(Des Moines) – The Iowa Utilities Board today issued an order scheduling an oral argument for April 12, 2022, to review its compliance with a statutory requirement for selecting a hearing location for Summit Carbon Solutions LLC’s (Summit Carbon) request for a permit of a hazardous liquid pipeline. The order also sets out the IUB’s proposed methodology for setting the midpoint of the proposed pipeline route and seeks input on whether the hearing can be held in a county where the proposed pipeline would not be located.

Iowa Code § 479B.6(b) requires the IUB to hold the hearing “in the county seat of the county located at the midpoint of the proposed pipeline.” Today’s order states the IUB “interprets the statute to require that the hearing be held at a location that provides all landowners an approximate equal opportunity to attend the hearing.”

The pipeline route, as proposed, would have endpoints in Lyon, Woodbury, Fremont, Chickasaw and Dickinson counties. To meet its statutory requirement, the IUB estimated the travel time from the five endpoints and noted that because of the configuration of the proposed pipeline, with one primary line and several trunk lines, the midpoint cannot be easily determined.

Today’s order allows parties wishing to comment on how the Board should determine the hearing location to file comments or briefs no later than March 31, 2022. The comments will be considered at the oral argument, which will be held in the IUB Hearing Room following the monthly public Board meeting that begins at 9 a.m. April 12.

Summit Carbon filed its petition to construct, operate, and maintain a proposed hazardous liquid pipeline to transport liquefied carbon dioxide within the state of Iowa on January 28, 2022, in Docket No. HLP-2021-0001. IUB staff are currently reviewing the petition and exhibits filed in support of the petition to determine whether additional information is needed or corrections are required to bring those documents into compliance with Iowa Code chapter 479B and IUB rules in 199 Iowa Administrative Code chapter 13.

Following a determination that the petition is substantially complete, the IUB will issue a subsequent order that establishes a procedural schedule, sets an intervention date, sets dates for Summit Carbon and other parties to file prepared testimony and exhibits, and sets the hearing date and location.