Des Moines, Iowa — Top Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate say the 2023 legislature will consider new guidelines for pipelines that would capture and carry carbon away from Iowa’s ethanol plants.
The proposed Summit and Navigator pipelines run through areas House Speaker Pat Grassley represents.
Grassley suggests an outright ban on carbon pipelines is unlikely.
Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver says it won’t be an easy debate.
Whitver says there are similar debates about the siting of wind turbines and large-scale solar arrays.
This fall, Grassley sent a letter to the Iowa Utilities Board, expressing concern about a waiver developers of the Navigator pipeline were seeking from current regulations about sampling and restoring topsoil in farm fields.
Navigator withdrew its request to reduce the amount of testing and restoration of topsoil currently required by state regulations.
This fall during a televised debate, Governor Reynolds said she supports existing state law outlining when carbon pipeline developers would be able to seize property from unwilling landowners, but she has not commented on county ordinances which establish local rules for where the pipelines may be built.
