(Radio Iowa) – A House-passed bill that would give property owners resisting a proposed carbon pipeline a new legal option has cleared initial review in the Iowa Senate. Senator Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, is working on some adjustments to the bill, but he says it’s time for the legislature to do something. “I do believe this is the correct thing…to give people an opportunity to know the fate of their land without waiting three years,” Schultz said. “That just seems cruel and unusual.”

Under the bill, property owners along a proposed hazardous pipeline route could go to court after a permit application is filed for a ruling on whether developers would have eminent domain authority to seize land for the project. Property owners who don’t want the carbon pipeline on their land are urging senators to pass the bill. Kathy Carter of Rockford says they need relief.

“We need relief from the unending stress,” Carter said. “We need the relief of the worry of how do I afford to continue on, all in an effort to protect my own property.” Jeff Boeyink, a lobbyist for Summit Carbon Solutions, says if the bill becomes law, it would have a chilling effect on Summit’s pipeline, as well as natural gas pipeline development. “At its core, this bill has been written to frustrate infrastructure development,” Boeyink said. “There’s just no doubt about it.”

Another lobbyist for the company told senators that Summit has paid 158 million dollars to over 12-hundred Iowa landowners who’ve signed voluntary easements for the pipeline — accounting for nearly 75 percent of the pipeline route through Iowa.