Opinion ID: 311492
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 20

Heading: pumping station and communication facility rights-of-way

Text: 149 A. Pumping Stations. 150 Because oil will not flow through a pipeline under the force of gravity alone, an operable pipeline requires pumping stations. The proposed Alyeska pipeline will have 12 such stations when its maximum capacity of 2,000,000 barrels per day is reached. Within each of the stations the following necessary facilities will be located: pumps, fuel tanks, valves, oil storage tanks, housing to accommodate up to 16 men, electrical generating facility, heating and water treatment plant, shop and warehouse buildings, and a helicopter landing site. 73 As is evident from this description, it is impossible to locate necessary pumping station facilities within 25 feet of either side of the pipe; each station will occupy a site of approximately 50 acres. 74 Alyeska has therefore applied for rights-of-way for land on which to locate these pumping stations, authority for such rights-of-way being premised upon 43 C.F.R. Sec. 2881.3 (1972): 151 A site for a pumping station or other structures reasonably necessary to the operation of a pipeline on a right-of-way approved under section 28 of the [Mineral Leasing Act of 1920] may be granted under the same sections [sic]   . 152 Appellants charge that the Secretary of the Interior has no power under the Mineral Leasing Act to issue this regulation and that the rights-of-way for pumping stations are illegal under Section 28 of the Act, their argument being identical with that raised with respect to the SLUP for construction purposes, namely, that these rights-of-way violate the proviso [t]hat no right-of-way shall hereafter be granted over said lands for the transportation of oil or natural gas except under and subject to the provisions, limitations, and conditions of this section. 153 While the question of a pumping station right-of-way may appear similar to that of construction SLUPs, close examination reveals the similarity to be merely superficial. That pumping stations are part of the pipeline under the Act, and that they are distinguishable from construction SLUPs in this manner, may be determined from the language of the statute itself, the legislative history, and the administrative practice. 154 Our basic response to appellants' argument against the pumping station rights-of-way is that pumping stations are part of the pipe line as that term is used in Section 28. The statute, of course, does more than provide a right-of-way for sections of pipe; it provides for a pipe line, a facility for the transportation of oil. 75 It is evident that back in 1920, as well as today, oil could not flow through a pipeline for any significant distance by the force of gravity alone. 76 A length of pipe without any pumping stations never could be an operating pipe line as that term is used in the statute. When the statute provides for a right-of-way on land to the extent of the ground occupied by said pipe line, it therefore must provide not only for land on which to locate pipe, but also for land on which to locate those other facilities which make pipe a pipe line. Similarly, when the statute provides for twenty-five feet on each side of the pipeline, it must provide not only for 25 feet on each side of the pipe, but also for 25 feet on each side of those facilities which constitute part of the pipe line. 155 The legislative history, meager though it is, fully accords with this reading of the statute. During the debates on the bills that eventually became the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, the problem of pumping stations was averted to. 77 The only response made to questioning about pumping stations was the following, by Representative Chandler, the man we met earlier (pages 860-864) as a proponent of a 10-foot width limitation: 156    I think your bill is broad enough to cover not only the pipe line but the pumping station, and that they can go and take what land they need for the pumping station as long as they occupy it. Pumping stations are a part of the pipe line. 78 157 Our conclusion that the statutory right-of-way limits construction space is fully consistent with this approach. Construction space is necessary, not only for the laying of pipe, but also for the erection of facilities such as pumping stations. Similarly, maintenance space is needed, not only for the pipe itself, but also for facilities which allow oil to flow through the pipe. There is therefore nothing inconsistent with a reading of the statute that, on the one hand, limits construction and maintenance to the statutory 25 feet on either side of the pipeline but, on the other hand, includes necessary facilities as part of the pipeline. 158 Not only is there no inconsistency, but this approach is the only one that gives meaning to all parts of Section 28 while at the same time reading the statute in a manner consistent with its purpose to permit oil pipeline development. As discussed in Part I, the provision of 25 feet in addition to the land actually occupied by the pipeline makes absolutely no sense unless that distance is to be used for construction and maintenance purposes. In addition, our earlier analysis of the legislative history indicated that Congress intended the statutory right-of-way to limit construction space. This reading of the statute was fully consistent with congressional intent to promote pipeline development, because Congress made express its belief that 25 feet on either side was all the construction space needed to build a pipeline. 159 To read the statute to require that pumping stations be constructed within the narrow strip of land made up by the pipe itself and 25 feet on either side would, in contrast, have made Section 28 meaningless and ineffective from its very inception. There is no indication that Congress either thought that pumping stations were not necessary to the transportation of oil or believed that such stations could be constructed within this narrow width. Tracing actual oil pipeline pumping station practice back before 1920, it is evident that even the earliest oil pipelines, dating to the mid19th century, required pumping facilities, 79 and from the description of these facilities it is clear that they could not fit within a 50-foot wide strip. 