(Pierre, SD) the ill-advised campaign committee working to refer SB 201 (The Landowner Bill of Rights) held a rally in Pierre today. The referendum is anti-landowner and anti-agriculture because it would strip away the landowner compensation and protections in SB 201. Nearly 75% of the landowners on the proposed route have already signed voluntary easements with Summit Carbon Solutions.
“While claiming to be fighting for landowners, their effort will only hurt landowners if they are successful because defeating SB 201 would kill all of the landowner compensation and protections in the bill and the pipeline companies already have federal preemption over county ordinances.” said Jason Glodt, founding member of the SD Ag Alliance.
“A referendum of SB 201 makes no sense because it would only hurt landowners by killing the Landowner Bill of Rights,” said Rob Skjonsberg, founding Member of the SD Ag Alliance. “If the referendum is successful Summit will just sue in federal court and win and landowners will get nothing.”
Senate Bill 201 passed the Senate 24-10 and the House 39-31. The legislation includes the most significant sections in Landowner Bill of Rights with extensive protections for landowners and millions of dollars of reoccurring payments for both landowners and counties. The package does not change local control over zoning.
Landowner Bill of Rights
- Compensation for Landowners: Requires carbon capture pipelines to pay landowners at least .50 cents per linear foot of pipeline through their property in the form of property tax relief (SB 201)
- Compensation for Counties: Allows counties to collect $1.00 per linear foot of pipeline that runs through their county. At least 50% of the surcharge must be used for property tax relief for landowners on the route. The remaining revenue can be spent by counties at their discretion. (SB 201)
- Indemnity for Landowners: Requires pipeline companies to indemnify landowners for liability. (SB 201)
- Minimum Burial Depth: Requires pipeline to be buried at least 4 ft deep, exceeding federal regulations of 3 ft (SB 201)
- Disclosure of Dispersion Models: Requires carbon pipeline companies to make dispersion modeling public. (SB 201)
- Lifetime Drain Tile Repairs: Requires pipeline companies to repair any damage to drain tile (SB 201)
- Impact Mitigation: Requires pipeline companies to file an impact mitigation plan. (SB 201)
- Leak Liability: Makes carbon pipeline companies liable to the landowner for any damage caused by leaks. (SB 201)
- Land Surveyors Must be from SD: Requires land surveyors be South Dakota residents. (SB 201)
- Bans Perpetual Easements: Limits easements to a maximum of 99 years (SB 201)
- Information Disclosure: Requires carbon pipeline companies to report linear footage of pipes in counties and disclose if they claim a tax credit. (SB 201)
