Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — A northwest Iowa lawmaker is urging his fellow Republicans to pressure GOP leaders to allow senate debate of a bill that addresses the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline project.
Republican Senator Lynn Evans of Aurelia is critical of the Iowa Utilities Commission decision that gives Summit eminent domain authority to seize tracts from landowners who don’t want the pipeline on their property.
Evans, who represents all of O’Brien, Osceola, and Buena Vista counties and parts of Clay and Cherokee counties, says it’s time for a public vote in the Senate.
Those remarks sparked a verbal skirmish between two other legislators. Senator Jesse Green of Boone says he and other Republicans are having private conversations about what to do next, and he suggests Senate Democrats are too focused on making public statements about the pipeline.
Senator Tony Bisignano, a Democrat from Des Moines, says it’s not Democrats, but Republicans who have a super majority of seats in the Senate that have the power to bring bills up for debate.
Republicans and Democrats in the Iowa House have passed several bills over the past few years to address issues related to the pipeline, but none were considered in the Senate. There is a House-passed bill eligible for debate in the Senate this year, but an attached amendment makes significant changes to the bill.
Meanwhile, South Dakota regulators say there’s too much uncertainty surrounding the Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed pipeline route in South Dakota, and they’ve denied the company’s application to build and operate the pipeline in their state. A spokesperson for the company says Summit will reduce the scope of its pipeline route in South Dakota and reapply. Kristie Fiegen (FEE-gen) is a member of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission.
South Dakota recently passed a law that does not allow Summit to use eminent domain authority to seize land from South Dakotans who don’t want the pipeline on their property. This is the second time South Dakota regulators have rejected a pipeline application from Summit.
A spokesperson for Summit said the decision is disappointing, but the company is committed to the project and will retool and refile its application in South Dakota. The IOWA Utilities Commission granted Summit a permit last year, but construction cannot begin until the company obtains permits from the other states along the pipeline route.
(SD portion reporting by Rachel Cramer, Iowa Public Radio)
KIWA Staff Photo
