Groups representing corn growers and the ethanol industry are urging Governor Kim Reynolds to veto a bill that would put new restrictions on carbon pipelines.
House Speaker Pat Grassley says House Republicans who’ve passed several pipeline-related bills over the past few years are “extremely happy” the Senate finally passed one this week.
“I have not had an opportunity to have a conversation with the governor at this point in time,” Grassley said this morning during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs tonight on Iowa PBS. “…I’ve already signed it, sent it over to the senate and I’d be hopeful and my expectation would be that the governor would sign that piece of policy that finally does give some certainty to landowners.”
Grassley, as House speaker, is required to sign each bill that passes the House. In a rare move, Grassley held a bill signing ceremony with fellow House Republicans on Wednesday night. “We think it achieves the mission that we’ve been on for several years now,” Grassley said. “…It’s something that we would really have a high expectation of the governor to sign.”
The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association and the Iowa Corn Growers Association say the bill will effectively ban carbon pipelines in Iowa. Kelly Nieuwenhuis, a farmer from Primghar who’s a past president of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, was at the Capitol this week to lobby against the bill.
“I was very disappointed that the Iowa Senate would pass a bill like this,” he told Brownfield Ag News. “…They’ve been working on this project for almost five years now and Summit Carbon Solutions has followed all the rules.”
About three miles of Summit’s pipeline route goes through Nieuwenhuis’s property. Nearly three years ago he signed a contract giving the company access to that section of his land. “They’re not taking our land,” Niewenhuis said. “…Once the pipeline’s under the ground, we’ll continue farming it.”
Governor Reynolds has until mid-June to sign – or veto — all the bills that passed the legislature.
(Additional reporting by Brent Barnett, Brownfield Ag News)