Senate Bill, No. 2211

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to immediately authorize the division of capital asset management and maintenance to convey certain easements across commonwealth property currently managed for conservation and recreation purposes, and the Towns of Saugus and Wakefield to convey certain easements in the Towns of Saugus and Wakefield, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.

SECTION 1. The Town of Saugus is hereby authorized to convey and grant by deed a permanent easement thirty feet in width lying fifteen feet to either side of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company’s proposed twenty-four inch pipeline, more or less, in, under, and through a parcel of land managed and controlled by the Saugus Conservation Commission for conservation purposes located in the Town of Saugus, together with temporary work space for construction purposes of approximately 0.6 acres and a temporary right to use a pre-existing road approximately ten feet wide for vehicular access during construction, to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, its successors and assigns, as more particularly shown on a plan of land entitled “Essex-Middlesex Project, Proposed 24" Main Line, Town of Saugus, Essex County, Massachusetts, TE-T12-270C-1200-1.00.” Said plan is on file with the Town of Saugus. The right to use said temporary work space shall expire upon completion of construction and restoration.

Said easements shall be used to lay, construct, maintain, operate, repair, change the size of, remove and/or replace the gas transmission line which shall be installed underground, together with appliances and appurtenances necessary thereto.

SECTION 2. The commissioner of the division of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation with the commissioner of the department of conservation and recreation, may, notwithstanding sections forty E to forty J, inclusive, of chapter seven of the General Laws, convey by deed, a permanent easement up to thirty feet in width lying fifteen feet to either side of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company’s proposed twenty-four inch pipeline, more or less, in, under, and through a parcel or parcels of land known as the breakheart reservation managed and controlled by the department of conservation and recreation for conservation and recreation purposes located in the Town of Saugus, together with temporary work space and additional temporary work space for construction purposes of approximately 0.06 acres immediately adjacent to the proposed permanent easement, to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, its successors and assigns, as more particularly shown on a plan of land entitled “Essex-Middlesex Project, Proposed 24" Main Line, Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Breakheart Reservation), Essex County, Massachusetts, TE-T12-270C-1200-47.00A.” Said plan is on file with the department of conservation and recreation. The right to use said temporary work space shall expire upon completion of construction and restoration. Minor modifications to the easement descriptions set forth in the plans described above may be made in order to conform with a final land survey, as accepted by said commissioner prior to any conveyance to carry out the purposes of this act.

SECTION 3. The commissioner of the division of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation with the department of conservation and recreation, may, notwithstanding sections forty E to forty J, inclusive, of chapter seven of the General Laws, convey by deed, a permanent easement thirty feet in width lying fifteen feet to either side of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company’s proposed twenty-four inch pipeline, more or less, in, under, and through a parcel of land managed and controlled by the department of conservation and recreation for conservation and recreation purposes located in the Town of Wakefield, together with temporary work space and additional temporary work space for construction purposes of approximately 1.2 acres immediately adjacent to the proposed permanent easement, to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, its successors and assigns, as more particularly shown on a plan of land entitled “Essex-Middlesex Project, Proposed 24" Main Line, Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Breakheart Reservation), Middlesex County, Massachusetts, TE-T12-270C-1200-47.00B.” Said plan is on file with the department of conservation and recreation. The right to use said temporary work space shall expire upon completion of construction and restoration. Minor modifications to the easement descriptions set forth in the plans described above may be made in order to conform with a final land survey, as accepted by said commissioner prior to any conveyance to carry out the purposes of this act.

SECTION 4. The commissioner of the division of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation with the department of conservation and recreation, may, notwithstanding sections forty E to forty J, inclusive, of chapter seven of the General Laws, convey by deed, a permanent easement thirty feet in width lying fifteen feet to either side of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company’s proposed twenty-four inch pipeline, more or less, in, under, and through a parcel of land managed and controlled by the department of conservation and recreation for conservation and recreation purposes located in the Town of Saugus, together with temporary work space and additional temporary work space for construction purposes of approximately 0.33 acres immediately adjacent to the proposed permanent easement, to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, its successors and assigns, as more particularly shown on a plan of land entitled “Essex-Middlesex Project, Proposed 24" Main Line, Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Breakheart Reservation), Essex County, Massachusetts, TE-T12-270C-1200-52.00.” Said plan is on file with the department of conservation and recreation. The right to use said temporary work space shall expire upon completion of construction and restoration. Minor modifications to the easement descriptions set forth in the plans described above may be made in order to conform with a final land survey, as accepted by said commissioner prior to any conveyance to carry out the purposes of this act.

SECTION 5. The commissioner of the division of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation with the department of conservation and recreation, may, notwithstanding sections forty E to forty J, inclusive, of chapter seven of the General Laws, convey by deed, a permanent easement thirty feet in width lying fifteen feet to either side of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company’s proposed twenty-four inch pipeline, more or less, in, under, and through a parcel of land managed and controlled by the department of conservation and recreation for conservation and recreation purposes located in the Town of Saugus, together with temporary work space and additional temporary work space for construction purposes of approximately 2.4 acres immediately adjacent to the proposed permanent easement and a temporary right to use a pre-existing road approximately ten feet wide for vehicular access during construction, to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, its successors and assigns, as more particularly shown on a plan of land entitled “Essex-Middlesex Project, Proposed 24" Main Line, Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Breakheart Reservation), Essex County, Massachusetts, TE-T12-270C-1200-54.00.” Said plan is on file with the department of conservation and recreation. The right to use said temporary work space shall expire upon completion of construction and restoration. Minor modifications to the easement descriptions set forth in the plans described above may be made in order to conform with a final land survey, as accepted by said commissioner prior to any conveyance to carry out the purposes of this act.

