(Des Moines, IA) -- Legislation aimed at regulating pipeline projects and reforming the Iowa Utilities Board process is introduced in the Iowa House of Representatives. Members of the Republican caucus announced their intentions at a meeting with landowners on Thursday at the Iowa State Capitol.
State Rep. Charley Thomson (R-Charles City) helped pen the proposed legislation.
"With the PHMSA report...we see that the [Iowa Utilities Board] made a number of errors on safety," Thomson says. "These bills are to address some of the problems we saw in the IUB's process."
Among the safety concerns is distance from living spaces and every day activities to the pipeline itself. Dan Tronchetti is a Green County landowner who says he's been advocating at the capitol for at least four years.
"My front door will be 1,150 feet from an eight-inch pipeline," Tronchetti says. "We were first told, when we started asking questions, it would be safe...At a minimum, an eight-inch pipeline operating at 2,100 PSI the kill zone would be about 1,800 feet. You would be dead in less than four minutes [if it raptured]."
Similar legislation has been brought up in recent years, but supporters say it has stalled among majority leadership in the Iowa Senate.
"I've watched Senate leadership block any bills that might strengthen private property rights," Tronchetti says. "It is time for Senate leadership to get out of the way."
House Speaker Pat Grassley (R-New Hartford) says he hasn't had conversations with Senate leaders, but he hopes to see movement.
"I would love to see a situation where there's bills in the House and also some potential bills having activity in the Senate," Grassley says. "Even if they don't agree with one another, just knowing there's bills moving through the process would be an optimistic sign to be able to get some things done."
Grassley says he would also expect the multiple bills to consolidate before the House would send them across the hall. If it does get there, it could pick up bipartisan support. Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner (D-Iowa City) says she hasn't spoken to her caucus on the matter, but she personally thinks the Senate should take it up.
"None of the bills that have passed the House the past couple of years have ever come to even a subcommittee vote," Weiner says. "I think that, really, Iowans deserve at least to be able to see a vote take place."
The bills were introduced into the record Thursday and will begin their journey in the coming weeks.
