A bill that would have required more voluntary landowner participation before eminent domain could be used to build a carbon capture pipeline will not be advanced ahead of an Iowa legislative deadline this week, a key state lawmaker said Tuesday.
The bill — House File 565 — would require 90 percent of impacted landowners to voluntarily allow a pipeline to be constructed on their land before the pipeline company could use eminent domain to force agreements with other impacted landowners. It will not advance in the Iowa Senate, said Iowa Sen. Michael Bousselot, a Republican from Ankeny to whom the legislation was assigned in the Senate.
⧉ Related article: Iowans largely united in opposition to eminent domain for CO2 pipelines. So why aren’t lawmakers?
Bousselot said Tuesday he has not scheduled a subcommittee hearing on the bill — the first step in the legislative process — because there is not sufficient time to get the bill passed out of the Senate’s committee on commerce before Friday’s deadline. The Senate Commerce Committee, as of Tuesday afternoon, is not scheduled to meet again this week.
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That committee is chaired by Sen. Waylon Brown, a Republican from Osage. Neither Brown nor Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, a Republican from Grimes, were at the Iowa Capitol on Tuesday afternoon and thus were unavailable for comment, a spokesman for Senate Republicans said.
State lawmakers this week face a legislative deadline known as the funnel. In order to remain eligible for consideration moving forward this year, a bill must have passed out of the full chamber in which it was introduced, and out of a committee in the opposite chamber.
The proposed restriction on the use of eminent domain passed the Iowa House last week. But unless something changes in the Senate over the next few days, the bill will not pass out of a Senate committee before the Friday deadline.
That means the bill will be ineligible for consideration for the rest of 2023, with some exceptions: chamber leaders have legislative tools at their disposal to resurrect proposals, or it could be amended into separate legislation.
However, the most likely result is that the proposed eminent domain requirements will not pass the Iowa Legislature in 2023.
Three pipeline companies are seeking permits to build carbon dioxide pipelines in the state: Navigator CO2 Ventures, Summit Carbon Solutions and Wolf Carbon Solutions.
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Navigator and Summit, the largest projects, are seeking eminent domain authority from the Iowa Utilities Board. Wolf is proposing a smaller pipeline, covering just four Eastern Iowa counties, and has said it will not seek eminent domain authority.
In an emailed statement last week, Summit spokesperson Jesse Harris said the company has received voluntary easements for 70 percent of the proposed route in Iowa, which he said shows landowners agree the projects are vital to Iowa’s ethanol industry.
The pipelines — which will shuttle CO2 from ethanol plants to reservoirs deep underground, taking advantage of federal tax credits — are backed by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, which represents Iowa’s ethanol and biodiesel plants.
A recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll showed that 78 percent of Iowans oppose the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines.
Rep. Steve Holt, a Republican from Denison who managed the proposal in the Iowa House and earlier this year wrote the Iowa Utilities Board to express his disappointment in its approval of the pipelines, expressed his dismay at the news of the bill’s demise in the Senate.
“I am extremely disappointed that the Senate has chosen not to stand up for landowners,” Holt said Tuesday. “I think it’s a mistake.”
Holt has argued that eminent domain should not be used for the pipeline projects because they are economic development projects by private companies, not public use projects like roads and other infrastructure.
“I mean, it’s in the Republican Party platform of Iowa. There’s a strong position in our platform regarding the use of eminent domain. I think the House did the right thing, trying to protect property owners. I think it’s obvious,” Holt said. “It’s obvious what the right thing to do is, and that was to stand up and protect property owners from having their land seized.”
Jess Mazour, the conservation coordinator for the Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club, accused Senate leadership of attempting to kill the bill and ignoring the landowners who she said overwhelmingly support a limit to eminent domain practices. She said reaching a legislative agreement would be difficult, but the group will continue to push lawmakers to take action to limit CO2 pipelines.
“It’s really clear that the only thing stopping it is the political will,” she said.
Emma Schmit, an organizer with the advocacy organization Food & Water Watch, also called on Senate Republicans to advance the proposed legislation restricting eminent domain.
“At a time of deep division in Iowa politics, opposition to hazardous carbon pipelines is a uniting factor. It is unconscionable that our Senators should shun the will of the people and the full Iowa House to prioritize the business interests of wealthy donors over the lives and livelihoods of Iowans,” Schmit said in a statement.
Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, noted an industry-produced study that concluded without the proposed pipelines, Iowa could lose up to 75 percent of the state’s ethanol plants.
“While we’re not taking anything for granted, we have been able to have numerous thoughtful discussions in the Senate about the need for a fair and equitable path forward for carbon sequestration projects,” Shaw said in a statement. “As our robust expert study determined, these projects are critical to maintaining Iowa’s position as the best place to add value to corn and produce ethanol. Lowering your carbon intensity is also the key to opening exciting new markets like sustainable aviation fuel. Without carbon sequestration, Iowa ethanol would be left on the runway just as (sustainable aviation fuel) is taking off.”
Bousselot previously worked as managing director and head of external relations for Summit Agricultural Group, of which Summit Carbon Solutions is a subsidiary. The CEO of Summit Agricultural Group is Bruce Rastetter, an Iowa agribusiness leader and donor to Iowa Republican candidates and causes.
www.thegazette.com
The bill — House File 565 — would require 90 percent of impacted landowners to voluntarily allow a pipeline to be constructed on their land before the pipeline company could use eminent domain to force agreements with other impacted landowners. It will not advance in the Iowa Senate, said Iowa Sen. Michael Bousselot, a Republican from Ankeny to whom the legislation was assigned in the Senate.
