereof the words "division of fisheries and wildlife".