Iowa Senators overhauled a House bill Wednesday aimed at restricting carbon dioxide pipelines and bolstering rights for landowners affected by eminent domain, replacing it with an expanded version that advocates and House representatives say lacks critical pieces of the original bill.
The proposal comes after the House has repeatedly introduced bills aimed at blocking construction of CO2 pipelines over the past few years that haven’t been taken up by the Senate. The House version of the bill this session passed 85 -10.
The change replaces the eight page bill focused on hazardous liquid pipelines with a 34 page version broadened to include electric power generation and transmission facilities, electric transmission lines and other pipelines.
The amendment removes key provisions, including restrictions on carbon dioxide pipeline permits, expanded rights and protections for people intervening in Iowa Utilities Commission cases and insurance requirements for hazardous liquid pipelines.
Senate President Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton, said the bill is moving forward this year because it now has enough support in the Senate.
“We’re at a point where we have some language that we can all agree on,” she said. “I can’t speak to the House’s opinion of anything. I don’t typically ask their opinion when I’m working on legislation with my team.”
House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, said the House’s ultimate objective is protecting landowners, and the final version that both the House and Senate will need to agree on has to reflect that.
“I think any movement forward is hopefully a positive sign that maybe we could get something done this session,” he said. “But I also don’t want to overcommit to something until we know it’s going to have those protections for property owners."
“My biggest disappointment with the Senate over the last number of years is that they’re not listening to landowners."Republican Rep. Steven Holt
Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, who sponsored many of the pipeline-related proposals in the House bill, said he’s disappointed the Senate version strips key components and leaves the “easy stuff.”
“My biggest disappointment with the Senate over the last number of years is that they’re not listening to landowners,” he said. “The citizens of Iowa are telling us that they want their property rights protected against the CO2 pipeline, which is a very different argument than an oil pipeline or an electric transmission line that supplies necessary power for our homes and for our vehicles and all of those things.”
He also noted the Senate did not take up another related bill passed by the House, which would have restricted the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines.
Organizers and landowners also expressed frustration over the rewriting of the bill.
“I’m worried that what they’re trying to do is pull a fast one on us to get a bill that doesn’t really address the problem right now and then claim victory over property rights,” said Jess Mazour, an organizer with the Sierra Club of Iowa. “Because what’s been very clear, without seeing this amendment, is that it doesn’t address eminent domain and that is the most important thing we’ve been asking for.”
Landowners raise concerns over property rights
Sen. Mike Bousselot, R-Ankeny, introduced the amendment in a packed subcommittee meeting Wednesday morning. He said the new bill protects all landowners — not just those affected by the pipeline project.
“House legislation over the past few years has discriminated by project type, creating protected classes of landowners, or was simply intended to discriminate against one particular project,” he said.
Landowners, such as Kim Junker, spoke against the proposal in the meeting. Junker said she farms and owns land in Grundy, Blackhawk and Butler counties, the latter of which she said is affected by Summit Carbon Solutions' proposed CO2 pipeline.
“I just want to say, property rights is a Republican Party platform,” she said. “My husband and I are registered Republicans, and frankly, I'm sick and tired of the games the Republicans have been playing with our lives, our livelihoods, our business, our property and our legacy.”
Junker, who said she has driven the two and a half hours to the Capitol for the past four years, said she was “taken aback” by the new amendment proposed during Wednesday’s subcommittee.
“Do the right thing,” she said. “South Dakota did, the Iowa House of Representatives did, and now the Iowa Senate and the Iowa governor needs to do the right thing. Protect our private property rights.”
Bousselot previously worked for Summit Agricultural Group, which owns Summit Carbon Solutions — the group proposing a liquefied CO2 pipeline project across Iowa and four other states.
What changes did senators make to the House bill?
The new bill requires the IUC to grant or deny eminent domain requests for a project within a year.
“The challenge still exists that landowners deserve a decision, and frankly, companies investing in infrastructure deserve a decision faster than many, many years later,” Bousselot said in the Senate Commerce Committee meeting. “That allows the legal process to work. It allows the fact-finding to happen. It allows investment and certainty for people on all sides. “
The House bill blocked renewing permits for liquified CO2 pipelines and set a 25-year time limit for those permits. Both provisions were removed in the Senate's new version.
Under the previous version of the bill, companies with a pipeline permit wouldn’t be granted the right of eminent domain unless they met the definition of a “common carrier,” meaning they transport a commodity used by an individual consumer and for a shipper not affiliated with the company. This section was also removed.
The Senate bill also changes the requirement that all three IUC members must be present for hearings related to public utility regulations or electric transmission lines, pipelines or hazardous liquid pipelines. Instead, the new bill requires a majority — or two commission members — to be present.
In the new bill, after hearings, companies would be allowed to enter into voluntary agreements — or easements — with landowners outside of the area where they’re seeking eminent domain. This would retroactively apply to projects dating back as early as Jan. 1, 2024, according to the bill.
“The intent of it is to avoid eminent domain altogether and work with willing landowners."Republican Sen. Mike Bousselot
“The intent of it is to avoid eminent domain altogether and work with willing landowners,” Bousselot said in the subcommittee meeting. “So, if your neighbor is willing to sign on and you're not, then your neighbor is the one that can sign on, and even if they were outside of that notice corridor.”
Summit Carbon Solutions was registered against the original version of the bill. Jake Ketzner, a lobbyist from the company, said Summit “appreciate[s]" the amendment regarding voluntary easements.
“Summit Carbon Solutions' goal is to reach voluntary easement agreements with the landowners we cross, and we work to do that each and every day to date,” Ketzner said.
He said the company has signed over 1,320 voluntary easements with Iowa landowners so far.
“If we have the ability to move off someone's ground that does not want the project currently, the only way to deal with that is restarting from the very beginning,” Ketzner told Bousselot. “And so we think what you're suggesting makes a lot of sense."
The new version also keeps the requirement that at least one member of the commission has to be present at every informational meeting pipeline companies are required to host in each affected county at least 30 days before filing a petition for a new pipeline.
The Senate Commerce Committee adopted the new version of the bill by a vote split along party lines, with all Democratic members voting against the proposal. The bill was later unanimously advanced to the Senate floor by the vote, where it is eligible to be debated and voted on.
The committee also moved forward the re-appointments of current Iowa Utilities Commission member Joshua Byrnes and chair, Erik Helland. Next, the Senate will vote on their appointments.
