Thank you Jan Norris

28 Jan 2026
Senate Commerce Committee.

1/28/26 Commerce Committee

Amendment vote

(0:08) 

Senator Klimesh:

Chairman, House File 2104 is a bill for an accoladed exercise of eminent domain for carbon oxide pipelines, and including applicability and effective date provisions, and there is an amendment. 

Chair Bousselot

Chair calls up amendment 2258 to House File 2104, 

Senator Klimesh, you are in order for opening remarks on the amendment. 

Sen Klimesh:


Thank you, Mr. Chair. Amendment 2258 is an amendment that provides a means for hazardous liquid pipeline companies to devise alternative routes for proposed pipeline, avoiding the land that cannot be acquired through voluntary transactions. And it requires the company diligently to exhaust all those alternatives before it can be eligible to request authorization by the Utilities Commission as a last resort to use eminent domain. 
Current law limits a company’s easement acquisition efforts by requiring individual mail notices to landowners who have identified parcels affected by a proposed project. 

 

This bill, or this amendment I’m sorry, enables a company actually to pursue alternative routes. 

• It allows a company, anytime after the mandatory county informational meeting, to contact any landowner within a voluntary easement corridor that includes land anywhere in the county, and anywhere within five miles of the initially proposed route. 
For the purpose of proposing voluntary purchase of easements. 
• The company must provide a landowner all the information presented at the meeting. 
• A landowner may opt out of any further contact from the company, except for mail. 

• The bill requires, or the amendment, requires a company to make a diligent effort to assemble a route consisting exclusively in voluntary easements. 
• It may not request the power of eminent domain without proving to the IUC that it has made that diligent effort. 
• The bill sets, or the amendment, sets out in detail, the procedures and timelines for the company’s easement, acquisition efforts. 
• 
It requires the company to inform a landowner about the easement it seeks, and to request permission to conduct a civil survey. There are specific deadlines for a survey and for a determination of land suitability. 
• The company may then make an offer to purchase an easement, including specified disclosures and terms, and a figure for cash compensation. 


These provisions regulize the process, and add transparency for the landowners. 

This amendment provides a one year time frame for eminent domain acquisition efforts. 

• If the company is unable to acquire voluntary easements for a complete route, it shall file with the IUC information, detailing its efforts to do so. 
• 
And if the company applies for eminent domain power, the company shall file evidence, proving that it diligently sought to devise a route of voluntary easements, 
• and that it was unable to, due to 
  • technical or engineering infeasibility, of construction, in a specific location, 
  • infeasibility of compliance with federal safety requirements, in a specific location, 
  • or adverse effects on safety, 
  • overall economic infeasibility, due to excessive easement acquisitions costs, 
  • which must be shown by clear and convincing evidence, 
  • or landowner opt out from communications with the company, 
  • or rejections of offers based on an IUC approved valuation methodology. 

 

Mr. Chairman, that concludes my opening comments. 

Bousselot

Thank you, Senator. 
Is there any discussion on Amendment 2258 House File 2104? Chair recognizes Senator Peterson. You are in order. 

Senator Peterson


Uh, thank you, Mr. Chair. 

The Minority Party received this amendment about 15 minutes prior to the start of the Commerce Committee. Well, I haven’t been able to compare it word to word, but is this the same language as in Senator Klemish’s, um, bill that we have a subcommittee scheduled for tomorrow? 

Bousselot:


Are you asking Senator Klemish to yield? 

Peterson

Well, I’m asking you to yield. 

Bousselot

I will yield. 
I believe it is substantially similar, yes. 

Peterson

Okay. Then, I guess my question is, what are we doing here? 
I mean, if we’re gonna have a subcommittee on this legislation tomorrow, why would we have a committee vote before we have a subcommittee on the legislation? 

Because yesterday, we watched a bait and switch. That was done to Iowa landowners in subcommittee by running a bill that they didn’t intend to run in committee. 


So, I would ask for a deferral and for us to actually follow the legislative process. 

Bousselot

We won’t be deferring. Is there any further discussion on the amendment? 


Senator Peterson, you’re in order. 

Peterson

I would urge a no vote on, uh, this amendment that’s being brought forth. We deserve to follow democracy here. 
And there is a subcommittee that will be held on it tomorrow to give the Iowans time to weigh in on the subject, and I don’t believe we should be voting on something without them being given due process. 

I urge a no vote. 

Bousselot

Is there any further discussion on amendment 2258? 
House file 2104. 

Seeing none. Senator Klemish, you were in order for closing remarks on amendment 2258 House File 2104. 


Klemish

I move the amendment. 

Bousselot

Senator Klemish moves the adoption of Amendment 2258 to house file 2104. We will do a roll call vote on the amendment. 

Clerk:

(5:16) 
Senator Bousselot? Yes. …. 

(Could see video, but no audio – Bousselot appeared to turn his mic off that cut off audio)

Me

(5:31) Who turned off the audio?

(5:35) 
I think Bousselot turned the audio off. 

(5:58)They’re still voting. 

(6:05) Vice chair is taking photographs. 

(6:11) 
Bousselot is making hash marks on a piece of paper. 

 

Clerk

(6:19) Uh, Senator… no audio

 

Bousselot

By a vote of 12 to 6, the amendment is adopted. 

We are now back on House File 2104 as amended. 
Is there further discussion? 

Seeing none, Senator Klemish, you are in order for closing remarks on House File 2104 as amended. 

Klemish

The amendment to House File 2104 provides a solution in Iowa that we’ve been discussing underneath this dome for the last four years. 

• It gives the ability for us to recognize property rights on both sides of an issue. 
• It gives us the ability to unregulate ourselves from the box we placed ourselves in by allowing no deviation from a notice corridor, 
• so we can finally, for the first time, have property rights exercise on both sides of infrastructure construction, both those that wish to NOT enter into voluntary easement agreements, and those that wish TO enter into voluntary easement agreements. 
• 
This bill will all but eliminate the need to utilize eminent domain to construct linear infrastructure. 

 

We’ve seen success with this approach in other states. This is not a new novel idea. 
Pipeline project was built through Kansas and Colorado, 240 miles. Delivering jet fuel. Never once, utilized eminent domain, because those states have policies very similar to what Iowa’s adopting, or looking to adopt, for this amendment. 

 


Uh, that concludes, uh, my closing comments on the bill, and I move the bill. 

Bousselot

Senator Klemish moves, house file 2104, as amended, we will do a roll call vote. 

Clerk

Senator Bousselot 
Yes. 

Senator Koelker, Aye

Senator Knox. 
No. 

Senator Bisignano. No


Senator Blake. No

Senator Dickey. Aye

Senator Driscoll. Yes. 

Senator Gruenhagen. Aye 
 

Senator Peterson. No. 


Senator Reichman. Aye

Senator Rowley. Yes 


Senator Schultz. Yes. 

Senator Sweeney. 
Aye 

Senator Warme. Yes 


Senator Webster. Aye

Senator Weiner. No


Senator Klemish. Aye

Senator Zumbach. 
Aye. 

 

Boussleot

By vote of 13 to 5, Housefile 2104 moves to the Senate calendar. 

Seeing no other business before the committee, Senator Grunhagen moves, we adjourn.
 (1:40pm)