GOVERNOR Arnold I. Palacios on Thursday afternoon signed an administrative amendment to the 1983 agreement that allowed the U.S. to lease land on Tinian pursuant to the Covenant.
Also on Tuesday, the Commonwealth Ports Authority board of directors voted to allow its chairwoman, Kimberlyn King-Hinds, to “acknowledge and acquiesce” to the terms and conditions set out in the administrative amendment to the 1983 lease agreement pertaining to 7,203 hectares of land on the northern part of Tinian.
The agreement held in abeyance the commitments made by the CNMI and the U.S. governments in the technical agreement that was signed simultaneously with the Covenant in 1975, pursuant to Section 803(c) of the Covenant regarding the U.S. use of land in the CNMI.
Prior to the board’s discussion on the proposed administrative amendment, CPA legal counsel Robert T. Torres informed the board members that the 1983 agreement “put a pause” on the 1975 technical agreement.
He told them that if the U.S. would ask the CPA board to sign it, he would say no. But if the governor signs it, CPA could approve it, too, because “I don’t see a problem if the Commonwealth government makes the determination first.”
After she and the four other board members voted yes, King-Hinds, on behalf of CPA, signed the amendment.
Tinian Mayor Edwin P. Aldan also signed the document on behalf of the island’s municipal government. Acting Department of Public Lands Secretary Teresita Santos was also a signatory on behalf of DPL.
The administrative amendment grants the U.S. “the right to the reasonable use of roadways as well as the right to improve, construct, maintain and repair roads and utilities owned by the Commonwealth including all supporting facilities and structures. All such improvements shall be made in the easement areas or in such other location authorized by the Commonwealth following coordination with the Commonwealth regarding the improvement, construction, maintenance and repair.”
Under the amendment, the CNMI government “reserves the right to construct improvements including additional roads and utility lines and pipelines and to grant additional non-exclusive easements and rights of way on, in, under, across, through, and over the easement areas as it shall determine to be in the public interest, provided that the Commonwealth shall consult with the U.S. prior to granting any such easements and obtain written concurrence of the U.S. that any such additional grants are not inconsistent with the use of the affected easement area by the U.S.”
Henry S. Hofschneider, special assistant to Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang, represented the administration in the discussion during the CPA board meeting on Tuesday.
He told Joint Region Marianas legal counsel Harry W. Elliot IV, who attended the meeting via videoconference, that the governor and lt. governor are in full support of the Department of Defense projects on Tinian and they want to see the pipelines built.
He said the Palacios-Apatang administration believes that CPA would benefit from the projects especially at the airport where there is no fuel pipeline.
“This is the project that, I think, would save CPA a lot of money…in the long term,” he added.
Elliot said the DoD’s technical working group is working with various regulatory partners in the CNMI, including CPA.
He said they have discussed in great detail the engineering of the pipeline which will be built based on very strict safety standards.
Tinian airport
