How did the TAPS owners get to use state and federal land?
For someone to use State or Federal land, they must have the appropriate authorization from the landowner. In the case of TAPS, the state and federal governments issued 30-year right-of-way grants to the TAPS owners to construct, operate, and maintain an oil transportation pipeline and related facilities on the respective state and federal lands they manage. The nominal width of the right-of-way is 100 feet on state land. On Federal land, the nominal width of the right-of-way is 54 feet for buried pipeline and 64 feet for elevated (aboveground) pipeline. About 420 miles of pipe is above ground and about 380 miles is buried.
