(BISMARCK, ND) – Agriculture Commissioner candidate Ryan Taylor proposed today a Landowner’s Bill of Rights. Citing current commissioner Doug Goehring’s continued failure to advocate on behalf of North Dakota’s farmers and ranchers, Taylor promised that as Agriculture Commissioner he will always place the interests of North Dakota’s producers first as they strive to successfully coexist with their new energy neighbors. Taylor released the following statement:
“During the last legislative session, the current commissioner had several opportunities to stand up for the rights of landowners working to make a living and a life in the path of energy development. Instead, he was relentlessly absent. Most disturbing of all, his Industrial Commission employee went instead to advocate against the interests of landowners. As your Agriculture Commissioner, you can be sure that not only will I be present, but I also will forcefully advocate for the best interests of North Dakota’s landowners, and not the out-of-state interests that are funding my opponent’s campaign.
“I am proposing today a Landowner’s Bill of Rights that outlines the policies I will fight for in the next legislature as Agriculture Commissioner and the state’s top agriculture advocate. These are bipartisan, common sense solutions supported by individual producers, ag lenders, and farm associations, as well as other groups such as the North Dakota Grain Growers Association and the Northwest Landowners Association. These are solutions that deserve a champion in the Department of Agriculture.”
RYAN TAYLOR’S LANDOWNER’S BILL OF RIGHTS:
• A RIGHT TO PRIVATE SPACE: Increase from 500 feet to 1,320 feet (one-quarter mile) the distance that operations for drilling of a well must be placed from an occupied dwelling.
• A RIGHT TO SAFETY: On pipelines not regulated by the PSC, require flow-meters and pressure cutoff switches on gas and liquid transmission lines.
• A RIGHT TO RECLAMATION: Extend to private landowners the same protections afforded to land use on public lands, as established by the State Land Board.
• A RIGHT TO MEDIATION: Fix mediation procedures to level the playing field between landowners and developers.
• A RIGHT TO TRANSPARENCY: The debate of the issues affecting landowners will take place in full view at public and recorded meetings, not in the political backrooms.
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The post Ryan Taylor unveils Landowner’s Bill of Rights appeared first on North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party.
From: Dem-NPL News
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