A bill that would have made it significantly harder for pipeline companies to invoke eminent domain to seize private land along proposed routes failed to make it through the Iowa Legislature’s latest funnel. The House bill, which passed 73-20 on March 22, would require companies to have voluntary easements along 90 percent of the path before eminent domain could be used to force remaining landowners to allow pipeline builders access to their property. During last weekend’s Carroll Chamber of Commerce Forum in Manning, District 12 Representative Brian Best of Glidden says it has been a challenging issue, as it pits private property owners against the ag industry.
Best was one of the 73 yes votes in the House to advance the bill. The legislation was referred to a subcommittee in the Senate Commerce Committee, which declined to take up the issue before the March 31 deadline. District 6 Senator Jason Schultz of Schleswig, who sits on the full Commerce Committee but was not a part of the pipeline subcommittee that allowed the bill to expire, said this bill has far-reaching implications for farmers, including his own family.
Senate President Jack Whitver of Ankeny told reporters Thursday that they lacked consensus among the GOP on how to address the issue. While the bill might be dead for the 2023 session, Whitver indicated they would continue to discuss how to weigh individual property rights versus the health of Iowa’s biofuels industry. He suggested that pipeline routes and eminent domain use will likely be a hot topic for the next several years.
