Iowa Utilities Board rejects tribe’s request for EIS of Summit Carbon pipeline but calls December hearing to clarify issues

In Iowa, Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) issued an order on Thursday that denies a request for an environmental impact study (EIS) regarding the proposed carbon capture pipeline by Summit Carbon Solutions LLC (Summit Carbon), which is pending before the IUB in Docket No. HLP-2021-0001. The request for the EIS was filed by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska (Winnebago Tribe) on June 2, 2022.

The order stated that the IUB will consider specific environmental issues raised by the IUB and the parties in the Summit Carbon docket as part of the public evidentiary hearing and in consideration of whether to grant Summit Carbon a hazardous liquid pipeline permit. The IUB considers the proposed project under Iowa Code chapter 479B and the IUB’s rules at 199 Iowa Administrative Code chapter 13, and the IUB will consider whether Summit Carbon has addressed the environmental concerns sufficiently. The IUB stated in the order that it does not consider a separate EIS, as required by federal regulations, to be necessary to fulfill its statutory requirements in considering whether to grant the permit requested. 

The order referenced a similar request made with regard to the Dakota Access pipeline in Docket No. HLP-2014-0001. In the IUB’s Final Decision and Order issued March 10, 2016, in the Dakota Access docket, the IUB found “there is no explicit legal requirement, in statute or in rule, for an independent environmental impact report as a part of this proceeding.”

On June 17, 2022, Summit Carbon filed a response to the Winnebago Tribe’s filing, and on June 21, 2022, Sierra Club filed comments addressing the EIS request. Since Sierra Club’s filing, numerous members of Sierra Club also have submitted comments requesting an EIS be conducted. 

The IUB has also issued an order scheduling a December 13, 2022, oral argument proceeding in connection with the proposed carbon capture pipeline by Summit Carbon Solutions.

The proceeding will be held to allow interested parties to provide input on the relationship between the findings the IUB must make in that docket in regard to the location of the proposed pipeline (project siting), local land use, and injury to property as compared to safety issues subject to federal jurisdiction. The oral argument will begin 15 minutes following the monthly public Board meeting in the IUB Hearing Room, 1375 E. Court Ave., Des Moines, Iowa.

On September 2, 2022, the IUB issued an order stating more information was needed regarding federal preemption on safety issues.

The order also requires anyone who wishes to participate in the oral argument to file briefs by November 10, 2022. Representatives of both Navigator Heartland Greenway, LLC, and Wolf Carbon Solutions US, LLC, which also have projects for proposed carbon capture pipelines, may also file briefs and participate in the oral argument without filing for intervention.