U.S. Senator Josh Hawley | Official U.S. Senate headshot
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley | Official U.S. Senate headshot
U.S. Senator Hawley (R-Mo.) has written a letter to Secretary Granholm and introduced new legislation in an effort to counter federal attempts to seize land from Missouri residents. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), spearheaded by Senate Democrats and signed into law by President Biden, bestowed upon the Department of Energy (DOE) the power to designate new transmission line corridors and appropriate land from Missouri landowners.
The DOE recently announced the next phase in this National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor (NIETC) process, proposing a corridor across Missouri. If enacted, this designation would empower the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve eminent domain for new transmission lines, even when such approval has been previously denied by state regulators.
Senator Hawley penned a letter to DOE Secretary Granholm, urging her to halt the implementation and safeguard Missouri landowners. "This issue is important to farmers in my state, who have already had to deal with Invenergy’s attempts to build electric transmission lines through farmlands [...] by designating a new NIETC in Missouri, you have chosen to federalize this issue and take any future consideration away from state regulators [...] I strongly urge you to stop any further consideration of this project and listen to the farmers of Missouri," wrote Senator Hawley.
Subsequent to his letter, Senator Hawley presented new legislation titled 'Protecting Our Farmers from the Green New Deal Act' aimed at permanently repealing these provisions and restoring rights of Missouri landowners over their property.
The 'Protecting Our Farmers from the Green New Deal Act' would:
- Prohibit FERC from issuing electrical siting permits where State regulators already have jurisdiction over these projects.
- Mandate FERC to ensure that any proposed electrical transmission projects it approves minimizes adverse effects on landowners and farmers, adequately compensates them for any loss, and provides benefits to consumers in the State.
- Forbid FERC from reviewing any electrical siting applications where a State regulator has previously denied an application.
The full letter to Secretary Granholm and the complete text of the bill can be accessed via the provided links.
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