Iowa House Introduces Bill to Ban CO2 Pipelines from Using Eminent Domain

January 14, 2026

Print This Article Share it With Friends

by Cami Koons (Iowa Capital Dispatch) House subcommittee advances the ‘simple’ bill -- A House subcommittee advanced a bill Tuesday (January 13, 2026) that would prohibit carbon dioxide pipeline operators from exercising eminent domain for the purpose of building a carbon sequestration pipeline.

Landowners and some Iowa Republicans have been opposed to the use of eminent domain, or the taking of private property with just compensation for public use, in relation to a proposed carbon sequestration pipeline.

The House passed a similar bill last year, and a faction of senators attempted to amend a different pipeline-related bill to an eminent domain ban, but the effort was not accepted on the Senate floor.

Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, said the language in House Study Bill 507 is “as simple as it can get.” Holt said the bill would not stop the pipeline from being built, but would protect Iowans’ private property rights.

“Economic development is of profound importance, but it does not trump fundamentally constitutional rights,” Holt said. “The use of government power to seek property for a private economic development project is not constitutional.”

Opponents of the bill argued it would stall economic growth in the state by blocking construction of the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline, a project that would connect to ethanol plants in Iowa and surrounding states and transport sequestered carbon dioxide from the plants to underground storage.

This would give Iowa’s renewable fuel industry access to the ultra-low carbon fuel market.

The project has already been affected by a South Dakota law banning the use of eminent domain for carbon sequestration pipelines. Recent filings indicate Summit may change course from its original plan to sequester the carbon dioxide in North Dakota, in order to avoid crossing through South Dakota.

Jake Ketzner, speaking on behalf of Summit Carbon Solutions, said HSB 507 would “kill” the project and take away Iowa’s ability to compete in new and emerging markets for low carbon ethanol.

Ketzner said the company instead supports a bill that widens the pipeline corridor beyond the route in its state permit to allow the pipeline to find a route without having to cross through unwilling landowner’s property.

...

Last year marked the first time a pipeline-related bill was taken up in the Senate, and while the bill narrowly passed the chamber, it was vetoed by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

...

In her veto message, Reynolds said House File 639 had “vague legal standards and sweeping mandates” rather than “clear, careful lines.”

...

Holt and Thomson (Rep. Charley Thomson, R-Charles City) held that carbon capture pipelines do not rise to the level of a public use that is required for the use of eminent domain. READ MORE

Related articles

Carbon pipeline bills spark debate during 2026 Iowa legislative session (Brownfield Ag News)
Iowa Corn Growers Applaud Introduction of SF 2067 (Iowa Corn Growers Association)
Iowa State Bill Addresses Pipeline Concerns (Energy.AgWired.com)
Naig monitoring carbon pipeline bills in Iowa Legislature (Brownfield Ag News; includes AUDIO)
As a young Iowa farmer, the CO2 pipeline debate startles me | Opinion (Des Moines Register)
Steen says eminent domain action needed for GOP to win governor's race (Des Moines Register)
'Smokescreen' or 'compromise'? Iowans weigh in on Senate pipeline bill (Des Moines Register)

Excerpt from Brownfield Ag News: The executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association says carbon pipeline legislation has been a big focus of the 2026 Iowa Legislative Session.

Monte Shaw, a supporter of carbon capture and sequestration, says a bill in the Iowa House would restrict the tools ethanol producers need to compete in emerging markets.

“There are competing ideas,” he said. “The second day of session they held a subcommittee on a bill that would basically be a de facto ban on carbon sequestration pipelines in Iowa.”

Shaw says the bill is titled House Study Bill 507.

He tells Brownfield ethanol producers in other states have been benefiting from carbon pipeline projects.

“In Nebraska where they have an operating CO2 pipeline, there has now been a $1.8 billion investment by a consortium of Japanese companies to come tap into that pipeline, pull some of that CO2 out and turn it into a green methanol.”

On Tuesday, the Iowa Senate Majority Leader, Mike Klimesh, introduced a separate carbon pipeline bill that would reform the permit process to be less confrontational. Shaw says the legislation expands the ability to voluntarily negotiate with landowners on 10 miles to either side of the noticed corridor, and requires developers to exhaust all voluntary easement options before eminent domain can be considered.

Shaw says the Senate bill would ensure landowner rights are respected while allowing projects to move forward. READ MORE

Excerpt from Iowa Corn Growers Association: Earlier today (January 20, 2026), the Majority Leader of the Iowa Senate Mike Klimesh introduced Senate File 2067. The bill proposes widening the corridor to find new paths for the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) pipeline, rely on eminent domain only after all reasonable alternatives have been exhausted.

Iowa Corn Growers Association Vice President and farmer from Knoxville, Iowa, Steve Kuiper, released the following statement:

“The Iowa Corn Growers Association appreciates Senate Majority Leader Klimesh for introducing Senate File 2067 and advocating for increased flexibility as Iowa fights to pursue low-carbon ethanol markets.

“Iowa’s corn farmers are continuing to see corn prices decline and input costs rise. Without access to low-carbon fuels through the carbon pipeline, farmers will lose the ability to participate in new markets, like sustainable aviation fuel or marine fuel, and be forced to watch idly by as other states, such as Nebraska, adopt CCS technology.

“All of Iowa must work together to find solutions that allow our state to pursue CCS projects and maintain the profitability of our state’s corn and ethanol industry. This bill is a step in the right direction, and we look forward to continuing to partner with Iowa’s legislators to find common ground that benefits all of Iowa.” READ MORE

Excerpt from Brownfield Ag News: As separate carbon pipeline bills make their way through both chambers of the Iowa Legislature, the state’s ag secretary says it’s going to come down to a compromise.

Mike Naig tells Brownfield, “Iowans have said loud and clear they would like to see enhanced protections for property owners and property rights, meaning there needs to be some eminent domain reform. And yet there are also folks on the hill that would like to see development still be able to occur.”

Lawmakers in the Iowa House recently passed a bill that would ban the use of eminent domain for carbon capture and sequestration pipelines. A measure currently under consideration in the state Senate would reform the permit process by expanding the ability to voluntarily negotiate with landowners on 10 miles to either side of the noticed corridor, and require developers to exhaust all voluntary easement options before eminent domain could be considered.

Naig says he believes it’s possible to both protect landowner rights and allow carbon pipeline projects to occur.

“Let’s make sure that we have a process that gets reformed in a way that provides the right balance and protects landowners but also recognizes there’s an upside for ethanol if we can do these types of things. But it’s got to be done in the right way.”

He says eminent domain “needs to be rare” and that carbon pipeline projects shouldn’t have to use that tool. READ MORE

Excerpt from Des Moines Register: I'm hopeful that there can be common ground found on this issue because it is not something that should polarize our state and risk Iowa’s corn and ethanol industry. -- Austin Miller, Guest columnist

With the 2026 legislative session moving into full swing, one of the hottest topics is eminent domain related to the proposed carbon pipeline. I have heard many friends and fellow farmers discussing both sides of this issue, and I really want to look at it from the middle and lay out the facts.

I am by no means a supporter of eminent domain use! However, we need to look at what the ramifications to our state and local communities will be without access to carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology. READ MORE

Excerpt from Des Moines Register: Republican governor candidate Adam Steen said that if the Legislature doesn’t ban the use of eminent domain for the construction of a proposed carbon capture pipeline this session, the party will lose the governor’s race in November.

“Eminent domain is the number one issue across the entire state of Iowa right now,” he said at a Thursday, Jan. 29, campaign stop in Pleasant Hill. READ MORE