A pair of bills have been introduced in the Senate, one of which is designed to advance a pipeline proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions without making the use of eminent domain necessary to acquire land.

State Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge, said he is “very supportive” of the bill.

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote today on a bill that would outlaw the use of eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines

State representatives Wendy Larson, R-Odebolt, and Ann Meyer, R- Fort Dodge, have both said they are opposed to the use of eminent domain for private projects such as carbon dioxide pipelines.

Summit Carbon Solutions has proposed a pipeline that would carry carbon dioxide away from Iowa ethanol plants to North Dakota, where the gas would be stored underground.

The Iowa Utilities Commission gave the company the right to use eminent domain to acquire land from unwilling sellers. When eminent domain is used, a buyer gets a piece of land appraised, pays the owner that amount and takes ownership of the land.

One of the Senate bills addresses the eminent domain issue by widening the corridor in which a pipeline can be built. According to Kraayenbrink, Iowa is “one of a few states that offers such a narrow limited corridor” for pipelines.

He said the bill would take away the need for eminent domain because with a wider corridor, the company could get more voluntary easements from landowners who are willing to have the pipeline on their property while completely avoiding the landowners who don’t want it.

“Let the people that want it have it and let the people who don’t want it stay out of it,” Kraayenbrink said. “That’s the true meaning of property rights.”

“Hopefully, we can move this part so the project isn’t cancelled,” he added.

The second Senate bill would impose a severance tax on carbon dioxide that is piped out of Iowa to be sequestered underground. The tax would be in the form of a flat fee per metric ton of carbon dioxide.