Polk County joins effort to defend local say on carbon pipelines
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Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photo: Courtesy of Polk County
Polk County supervisors this week approved contributing to a legal effort to defend counties' rights to regulate hazardous liquid pipelines.
Why it matters: The case could influence the authority Iowa counties have over placing carbon dioxide pipelines, potentially blocking multibillion-dollar projects.
Catch up quick: Several companies have proposed building networks of underground pipelines across Iowa to capture carbon dioxide from ethanol or fertilizer plants and transport it to an underground sequestration site in Decatur, Illinois.
- A pipeline project scheduled to run in parts of northeastern Polk County was canceled in 2023, but other projects in nearby counties are still in planning stages.
- Gov. Kim Reynolds vetoed a bill in June that would have limited projects and made it harder to use eminent domain to build them.
Zoom in: A U.S. appeals court in June ruled in favor of Summit Carbon Solutions, concluding that Story and Shelby counties' ordinances could not impose safety standards on pipeline projects governed by federal standards.
- The counties are now requesting a review from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Driving the news: Polk supervisors agreed to allocate $1,000 to the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) to support a brief advocating for Story and Shelby counties' requests.
- ISAC argues the lower court's ruling incorrectly restricts local governments' authority and endangers public safety.
- The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and multiple states, including Minnesota and Michigan, have also filed briefs in support of Story and Shelby's reevaluation request.
State of play: As of Tuesday, 28 other counties had contributed to ISAC's legal costs, spokesperson Rachel Bennett tells Axios.
What we're watching: Whether the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, a process that could take months.