⧉ Related article: Iowans largely united in opposition to eminent domain for CO2 pipelines. So why aren’t lawmakers?
Bousselot said Tuesday he has not scheduled a subcommittee hearing on the bill — the first step in the legislative process — because there is not sufficient time to get the bill passed out of the Senate’s committee on commerce before Friday’s deadline. The Senate Commerce Committee, as of Tuesday afternoon, is not scheduled to meet again this week.
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That committee is chaired by Sen. Waylon Brown, a Republican from Osage. Neither Brown nor Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, a Republican from Grimes, were at the Iowa Capitol on Tuesday afternoon and thus were unavailable for comment, a spokesman for Senate Republicans said.
State lawmakers this week face a legislative deadline known as the funnel. In order to remain eligible for consideration moving forward this year, a bill must have passed out of the full chamber in which it was introduced, and out of a committee in the opposite chamber.
The proposed restriction on the use of eminent domain passed the Iowa House last week. But unless something changes in the Senate over the next few days, the bill will not pass out of a Senate committee before the Friday deadline.
That means the bill will be ineligible for consideration for the rest of 2023, with some exceptions: chamber leaders have legislative tools at their disposal to resurrect proposals, or it could be amended into separate legislation.
However, the most likely result is that the proposed eminent domain requirements will not pass the Iowa Legislature in 2023.
Three pipeline companies are seeking permits to build carbon dioxide pipelines in the state: Navigator CO2 Ventures, Summit Carbon Solutions and Wolf Carbon Solutions.
A Flourish mapOn Iowa Politics
Newsletter Signup
Navigator and Summit, the largest projects, are seeking eminent domain authority from the Iowa Utilities Board. Wolf is proposing a smaller pipeline, covering just four Eastern Iowa counties, and has said it will not seek eminent domain authority.
In an emailed statement last week, Summit spokesperson Jesse Harris said the company has received voluntary easements for 70 percent of the proposed route in Iowa, which he said shows landowners agree the projects are vital to Iowa’s ethanol industry.
The pipelines — which will shuttle CO2 from ethanol plants to reservoirs deep underground, taking advantage of federal tax credits — are backed by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, which represents Iowa’s ethanol and biodiesel plants.
A recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll showed that 78 percent of Iowans oppose the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines.
Rep. Steve Holt, a Republican from Denison who managed the proposal in the Iowa House and earlier this year wrote the Iowa Utilities Board to express his disappointment in its approval of the pipelines, expressed his dismay at the news of the bill’s demise in the Senate.
“I am extremely disappointed that the Senate has chosen not to stand up for landowners,” Holt said Tuesday. “I think it’s a mistake.”
Holt has argued that eminent domain should not be used for the pipeline projects because they are economic development projects by private companies, not public use projects like roads and other infrastructure.
“I mean, it’s in the Republican Party platform of Iowa. There’s a strong position in our platform regarding the use of eminent domain. I think the House did the right thing, trying to protect property owners. I think it’s obvious,” Holt said. “It’s obvious what the right thing to do is, and that was to stand up and protect property owners from having their land seized.”
Jess Mazour, the conservation coordinator for the Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club, accused Senate leadership of attempting to kill the bill and ignoring the landowners who she said overwhelmingly support a limit to eminent domain practices. She said reaching a legislative agreement would be difficult, but the group will continue to push lawmakers to take action to limit CO2 pipelines.
“It’s really clear that the only thing stopping it is the political will,” she said.
Emma Schmit, an organizer with the advocacy organization Food & Water Watch, also called on Senate Republicans to advance the proposed legislation restricting eminent domain.
“At a time of deep division in Iowa politics, opposition to hazardous carbon pipelines is a uniting factor. It is unconscionable that our Senators should shun the will of the people and the full Iowa House to prioritize the business interests of wealthy donors over the lives and livelihoods of Iowans,” Schmit said in a statement.
Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, noted an industry-produced study that concluded without the proposed pipelines, Iowa could lose up to 75 percent of the state’s ethanol plants.
“While we’re not taking anything for granted, we have been able to have numerous thoughtful discussions in the Senate about the need for a fair and equitable path forward for carbon sequestration projects,” Shaw said in a statement. “As our robust expert study determined, these projects are critical to maintaining Iowa’s position as the best place to add value to corn and produce ethanol. Lowering your carbon intensity is also the key to opening exciting new markets like sustainable aviation fuel. Without carbon sequestration, Iowa ethanol would be left on the runway just as (sustainable aviation fuel) is taking off.”
Bousselot previously worked as managing director and head of external relations for Summit Agricultural Group, of which Summit Carbon Solutions is a subsidiary. The CEO of Summit Agricultural Group is Bruce Rastetter, an Iowa agribusiness leader and donor to Iowa Republican candidates and causes.
Eminent domain bill for carbon capture pipelines won’t advance
With its death ahead of this week’s legislative funnel, the bill is ineligible for consideration for the remainder of the 2023 session, although leadership could resurrect it
www.thegazette.com
