Iowa’s new Senate majority leader is working on a bill aimed at addressing concerns about the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines as the 2026 legislative session approaches.
Iowans who oppose the use of eminent domain for the Summit Carbon Solutions carbon capture pipeline have fought for years to pass a bill that would prevent the company from acquiring land from unwilling landowners in its path.
Last session, 12 Senate Republicans refused to vote on the state budget until they got to vote on a House bill that would make it harder to use eminent domain for carbon pipelines. The bill passed, but Gov. Kim Reynolds vetoed it.
New Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh, R-Spillville, was among the Senate Republicans who opposed that bill.
For the upcoming session, he said he is working on a bill that would not directly limit eminent domain but could reduce the need for it. Klimesh said he wants to give pipeline companies more flexibility to find a route around landowners who don’t want a pipeline on their land.
“At the end of the day, it’s about building … a consensus around what’s the best path for Iowa to move forward, to all but eliminate the need for eminent domain for public infrastructure projects,” he said. “And I think widening the corridor, allowing those companies to find willing landowners that want to enter into those easements with them, is the key to that conversation.”
Klimesh said at this point in time, “anything is on the table” when it comes to ideas for pipeline and eminent domain issues.
A group of landowners opposing the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines said Klimesh’s proposal is a “false solution.” They have called for a bill that bans the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines, which passed in the House last session but not in the Senate.
The landowners and the Sierra Club said expanding the pipeline corridor means more landowners can be threatened with eminent domain.
“For five years now, landowners have been asking for a clean property rights bill for carbon pipelines to protect our constitutional property rights,” said Kathy Stockdale, a landowner in the path of the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline. “A 10-mile corridor does nothing to protect property rights.”
Summit and biofuels groups have argued the pipeline is necessary to create new markets for low-carbon fuels, which they say would boost demand for corn and help the state’s economy.
House Speaker Pat Grassley said House Republicans plan to keep working to address concerns about the pipeline. The House has passed several bills to restrict eminent domain over the past few years, and the 2025 session was the first time the Senate passed one.
“We’re hopeful we can find a level of resolution, but at the same time, know that that eminent domain piece of the conversation is extremely important,” Grassley said.
He expects any House proposals to be more “narrowly tailored around eminent domain” as compared to last session.
Senate Democrats joined with anti-pipeline Republicans last session to pass the bill that was ultimately vetoed.
Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, said Senate Democrats are having conversations with stakeholders, but she doesn’t know where they will stand on pipeline legislation until they see the details of a proposal from the majority party.
“I think it’s really necessary that something get done so that we can then move on to other issues,” she said.
Iowa’s 2026 legislative session is scheduled to begin Jan. 12.