SECTION 6. The Town of Wakefield is hereby authorized to convey and grant by deed, a permanent easement thirty feet in width lying fifteen feet to either side of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company’s proposed twenty-four inch pipeline, more or less, in, under, and through a parcel of land managed and controlled by the Wakefield Conservation Commission for conservation purposes located in the Town of Wakefield, together with temporary work space and additional temporary work space for construction purposes of approximately 1.7 acres, to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, its successors and assigns, as more particularly shown on a plan of land entitled “Essex-Middlesex Project, Proposed 24" Main Line, Town of Wakefield Conservation Commission, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, TE-T12-270C-1200-77.00.” Said plan is on file with the Town of Wakefield. The right to use said temporary work space shall expire upon completion of construction and restoration.

SECTION 7. The commissioner of the division of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation with the adjutant general respectively, may, notwithstanding sections forty E to forty J, inclusive, of chapter seven of the General Laws, convey by deed, a permanent easement thirty feet in width lying fifteen feet to either side of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company’s proposed twenty-four inch and twelve inch pipeline, along with a proposed fifty foot by one hundred foot receiver site, more or less, in, under, and through a parcel of land managed and controlled by the military division for military purposes located in the Town of Lynnfield, together with temporary work space for construction purposes of approximately eight acres immediately adjacent to the proposed permanent easement and a temporary right to use a pre-existing road approximately ten feet wide for vehicular access during construction and a permanent right to use a pre-existing road and a new road each approximately ten feet wide for vehicular access for operations and maintenance purposes, to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, its successors and assigns, as more particularly shown on a plan of land entitled “Essex-Middlesex Project, Proposed 24" Main Line, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Essex County, Massachusetts, TE-T12-270C-1200-92.00.” Said plan is on file with the military division. The right to use said temporary work space shall expire upon completion of construction and restoration. Minor modifications to the easement descriptions set forth in the plans described above may be made in order to conform with a final land survey, as accepted by said commissioner prior to any conveyance to carry out the purposes of this act.

SECTION 8. There shall be an independent appraisal(s), of the easements described in section two, section three, section four, section five and section seven to be conveyed as authorized by this act to determine the diminution in value to the above referenced Properties as a result of granting such easements, based upon one or more professional appraisals. In order to expedite the conveyances authorized by this act, the commissioner of the division of capital asset management and maintenance may, in consultation with the commissioner of the department of conservation and recreation accept any appraisal(s) of these easements that may have been conducted before the effective date of this act, and may have been accepted and agreed to by the department. Upon the granting of any such easement, the grantees shall compensate the commonwealth in an amount at least equal to, or greater than the full and fair market value of such diminution, as determined by such independent appraisal(s). The grantees of these easements 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 by this act. All money paid to the commonwealth by Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company as a result of the conveyance of the easements through lands of the department of conservation and recreation as, as referenced in sections two, three, four and five authorized by this act shall be deposited as directed by the General Court into the Conservation Trust as established by general law chapter 132A section1 for the benefit of breakheart reservation.

The commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance shall submit such appraisal(s) and a report thereon to the inspector general for his review and comment. The inspector general shall review and approve the appraisal(s), and the review shall include an examination of the methodology used for the appraisal(s). The inspector general shall, within thirty days of the receipt of such appraisal(s) and report prepare a report of his review and file the report with the commissioner for submission by the commissioner to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the chairmen of the joint committee on bonding, capital expenditures and state assets. The commissioner shall submit copies of the appraisal(s), his report, and the inspector general review and approval, and comments, if any, to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the chairmen of the joint committee on bonding, capital expenditures and state assets before the execution of the conveyances.

SECTION 9. No easement instruments conveying, by or on behalf of the commonwealth, the easements described in sections two, three, four, five and seven shall be valid unless such instruments provide that the easements shall be used solely for the purposes described in said sections, respectively. The easement instruments shall include a clause which shall state that if the pipeline within said easements is abandoned by Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, or their respective successors or assigns, and approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the easements shall revert to the commonwealth under the control of and used by the department of conservation and recreation and the adjutant general respectively, upon such terms and conditions as the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance may determine. If these easements revert to the commonwealth, any further disposition of the easements shall be subject to sections 40E and 40J, inclusive, of chapter 7 of the General Laws, and the prior approval of the general court.

SENATE, No. 2211

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

In the Year Two Thousand and Seven.

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE COMMISIONER OF CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE, ON BEHALF OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND RECREATION, AND THE TOWNS OF SAUGUS AND WAKEFIELD TO GRANT EASEMENTS TO TENNESSEE GAS PIPELINE COMPANY