Linn County is restarting its pipeline ordinance draft.
The Linn County Board of Supervisors is sending their draft ordinance regulating where carbon pipelines can be located in Linn County back to the Planning & Zoning Commission.
In December, the Linn County Supervisors tabled the draft ordinance during its second of three required readings to allow for more input. There are concerns about the ordinance – both from the Board and the public – related to setback waivers, capacity of local emergency response personnel, the newness of carbon pipelines, areas of potential future growth, agricultural impacts, and ecological disruptions.
Since December, staff has been working to address those concerns and they believe the changes in the draft ordinance will be substantial enough to warrant going back to the P&Z Commission to start the process over. Once a new draft ordinance comes back to the Board of Supervisors, it will start over as a new ordinance with three required readings, which will allow for more public input.
The Iowa Utilities Board is the final authority on interstate pipelines, although counties can set parameters around the safety of residents and land. Iowa Code Chapters 479 and 479B give the Iowa Utilities Board the authority to oversee the state permitting process for intrastate hazardous liquid or natural gas pipelines. That state board reviews the location and route of proposed pipelines and they may grant the permit with conditions related to these factors. Any county ordinance will have to balance resident safety with the Iowa Utilities Board rules and state law.
Navigator CO2’s Heartland Greenway carbon capture pipeline was originally proposed to pass through Linn County, but a revamp last year changed the pipeline route from Dyersville through Delaware County and into Buchanan and Fayette counties and then west through the state. However, another pipeline – Wolf Carbon’s Mt. Simon Hub – is proposed to be built between Cedar Rapids and Decatur, Illinois.
