(Radio Iowa) – A group of Republican lawmakers has introduced six bills that would strengthen landowner rights in response to the potential use of eminent domain for a carbon capture pipeline. The Iowa Utilities Commission has given conditional approval for Summit Carbon Solutions to move forward with pipeline construction in Iowa to capture carbon dioxide from ethanol plants — IF South Dakota regulators approve construction of that segment of the pipeline. Republican Representative Charley Thomson of Charles City says the commission made several errors that must be addressed. “And we’ll continue to work because we have lots of other ideas that we think need to be put into law, to put some guardrails around the IUC’s process,” Thomson says, “and protect the constitutional rights of Iowans.”

Greene County Attorney Thomas Laehn says the pipeline the biggest boondoggle in Iowa history.  “These bills will return power to the people, will ensure that our laws are consistent with the values and beliefs of the vast majority of Iowans, and will protect our property from further invasions by private companies.” House Speaker Pat Grassley says the six bills may be combined into one or two packages, but each of the six will get a subcommittee hearing first.

“It shows that we’re continuing to be thoughtful a serious about all of these different proposals, bringing attention to each of them,” Grassley said, “and we’ll make some legislation decisions on the best path forward.” The House has passed several bills about eminent domain and pipelines that carry a hazardous substance like liquid carbon dioxide — but none have passed the Iowa Senate. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association criticized this latest group of House bills as the wrong policy at the wrong time.

Monte Shaw, the associations executive director, says the bills would prevent Iowa-made ethanol from competing in markets where low-carbon or no-carbon fuels are favored.