Eminent domain bill advances in the House • Iowa Capital Dispatch

Legislation that would enable people to ask a court to decide whether a pipeline project deserves the power of eminent domain was approved by an Iowa House committee on Tuesday.

House File 2522 is a diluted version of its initial incarnation, which would have allowed state legislators to halt the proceedings of hazardous liquid pipeline permits. Instead, it now gives people the opportunity to challenge the legitimacy of eminent domain proceedings in Polk County District Court before a ruling from state regulators.

The Iowa Utilities Board is poised to rule on such a request from Summit Carbon Solutions, which made its request for a permit more than two years ago for its sprawling carbon dioxide pipeline system. Another company, Wolf Carbon Solutions, is also seeking to build a shorter pipeline system in eastern Iowa. They both intend to transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants out of state for underground sequestration.

“This is…