Pipeline Right-of-Way Addendum Negotiations
Pipeline Right-of-Way Agreement “Addendum” are additional terms negotiated and added to the company proposed Pipeline boilerplate Agreement offered to the landowner.
Every Pipeline Agreement is negotiable and meaningful Addendum Terms must be negotiated for the benefit of the landowner! Typically companies will not make substantial modifications or changes to their form Pipeline Agreements, but will agree to add Addendum terms which must be attached to and clearly made a part of the Pipeline Agreement. Effective Pipeline Agreement Addendum negotiations are critical anytime a landowner is presented with a Pipeline Agreement.
There are two major aspects to Pipeline Agreement Addendum negotiations:
- Negotiating powerful Addendum terms that maximize compensation payments, protect the landowner from liability, and protect the property; and
- Skillfully drafting and negotiating specific Addendum language that fulfills the intent of the provision and eliminates company friendly loopholes.
With effective negotiations a strong Addendum will be the most important part of the Pipeline Agreement and will re-write the actual form Pipeline Agreement presented by the company. It is not uncommon to add 5 or more pages of meaningful Addendum terms to the Pipeline Right-of-Way Agreement. However, it is not the quantity of Addendum terms that matter, it is the quality of the Addendum language and whether the terms are clearly drafted to avoid ambiguity and eliminate company loopholes.
Pipeline companies commonly provide landowners several weak and generic Addendum terms when they present a proposed Pipeline Agreement to the landowner. Pipeline companies understand that by providing landowners several generic Addendum terms as part of the offer, the landowner will think that they have a stronger Pipeline Agreement and it will be easier to persuade the landowner to sign. Do not forget, the pipeline company presented Addendum language is carefully drafted by the company’s lawyers to minimize the impact of the provision.
Remember, the key to obtaining the best possible Pipeline Agreement Addendum is to:
- Accurately assess the individual landowner’s negotiation leverage;
- Use the landowner’s leverage to negotiate powerful Addendum language; and
- Carefully draft specific meaningful Addendum language that will achieve the desired goal and eliminate company friendly loopholes.
Attorney Doug Clark is Pennsylvania’s Landowner Lawyer and regularly negotiates and drafts landowner specific detailed Addendum language. Doug has negotiated detailed Addendum terms in hundreds of Pipeline Agreements involving over 50 separate pipeline companies across Pennsylvania. Let Doug’s extensive pipeline experience work for you. Contact us today!