TWO BILLS

Last year the Iowa legislature passed HF 639 concerning C02 pipelines, only to have it vetoed by Governor Reynolds. Governor Reynold’s stated she thought the bill was too broad and could affect other energy projects such as oil, gas, and fertilizer pipelines. The Governor went on to say that “While I support the bill’s goal of protecting landowners, good policy should draw clear, careful lines.”

On January 12^th the new legislative session will begin. Senate Majority Leader Mike Klemish has already stated to the Capital Dispatch that he will “introduce legislation within the first week of session that would allow companies (including, all utility companies or other infrastructure projects) to seek voluntary easements within a 10-mile radius of the corridor approved by the Iowa Utilities Commission in the permit process.”

So, what is a corridor? When a pipeline company applies for a permit with the Iowa Utilities Commission, (IUC) they make a map of their proposed route and then by Iowa code they have to establish a notice corridor. The corridor allows them to make adjustments to the pipeline to accommodate changes that may need to be made to the path. They then send information letters to everyone in the corridor and must hold an informational hearing.  On Phase One, the original route, Summit set a corridor of somewhere between 1500 feet and half a mile on each side of the pipeline. on Phase 2, the 14 additional laterals, a mile corridor on each side of the pipeline was establish on most of the route. If they find they would like to go outside the corridor by Iowa code they can request a change to the IUC.

Senator Klimesh’s 10-mile corridor is on each side of the pipeline, for a total of a 20-mile corridor. As a reference to how big this corridor would be, I looked up the size of Hardin County. It is roughly 24 miles wide from north to south and 24 miles east to west. What this means is basically all of Hardin County would be in the corridor!

 An even bigger problem is, that they could still us eminent domain.

The landowners took to heart what the Governor said and have been working with other legislators to bring forth a simple “No eminent domain for carbon oxide pipelines (Federal government uses this term) “written into the proper place in Iowa Code. The SIRE Ethanol plant in SW Iowa that has signed on with a pipeline in Nebraska was able to get 100% easements without the threat of eminent domain. Minnesota has no eminent domain legislation and Summit was able to get a permit there. This does not stop the pipeline but does protect private property rights.

Our legislators all take an oath to uphold the constitutions of the United States and Iowa. Both constitutions protect private property rights. Both the Democratic and Republican Platforms are against the use of eminent domain from another private party. The Republicans Platform even goes further and says no eminent domain for C02 pipelines.

Please call Senator Sweeney 1-641-373-4899 and

Representative Josh Meggers 1-319-330-5208

and ask them to pass the No Eminent Domain Bill and not to support Senator Klimesh’s bill.

On January 13th Landowners will be meeting at 12 o’clock at the Iowa State Historical Building, just west of the capital, for some training on how to talk to legislators and then walk over to the capital.

Would love to see you there!

Kathy Stockdale

kartstock@gmail.com

This is a map of Summit’s pipeline with the proposed 10-mile corridor on both sides.  Notice how many whole counties would be included in the corridor.