Illinois farmers disappointed as lawmakers approve new carob harvesting rules

Negotiations on a bill creating new state carbon capture and sequestration rules have united long-divided sides, but some Illinois farmers still feel left out of the deal.

Central Illinois was chosen for the process, which involves removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and transporting it by pipeline before storing it deep underground, because of its ideal geographic conditions. But despite those conditions and federal incentives, two major pipeline projects have failed due to concerns about the safety of the relatively new technology and a lack of regulation.

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Senate Bill 1289 aims to fill some of those regulatory gaps and passed largely along party lines, 78-29 in the House and 43-12 in the Senate, in the final days of the spring session. It halts pipeline construction for another two years but leaves preemption laws in place, much to the annoyance of many farmers.

The signs heading southeast into Christian County that say “No CO2 Pipelines” on Illinois Route 29 reflect that sentiment. The county was considered as a potential sequestration site for the now-canceled Navigator Heartland Greenway multistate pipeline, which has struggled to gain public approval in the 13 counties it would pass through in Illinois.

The pipeline would not cross many other farmers’ lands, said Mathew Heberling, chairman of the county Farm Bureau. He and other members of the bureau specifically cited preemption law as a reason to oppose the stalled proposal.

His concerns are echoed by the state’s two leading agricultural organizations, the Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Soybean Growers Association. The State Farm Bureau met in Chicago for its annual meeting, developing its policy for the coming year.

“The delegates made it very loud and clear that expropriation is a non-negotiable agreement, and we need to protect the property rights of the landowners,” Heberling, a fourth-generation family farmer from Owaneco, recently told The State Journal-Register.

Under the rules, potential companies building the pipelines will have to obtain consent from 75% of landowners above the pore space where carbon dioxide is stored underground.

The remaining landowners who did not consent would be subject to an order from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to give up their land in exchange for “just compensation.” There are concerns among Democratic and Republican lawmakers about how that compensation would be calculated.

Sen. Michael Halpin, D-Rock Island, argued that pipeline companies would use the bill’s language to exploit landowners and pay less than fair market value for use of their land. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Laura Fine, D-Glenview, said the issue could be revisited in the summer with the possibility of further legislation in the fall session being vetoed.

“This regulatory scheme puts enormous pressure on affected landowners to agree so they are not left with nothing,” Halpin said during the floor debate, the only Senate Democrat to vote against it. Two others voted present.

Heberling added that it is possible that landowners who do not consent will not receive any payment under the current language. Both he and Halpin said the provision raises constitutional concerns.

The bill awaits Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signature, who is likely to sign it into law. Carbon capture plays an important role in the state’s attempt to reduce carbon emissions, he said in a statement, adding that it would bring “thousands of new jobs and billions of dollars of investment to Illinois.”

How did the contract come about?

The governor’s office engaged in the final months of negotiations between business interests, labor unions and environmental groups that had previously clashed in previous iterations over the past two years. The final product provides some wins for each of those groups with some compromises.

“Each side had to make concessions to get to where we are today,” Mark Denzler, president and CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, said during a May 24 House Energy and Environment Committee hearing.

The moratorium on carbon dioxide pipelines will last until July 2026 or until the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration adopts revised safety rules, which officials promised to do after a pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi, in 2020 that hospitalized more than 40 people and displaced more than 200.

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If the federal agency enacts new regulations before then, the moratorium would expire and the Illinois Commerce Commission could review and approve permits again. The Commerce Commission had been considering a smaller-scale project in McLean County from One Earth Sequestration LLC, which will now have to reapply when the moratorium is lifted.

Once that process begins in commission, pipeline companies would have to show that their pipelines would result in a net reduction in climate pollution and not add co-pollutants to the atmosphere. State and federal environmental agencies would also have to sign off on underground storage of liquefied carbon dioxide.

The moratorium is probably the biggest victory for environmental groups, and the biggest concession for business organizations. Still, the IMA and the Illinois Chamber of Commerce ultimately supported the bill because it promotes decarbonization without sacrificing industry.

The state will also benefit from an annual fee charged to sequestration operators. Depending on whether the operator has a project work agreement, it will pay a fee of 31 or 62 cents per ton of carbon dioxide stored at the site.

The funds will be divided into several funds, including training services and equipment for local emergency services, as well as the creation of a grant program for eligible environmental projects.

The beginning, not the end

While supporters of the bill say it provides the most robust protection in the country, opponents note it makes no changes to the distances between pipelines and residential areas or drinking water sources.

That was another bipartisan concern for many lawmakers, especially with the Mahomet Aquifer, which supplies drinking water for much of central Illinois, including Champaign and Peoria. The area was already hit by a methane leak in 2016 that affected more than 800,000 people who rely on the aquifer for drinking water.

Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, wanted the bill to include a provision banning injection into the aquifer. Many of his constituents still have to rely on bottled water after a previous spill, he said.

“I don’t want to hear one word about cleaning up the damn environment when these people can’t drink the water,” said one of 11 GOP senators who voted against the bill.

Fine also wanted those protections, but insisted the legislation include increased monitoring requirements beyond what the federal government requires. Injection wells, once capped, would be monitored for at least 30 years under her bill.

Fine added that the bill contains “some of the strongest CCS protections in the country.” Still, she and environmental groups advocating for the legislation say more work may be needed in the future.

“These safeguards will likely need to be strengthened over time as this technology is deployed at scale and we learn about its risks and the solutions needed,” said Christine Nannicelli, senior campaign officer for Sierra Club Illinois. “But they are among the strongest safeguards in the country and key safeguards at every stage of this industrial lifecycle. We need them now.”

Contact Patrick M. Keck: [email protected], twitter.com/@pkeckreporter