Meeting Public Comments

LeAnne Blanchard

This is a common sense bill that should be sent to the full Senate floor for debate and vote.

Cheryl Hogberg

Thank you for holding a hearing on HF639, we support this bill. However, our preferred bill is HF943, the bill that bans eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Please do not allow another session to pass without protecting our property rights. Please amend HF639 to include a ban on eminent domain for carbon pipelines.

Jean Kampman

Thank you for holding a hearing on HF639; we are in support of this bill. However, our preferred legislation is HF943, which bans the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines. We urge you not to let another session pass without safeguarding our property rights. Please consider amending HF639 to include a ban on eminent domain for carbon pipelines.

Michael Henning

Thank you for holding a hearing on HF639, I support this bill. However, my preferred bill is HF943, the bill that bans eminent domain for carbon pipelines.I expect the bills can be combined and passed. Thank you for considering.

Pat Mennenga Mennenga

Thank you, Senate commerce committee members for scheduling a hearing on HF 639. We do support this bill, even though our preferred Bill is HF 943. We need a bill that bands eminent domain from Agland being used for carbon pipelines. We live in Northeast Iowa, and our farm is being directly impacted by this proposed pipeline. Please do not wait another year before giving us relief from this scam. Please consider amending HF 639 to include a band on eminent domain for carbon pipelines.

Lori Goth

HF943 should be brought before the full senate for a vote by all the senators who represent all Iowans. This bill protects individual landowners from forprofit companies from taking land through eminent domain. Please listen to your constituents like they did in South Dakota.

Cala McGregor

I support HF 639. Many projects with IUC have long term impacts on our people. We need to make sure we protect the citizens of our state with proper representation.Please pass this bill for floor discussion.

Mikayla McCurdy

pass it and add HF943 as an amendment.

Cala McGregor

I support HF 639. Many projects with IUC have long term impacts on our people. We need to make sure we protect the citizens of our state with proper representation.Please pass this bill for floor discussion.

Anthony Schmitt

Please pass this bill. Also add JF943 as an amendment. To stop eminent domain

Julie Baker

I have family directly affected by phase 2 of the Summit Carbon Solutions CO2 pipeline. Thank you for scheduling a hearing on the HF 639. I support this bill and HF 943 on eminent domain. Please add HF 943 on eminent domain to HF 639 or separately. Please send both bills to the full Senate floor for debate and a vote. The Iowa landowners deserve to be heardfinally. Thank you!

Todd Baker

I have family directly affected by phase 2 of the Summit Carbon Solutions CO2 pipeline. Thank you for scheduling a hearing on HF 639. I support this bill and also HF 943 on eminent domain. Please add HF 943 on eminent domain to HF 639 or as a separate bill. Please send both bills to the full Senate floor for debate and a vote. The Iowa land owners deserve to be heard finally. Thank you!

CRISTY TASS

This hearing is appreciated and my opinion is that HF639 should pass with the bill HF943 that bans eminent domain from carbon capture pipelines companies. Please, protect the impacted landowners and the citizens of our State of Iowa. Thank you.

Paige Bushbaum

Please pass this bill, but also add HF943 as well. We need to protect landowners against eminent domain.

Beverly McGriff

As trustee for land in the corridor of Summit's Phase 2 Lateral 12 CO2 pipeline project, I am very pleased that you are meeting on HF639. I especially like how HF639 would make Summit provide or help supplement the landowner's liability insurance costs. It is also very important to me that others, like the 600 people of Albert City living less than a mile from the proposed pipe, would be able to intervene at the hearing. HF943 is also very important to me. As MN and SD have done, Iowa needs to protect landowners who aren't interested in having the Chinese investors own part of their land be able to say, "No Thank You!" A combination of HF639 and also Hf943 needs to be brought to the floor of the full Senate so they can have a voice for their constituents. Thank You!

Kim Swartz

Thank you for holding a hearing on HF639, we support this bill. However, our preferred bill is HF943, the bill that bans eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Please do not allow another session to pass without protecting our property rights. Please amend HF639 to include a ban on eminent domain for carbon pipelines

Kris Kruthoff [Land owner]

Thank you for holding a hearing on HF639, we support this bill. However, our preferred bill is HF943, the bill that bans eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Please do not allow another session to pass without protecting our property rights. Please amend HF639 to include a ban on eminent domain for carbon pipelines.

Connie Esker

Please pass HF943 most importantly to protect Iowa property owners from the use of eminent domain for the hazardous co2 pipeline projects Iowans should have the same rights or better than our South Dakota and Minnesota neighbors. Thank you.

Dennis Westergard

Pass HF639 and HF943 for the good of Iowa the land between two beautiful rivers!!

