Des Moines, Iowa — The speaker of the Iowa House and 21 of his GOP colleagues have introduced a bill that could delay or possibly derail proposed carbon pipeline projects in Iowa.
Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, is a lead sponsor.
If the bill becomes law, pipeline developers would have to get voluntary access to 90 percent of the pipeline route through Iowa before state utility regulators could grant the companies eminent domain authority to seize the rest. The bill also says the Iowa Utilities Board could not issue construction permits until new safety guidelines for carbon pipelines are issued by the federal government and developers secure permits from the neighboring states that the pipelines would pass through.
Legislators began discussing pipeline-specificity rules last year. Pipeline backers have said it’s unfair to change regulations after project development is well underway. Holt says it’s not the concept of capturing carbon from ethanol plants that’s the issue, it’s the use of the eminent domain to seize private property for these projects that’s the concern.
A Republican senator from northwest Iowa, Senator Jeff Taylor, has introduced five different bills to address pipeline issues this legislative session, but it’s unclear what the GOP majority in the Senate would support. Senator Taylor represents state Senate District 2, which encompasses all of Sioux and Lyon counties, as well as a portion of Plymouth county in northwest Iowa. His bills regarding the topic are SF 100, SF 101, SF 102, SF 103, and SF 104.
The House bill has the backing of the top Republican in the House as well as the chairmen of House committees that deal with taxation and legal issues. Representative Steven Holt, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, says the bill would set up a process for landowners to file complaints with the Iowa Utilities Board about inadequate land restoration along the pipeline route.
Holt says the pipelines are a major issue in his district, which includes Shelby County. The Shelby County Board of Supervisors has established local zoning rules for the pipelines — and is being sued by Summit Carbon Solutions.
Holt made his comments late Thursday morning during an online news conference. A spokesman for Summit Carbon Solutions says the company announced its carbon capture project two years ago and is hopeful that legislators will not change the regulatory rules in the middle of the game.
