Relating to the authority of certain conservation and reclamation districts to impose fees for the construction of certain pipelines and associated infrastructure.

Contracts

• Utility Service & Development Agreements: Review all active agreements. Clauses stipulating fixed "review fees," "inspection fees," or "crossing fees" that exceed actual costs are unenforceable under the new statute.
• Contractor Pass-Throughs: Amend agreements with General Contractors to prohibit them from paying District fees without your prior written approval. This prevents contractors from paying inflated fees to "keep the job moving" and subsequently billing you for non-compliant costs.

Hiring/Training

• Accounts Payable: Train AP staff to flag and hold any invoice from a District related to pipeline construction. Establish a protocol to reject flat fees and demand itemization.
• Project Management: Instruct Project Managers that they now have statutory leverage to negotiate. They must demand timesheets and receipts for all District engineering and legal reviews.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

• Fee Substantiation Files: Create a specific digital folder for every project to house District fee demands and your corresponding requests for documentation.
• Comparative Data: Begin tracking "standard costs" for engineering reviews across different Districts to establish a baseline for what constitutes "reasonable" costs in future disputes.

Fees & Costs

• Budget Impact: Anticipate a reduction in direct project fees paid to Districts.
• Administrative Overhead: Budget for a slight increase in administrative time required to audit invoices and dispute non-compliant charges.