Two proposed bills that would charge gas pipeline companies a yearly fee for each mile of pipe in the state go about dealing with safety issues the wrong way.

It’s clear lawmakers want to use the fees to ensure pipeline companies put safety first.

Prevention of any accidents - such as the spill that contaminated one square mile of land in Jackson County’s Blackman Township in 2000 - is an important issue for the state to focus on. An “impact fee” would be imposed on the pipeline companies to prevent accidents from happening and to help pay for cleanup should something go wrong.But $20,000 a mile per year is an astronomical fee, one that pipeline companies are right to say will negatively impact consumers. Most fees that are put on businesses end up getting passed on to the consumer, such a move in this case would not lead to safer pipelines. Instead, we would all simply pay more for gas.

The state should make a point of putting more stringent safety standards in place and creating new penalties to seek retribution from pipeline companies if and when a problem occurs, instead of simply making it more expensive to have a pipeline.

The hefty fees the companies should have to pay for any damage they do - on top of compensating affected citizens - would be more than an incentive to maintain equipment.

Utility companies need to abide by strict environmental standards and be liable for the negative impact they may have on a community in the event of an environmental catastrophe.

When they introduce a potential hazard, they must be ready to take responsibility should anything go wrong.

But companies that play by the rules shouldn’t be penalized.

Any new tax collecting for damages that have yet to take place would only increase the everyday costs to keep business rolling, and those costs would inevitably end up on the shoulders and pocketbooks of the consumer.