HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3347        FILED ON: 1/18/2013

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2845

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Peter V. Kocot

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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 an easement in the city of Northampton.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3347        FILED ON: 1/18/2013

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2845

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Thirteen

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An Act relative to the conveyance of an easement in the city of Northampton.

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to provide forthwith for the conveyance of a certain easement in the City of Northampton, in the County of Hampshire, 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. The first paragraph of section 11 of chapter 288 of the acts of 1989 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the words “planning and operations” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- asset management and maintenance.

SECTION 2. Said first paragraph of said section 11 of said chapter 288 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 2, the words “department of mental health” and inserting in place thereof the following words:-department of agricultural resources.

SECTION 3. Notwithstanding sections 40E to 40J, inclusive, of chapter 7 of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation with the commissioner of agricultural resources, may convey by deed, a permanent and nonexclusive pipeline easement thirty feet wide, as more particularly shown on a plan of land entitled "Existing 12" pipeline, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Dept. of Food & Agriculture property, Hampshire County, Massachusetts dated December 23, 2010, Drawing Number TB-L12-E260A-100-17,to be recorded at the Hampshire County Registry of Deeds. 

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, and access thereto.

SECTION 4. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall be an independent appraisal of the easement described in section 3 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 the easement, based upon professional appraisal. In order to expedite said conveyance, the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance may, in consultation with the commissioner of agricultural resources, accept the appraisal of the easement 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 easement authorized in said section 3, the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C. shall compensate the commonwealth in an amount at least equal to or greater than the full and fair market value of the diminution, as determined by the independent appraisal. The Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C. shall assume all reasonable costs associated with any engineering, surveys, appraisal, deed preparation and other expenses deemed necessary by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance to execute the conveyance authorized in said section 3. All monies paid to the commonwealth by the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C. as a result of the conveyance and easement authorized in said section 3 shall be deposited into the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources account within the Mitigation Expendable Trust Fund established in 2007. 

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

SECTION 5. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no instrument conveying, by or on behalf of the commonwealth, an easement described in section 3 shall be valid unless the instrument provides that the easement shall be used solely for the purposes described in said section 3. The easement instrument shall state that if the pipeline within the easement is abandoned by the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C. 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 department of agricultural resources upon such terms and conditions as the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation with the commissioner of agricultural resources, may reasonably determine. If an easement granted under said section 3 reverts to the commonwealth, any further disposition of the easement shall be subject to sections 40E to 40J inclusive, of chapter 7 of the General Laws and the prior approval of the general court.