Nelva Huitink

Thank you for holding a hearing on HF639, I support this bill. However, the preferred bill is HF943, the bill that bans eminent domain for carbon pipelines. As an impacted landowner, I ask that do not allow another session to pass without protecting the property rights of Iowa landowners. Please amend HF639 to include a ban on eminent domain for carbon pipelines.

Karen Ahrenholtz

Thank you for holding a hearing on HF639. As Iowan landowners, we support this bill but we also need HF943 to be added as an amendment. HF943 is the bill that bans eminent domain for carbon pipelines. It is time that Iowans have a bill protecting our property rights! South Dakota and Minnesota already have passed similar legislation and I am hopeful that Iowa will follow their lead. Please do the right thing and amend HF639 to include HF943 a ban on eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Thank you.

Keith Sutcliffe

Please pass this bill and add HF943 as an amendment. Eminent domain should not be used for private gain. Lets protect our landowners!

Raymond Stuedemann

Please pass this bill and add HF643 as an amendment.

Leslie Raya

Please pass this bill and add HF 643 as an amendment.

Evelyn Stuedemann

I support this bill and ask that you pass it and add HF 643 as an amendment.

Marilee Feldman [Alpaca Farm Trust]

Senators:Thank you for representing Iowans by holding a hearing on HF639. As an Iowa business owner and affected Iowa landowner, I support this bill. As you may be aware, the Des Moines Register Poll showed that 73 percent of Iowans are against eminent domain for nonutility private companies. This 73 percent are your constituentsthe people you represent. We the People believe in safeguarding property rights as written in the Iowa constitution. Protections can be accomplished by amending HF639 to include eminent domain protections (HF943).With your support, the bill can advance to the Senate floor so that the full Iowa Senate will have an opportunity to demonstrate their support to their constituents. Thank you for your support.

Caila Corcoran

I want to thank you for scheduling a hearing on HF639 as I support this bill. I please ask that you amend it to add HF 943 as Iowans and landowners we should have the right to say yes, I want to participate in your project or a no thank you. Please give Iowans that choice. Simply putting landowners and Iowans at risk of loosing our generation farms to eminent domain is not how Iowa should have their land taken especially from something that isnt a public use.

Jamie Moser

Iowans deserve to have our property rights protected like South Dakota & Minnesota. We need to add HF943 to this amendment& stop the abuse of eminent domain for private gain.

Jeff and Carla (Brunsvold) Jones [Carla Jones]

Thank you for scheduling a subcommittee meeting regarding HF639 which was overwhelmingly passed by the House last week. We support HF639; however, please make sure HF943 gets added to this bill or passed separately. We need to make sure property rights are protected from eminent domain for private gain. South Dakota and Minnesota have banned eminent domain for carbon pipelines, Iowa should too!

Bea Smuck

Thank you for your time with HF639. This is important, however, we need to get HF943 passed by subcommittee by Friday's funnel dead line. This is banning eminent domain.

Patty Beyer

Thank you for representing Iowans by holding a hearing on HF639; I support this bill. To safeguard property rights as enshrined in the Iowa constitution, and to address the dramatically increased liability risks associated with CO2 pipelinesrisks magnified by the Zurich v. Andrew decision which demonstrates that "hold harmless" agreements don't prevent insurance companies from pursuing landownersI urge you to amend HF639 with eminent domain protections, as outlined in HF943. This amendment is crucial because unlike traditional eminent domain with no landowner liability, and even oil and gas pipelines that introduced some liability, CO2 pipelines create massive, farreaching, invisible plumes, potentially holding landowners liable for damages miles away, thus creating immense financial devastation potential. Advancing this amended bill to the Senate floor will allow the full Iowa Senate to demonstrate their support for their constituents' clearly expressed wishes and protect them from these amplified risks.

Lucinda Brandau

Thank you for scheduling bills that will protect Iowans from dangerous land grabs for private gain. Please pass HF639 and add HF943. We need protection from damage to our water, our land and our lives. It is time to get the job done....

Ann Bokelman

79 percent of all Iowans don't believe in eminent domain for private gain. My civics teacher taught us that it was for public projects. South Dakota and Minnesota have this right. Do not force farmers to let others wreck havoc on their land.Bring this issue to the full Senate floor so Iowan's can see just where their elected officials stand. South Dakota got it right when they gave the boot to those that don't listen to the people.Sincerely, Ann Bokelman

Terry Dirks

Please pass HF 639 and HF 943. Property owners need to have the right to protect their land.

Larry Brandau

Please move HF639 to a full vote and add HF943 to this bill or separately. It has been four years that it has been ignored by the Senate. Please join the House and pass these bills for the protection of land, water, lives from land grabs for private gain. We need IUC to attend meetings to hear the real story from people who are subject to eminent domain. Please get it done, it is time.

