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2001 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 56-259 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 56-259. Rights-of-way, etc., may be contracted for; location of easements of public service corporations.
A. Any corporation of the character mentioned in this chapter or in Chapter 2
(§ 56-49 et seq.) may contract with any person or corporation, the owner of
lands, or of any interest, franchise, privilege, or easement therein, over,
under, or through which any pipeline transmitting petroleum products or natural
gas, power or telephone line, sewer or water main or similar works is to be
constructed, for the right-of-way for such line, sewer, main or works, and for
sufficient land for its necessary offices, plant, or plants, works, stations
and structures. All such contracts shall specify with reasonable particularity
and definiteness the location of such easement or of right-of-way; provided,
however, that this provision shall not apply to contracts between any such
corporation and any political subdivision of this Commonwealth, but any such
corporation shall provide the location of its facilities on land owned by such
a political subdivision upon request of such political subdivision.
B. The location of any easement or of right-of-way of any public service
corporation shall be as specified in the instrument by which such easement was conveyed to such public service
corporation; provided that, with respect to all such easements granted after
December 31, 1968, if such location is not specified by metes and bounds or by
reference to a center line or survey line showing courses and distances from
some ascertainable point of beginning, the location of such easement shall be
determined by reference to the facilities constructed thereon, and the center
line of those facilities shall be the center line of the easement.
C. Prior to acquiring any easement or of right-of-way, public service
corporations will consider the feasibility of locating such facilities on, over, or
under existing easements or of rights-of-way. In the event any public
service corporation owning a right-of-way shall deny a request of any other public service
corporation for joint use of that right-of-way, the corporation whose request
is denied shall have the right, within thirty days after the denial to apply to
the Commission for an order requiring such joint use. The Commission shall
conduct a hearing on such application and shall direct the corporation owning
the right-of-way to allow joint use if the Commission finds that such joint use
is reasonable and that the present or future public utility service of such
corporation will not be adversely affected by such joint use. In making such
determination, the Commission may establish the terms and conditions for such
joint use, including, without limitation, a requirement of compensation by the
utility making the request to the utility owning the right-of-way, if the
Commission finds such a requirement to be appropriate.
D. In any case involving an application for a certificate pursuant to § 56-265.2, the governing body of each locality in which a gas pipeline or electrical transmission line would be located shall have the right to request the Commission to consider directing a joint use of right-of-way within that locality pursuant to the standards in subsection C of this section, provided that the governing body shall file its request no later than the date for public comment on the application established by the Commission.