By Max B. Baker Star-Telegram (Fort Worth)

The Texas Railroad Commission has approved new rules modifying what pipeline operators must do to become common carriers and possibly get the power to condemn land for their projects.

Luke Ellis, an Austin attorney, also said the agency could have given landowners some say in the pipeline’s route – or made pipeline operators do more to prove that their project benefits the general public. He wouldn’t even describe the new rules as a step in the right direction.

“it is a slight lean in the right direction…a very minimal lean in the right direction,” he said.

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