Dee Schweizer

Please pass HF 639 (landowner protections) and more importantly, add HF943 (NO eminent domain bill) as an amendment. We landowners deserve to have a voice.

Joan Gaul

As a Summit CO2 pipelineaffected landowner I implore you to pass HF639 and add as an amendment HF943 or pass HF943 separately. Bill HF943 bans eminent domain for dangerous CO2 pipelines. Please send both to the full Senate floor for debate and vote. We deserve to have our property rights maintained in the state of Iowa, just as they are in MN and SD. I and hundreds of Iowa landowners have been trying to stop these pipelines for years and have pleaded with our legislators to help us by passing bills to stop private companies from using eminent domain to steal our land for their profits alone. Thank you for reading my comments. Please listen to us constituents.

Lana Griswold

Please pass this bill and add HF643 as an amendment. Protect our property rights, precious farmground and family farms for generations.

Vickie BECK

Thank you for holding a hearing on SF 639. I am in support of this bill but I feel SF 943 needs to be added to this bill or passed as a stand alone bill. Iowa landowners need support to stop Eminent Domain for Private Gain. Minnesota and South Dakota do not allow Eminent Domain neither should Iowa.

Joe Goche [Global Enterpizes LLC ]

Legislators, Thank you for holding a hearing on HF639, Global Enterpizes LLC members support this bill. However, the company's members and management preferred bill is HF943, the bill that bans eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Please do not allow another session to pass without protecting our property rights. Please amend HF639 to include a ban on eminent domain for carbon pipelines.Joe Goche Registered Agent for:Global Enterpizes LLC

Nancy Dugan [Select your title]

Neither this bill nor HF 943 contain any safety provisions in the event that eminent domain is used or the pipeline is built without using eminent domain. You've had four years to make some improvements. The eminent domain bill, in my view, may not be effective if the 45Q tax credit is repealed and the CO2 is instead used to make sustainable aviation fuel and other products. That is because I believe the primary purpose of the pipeline would no longer be transportation of CO2. All pipelines transport product, but based upon my research, I believe the technical category under these circumstances would likely be a gathering pipeline.I support the landowners' concerns regarding eminent domain. But one key issue related to this has received little attention. How will a decision to disallow eminent domain affect the safety of such pipelines when they are built? A DAPL filing in the Summit Carbon matter in South Dakota stated the following: "This includes only the most basic information that Summit is planning more than 40 crossings of DAPL and inconsistent information on collocation of pipelines..." Why are there so many planned DAPL crossings in South Dakota? (https://puc.sd.gov/commission/dockets/HydrocarbonPipeline/2024/HP24001/PartyStatus/DakotaAccessPSA.pdf)In my view, equally and potentially more important issues are water and power. I am not an attorney, but it appears to me that recent court filings in the Summit Carbon appeal in Polk County indicate that the environmental groups which have largely managed the opposition to this project, Bold and Sierra Club, did not preserve the issues of water quality and quantity during the lengthy IUC proceeding. See this link for more information: https://x.com/IowaView/status/1905850788565401899Below is some information on a plant in Nebraska that plans to use CO2 to produce fertilizer. News reports indicate it will use CO2 from the Tallgrass Trailblazer CO2 pipeline. https://www.gothenburgleader.com/gallery/congratulationsgothenburgnewplanttocreatejobsreduceagcosts/article437412281b4411eea908cbb98981ef97.html"The plant will achieve net negative emissions through a zerocarbon production process that utilizes liquified CO2, reduces transportationgenerated emissions from current import requirements, and produces emissionsreducing fuel additives as a byproduct."Here is some additional information on this plant: https://www.gothenburgleader.com/news/updateonprojectmeadowlark/article0220e916b28011efb47a7f3dc3782961.html.The plant will use a great deal of power. Quote from the article: Westling told the crowd on hand that one of the things they have to be very mindful of during the planning and design stage is power. We are going to be a large consumer of power over there so we have to make sure that we align the construction of the facility with delivery of power, so it is taking a little longer than we originally thought, he said. It will also use a great deal of water:We will use about 1,500 gallons of water per minute, and we will put about 500 gallons per minute back, Westling said. I think that is roughly approximate to a single center pivot.Based on my research, I believe several other businesses that may use CO2 to produce fuel and other products will be a part of the Trailblazer route. I believe they will also use massive amounts of water, which no environmental group has even striven to account for. I am gravely concerned that if we wind up with a pipeline, increased ethanol production, and the proliferation of additional plants that use CO2 to make methanol, sustainable aviation fuel, and other products, this may have a catastrophic effect on our water sources.I do not support this part of the bill: "The following persons are entitled as of right to intervene in any proceeding conducted by the commission: a. A member of the general assembly. b. An elected county or city official. c. Any resident with a minimally plausible interest in the proceedings." I am concerned the term "plausible" may invoke the plausibility standard, which may in turn make it more difficult for interested parties to intervene. I have no idea why you would seek to extend the right to intervene to politicians. Here is the text from a recent Tweet by energy secretary Chris Wright:"Commonsense energy policy means putting energy over politics something the last administration failed to do." We are four years or more into this matter absent any meaningful, constructive intervention by the Iowa Legislature.

