Lawmakers kill carbon pipeline 'kill shot' while approving mediation measure

Legislation would require companies using eminent domain to pay for mediation with landowners they can't come to terms with

PIERRE — South Dakota companies with the power of eminent domain would face additional hurdles before they condemn private land under a bill that passed in the Senate State Affairs Committee Wednesday.

Senate Majority Leader Jim Mehlhaff said he brought Senate Bill 198 in order to strengthen the hand of landowners while also ensuring that economic development opportunities aren’t gutted. The legislation, he noted, applied to all companies with the power of eminent domain, not just a specific industry.

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South Dakota law has granted eminent domain powers to utilities and energy companies in order to allow them to construct certain projects – whether they be transmission lines, pipelines, ditches or other projects. A proposal by Summit Carbon Solutions to construct a carbon sequestration pipeline has turned eminent domain into one of the most controversial subjects that lawmakers have wrestled with over the last few sessions.

Indeed, prior to the hearing for Mehlhaff’s bill, the same committee heard Senate Bill 49. That bill would have eliminated the ability for companies constructing pipelines to transport carbon or hydrogen from using eminent domain. It also would have restricted wind and solar companies or other energy projects that use federal tax credits from using eminent domain.