80 It therefore seems reasonable to conclude that when Congress enacted Section 28 it agreed with Representative Chandler's position that pumping stations were part of the pipeline and were authorized under the statute. We naturally avoid any interpretation of a statute that would have rendered it totally ineffective as of the date of enactment. 160 Finally, in contrast to the ambiguous administrative practice with respect to pipeline construction SLUPs, the administrative practice with respect to pumping station rights-of-way is clear, longstanding and consistent, and provides a reasonable basis for a finding of congressional acquiescence. As early as 1923, only three years after enactment of the Mineral Leasing Act, an application for a pumping station right-of-way was granted. 81 In 1926 the Department of the Interior approved a right-of-way application for an 80-acre pumping station. 82 In 1931 the Secretary of the Interior informed the Attorney General of this past practice and requested a ruling as to whether the Secretary had authority under the Mineral Leasing Act to issue such rights-of-way. The Attorney General, after noting that oil cannot be transported through pipe lines by gravity for any considerable distance and that without pumping stations at certain intervals a pipe line for the transportation of oil and gas would be practically useless, and that a pumping station cannot be constructed within the limits of the fifty foot strip, concluded that the Secretary had authority under the statute to authorize construction of pumping stations and to grant rights-of-way for that purpose. Establishment of Pumping Stations, 36 Op.A.G. 480, 481-482 (1931). Soon thereafter the Interior Department's regulations took cognizance of this authority. See 56 I. D. 532, 553 (1938). The pumping station regulation assumed its present shape in 1943, see 8 Fed.Reg. 7723 (1943), and has been a part of the Code of Federal Regulations ever since, see, e. g., 43 C.F.R. Sec. 244.52 (1949). 161 As discussed in Part I, courts normally defer to an administrative interpretation of a statute unless there are compelling indications that it is wrong. 83 Unlike the issue of construction SLUPs, here there are no compelling indications that the Interior Department's interpretation of its statutory authority is wrong; what legislative history there is fully supports Interior's position. Settled maxims of statutory interpretation -for example, the presumption against interpreting statutes so as to render them ineffective-would have led us to the same result. 84 Again in contrast to the practice of issuing pipeline construction SLUPs, a practice apparently unknown to the administrators themselves, the practice of issuing rights-of-way for pumping stations has been a matter of public record for over 40 years. It is thus reasonable to presume that the administrative construction of the statute came to Congress' attention and to consider Congress' failure to respond in any way to the administrative interpretation as acquiescence in the administrative practice. 162 B. Communication Facilities. 163 On March 3, 1971, Alyeska applied for rights-of-way for 26 communications sites for a microwave communications system necessary for permanent operation of the proposed pipeline. 85 The proposed system has several functions, including relay of information about pipeline and oil flow conditions to a central operating center at Valdez and transmission of control commands from the operating center at Valdez to pumping stations and block valves along the pipeline. 86 164 Appellees assert authority to issue rights-of-way for these facilities under 43 U.S.C. Sec. 961 (1970): 165 The head of the department having jurisdiction over the lands be, and he is, authorized and empowered, under general regulations to be fixed by him, to grant an easement for rights-of-way, for a period not exceeding fifty years from the date of the issuance of such grant, over, across, and upon the public lands and reservations of the United States    for radio, television, and other forms of communication transmitting, relay, and receiving structures and facilities,    not to exceed four hundred feet by four hundred feet for radio, television, and other forms of communication transmitting, relay, and receiving structures and facilities, to any citizen, association, or corporation of the United States, where it is intended by such to exercise the right-of-way herein granted for any one or more of the purposes herein named   . 166 Pursuant to the authority granted to him in Section 961, the Secretary of the Interior has issued regulations governing procedures for obtaining rights-of-way under the statute. See 43 C.F.R. Subpart 2861 (1972). That the communication facility rights-of-way to be issued by the Department of the Interior satisfy all of the requirements of Section 961 is not contested by appellants. Rather they argue that Section 28 of the Mineral Leasing Act bars resort to other statutory grants of rights-of-way when those rights-of-way will be used for pipeline purposes. 167 As is discussed in Part III of this opinion, the only theory upon which we might conclude that Section 28 forbids resort to other statutory rights-of-way is that Congress, in enacting Section 28, intended it to repeal or supersede these other statutes in situations where they conflict. In this instance it is particularly difficult to reach such a conclusion about congressional intent since the pertinent provisions of Section 961 were enacted after, not before, the Mineral Leasing Act. See Pub.L.No.367, 82nd Cong., 2d Sess., 66 Stat. 95 (May 27, 1952), amending c. 238, 36 Stat. 1253 (March 4, 1911). In any event, for the reasons set forth at length in Part III, we hold that nothing in Section 28 bars resort to other specific statutory grants of rights-of-way, including rights-of-way for communications facilities. There being no contention that these rights-of-way for microwave communication sites do not meet the requirements of Section 961, we must affirm the Secretary's decision granting those rights-of-way. 168