Curtis Boeck

I sincerely hope that HF 943 and HF 639 find their way out of subcommittee and are discussed and approved by the Iowa Senate. I am confident that the Senate recognizes Iowa's most valuable resource and do everything in their power to protect it. Please pass these bills. Thank you.

Mark Hendrickson [Land owner]

Please pass the bill to stop eminent domain. Save the rights of property owners. Thank you

Nancy Erickson

I do support HF 639. As a landowner in Kossuth County directly affected by the Summit CO2 pipeline, I support this bill. I was appalled that my neighbors who will be living and working dangerously close to this pipeline, were not allowed to speak at the IUC hearings in Fort Dodge. I was one of many landowners who testified that I am unable to obtain liability insurance for a CO2 pipeline on my land. A pipeline I do not want on my property. If that pipeline ruptures on my property, everyone will be sued Summit, tenants and landowners. Unfortunately, we will have to pay for lawyers out of own pocket until we are bankrupt.I also support HF 943. Please add it to this bill or pass it separately. South Dakota and Minnesota do not allow eminent domain for CO2 pipelines. Do your constituents in Iowa deserve any less??

Mike Brodersen

Please pass this bill HF639 and add bill HF943 no eminet domain for private gain. Protect our property rights and family farms for the future.

Julie Rayhons Baker

The 2024 Iowa State Republican platform includes this language: "We oppose government using eminent domain to take private property away from the owner for the use of another private party, or forprofit entity." and "We firmly oppose the carbon capture initiative, including carbon pipelines..." and "laws should only be enacted... in the interest of protecting or expanding private property rights..." The Iowa Republicans are failing to follow their own platform. QUESTION THEM AS TO WHY.I am asking every Republican, especially today. Why is HF943 on eminent domain not included in the debate and vote today? Why are you not following your stated written (in print) platform? Iowa landowners (all property owners) deserve an answer to this question?

Debra Wheeler

Thank you for holding a hearing on HF639. We support this bill. However, our preferred bill is HF943, the bill that bans eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Please do not allow another session to pass without protecting our property rights. Please amend HF639 to include a ban on eminent domain for carbon pipelines.

Dan Gutsschenritter

We support HF639. Our preferred bill is HF943, banning eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Please amend HF639 to include a ban on eminent domain for carbon pipelines.

Jill Williamson [Farmer]

Im a landowner of a century farm in Palo Alto county impacted by the CO2 pipeline. Please pass HF639 for landowner protections. Also please ban eminent domain for private gain.Thank youJill Williamson

Denise Smith [Gutschenritter Family Farms]

We support HF639. Our preferred bill is HF943, banning eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Please amend HF639 to include a ban on eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Thank you.

Patricia Dumolien [Landowner]

This bill is needs to become law in order to protect landowners. It is only right to bring it to committee and then on to the senate floor for a vote. In addition it is only right to have no eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Bills protecting landowners from eminent domains deserves to be up for a vote on the senate floor.

Hilary Ziols

Thank you for holding a hearing on HF639. I support this bill. However, the most important bill is HF943, the bill that bans eminent domain for carbon pipelines. Please do not allow another session to pass without protecting our property rights. Please amend HF639 to include a ban on eminent domain for carbon pipelines. South Dakota legislators had the spine to represent regular citizens and not only corporate interests, and banned eminent domain for private companies. Iowa legislators should have at least as much resolve to do the same.

Mark Kruthoff [Land Owner]

Thank you for holding a subcommittee on HF 639. Although I support this bill, I would like to see HF943 be brought forward and either passed on its own or added to bill 639. Iowans do not favor eminent domain for private companies gains when it isn't for the public good. Please pass HF639 and HF943. Thank you.

Sherri Webb [Affected Century Farm Landowner]

Thank you for scheduling a subcommittee meeting regarding HF 639 which was overwhelmingly passed by the House last week. However, PLEASE include HF 943 as a separate bill or included with HF 639. My preference is HF 943 separately which would protect those landowners that do not want the risk or the soil damage from the CO2 pipeline. We have waited four years for help and I would point out that Summit originally indicated that they would not use eminent domain for this project. The attached document was posted on Facebook in 2022 and mentions "working with landowners who wish to voluntarily participate". We have chosen not to participate!