Oliver County weed board delays Northern Plains Connector weed plan over operator responsibility

The Oliver County Weed Board voted to delay approval of the Northern Plains Connector project’s draft weed-management plan after members said the plan does not clearly assign long-term responsibility for weed control and relies on a minimum five-year post-construction control period that some members called inadequate.

Board member Darren Carter, who moved to delay approval, said the board wants broader coverage than the species the project survey identified. "So if we were to say, that we would require all state and county listed noxious weeds to be controlled within that corridor for 5 years minimum," Carter said, urging language changes to the draft.

The draft plan lists the species observers found along the corridor and includes a table (Table 3) showing confirmed presences such as leafy spurge and Canadian thistle. County staff and a consultant said the table documents what surveyors found at the time of inspection but does not, in its present language, obligate the proponent to control every state-listed noxious weed that could appear later.

A company representative on speaker phone outlined a preliminary project timeline and answered board questions about long-term responsibility. "The minimum of 5 years is is gonna take us 5 years at least to, get to the point where we construct… But once it's constructed in operation, my understanding is that, whoever is the operator is gonna be responsible, as long as it's an operation," the representative said, describing a construction sequence that begins with road-use agreements and initial work in 2027 and extends through tower installation in 2029 with construction continuing into 2031 or 2032.

Board members pressed for clearer wording tying responsibilities to easement language and expressed concern about what happens if an easement is transferred to another operator. County staff noted that, in enforcement practice, control investigations typically begin with the landowner and that enforcement authority depends on how easements and agreements are written.

After discussion, the board passed a motion to delay approval of the Northern Plains Connector weed-management plan until the project proponent verifies who will take responsibility for weed control under easement transfers and revises the plan’s wording accordingly. The motion was made by Darren Carter and seconded; the board carried the motion.

The board also discussed (but did not resolve) whether the plan should specify a longer post-construction control period or explicitly require control of all noxious weeds listed by the state within the project corridor. The board asked staff to request revised language from the proponent and to place any updated plan back on the agenda when those clarifications are received.