ELR Citation: 53 ELR 20108
No(s). 1:22-cv-00020-SMR-SBJ (S.D. Iowa Jul 10, 2023) (Rose, J.)

A district court granted a pipeline company's motion to preliminarily enjoin enforcement of an Iowa county zoning ordinance promulgated in response to the company's proposed carbon dioxide pipeline. The company argued the ordinance was preempted by the federal Pipeline Safety Act and by Iowa Code §479B, which provides the Iowa Utilities Board with authority to issue permits for pipeline construction. The court found the ordinance's distancing, siting, conditional use permitting, and landowner permitting requirements were implicitly preempted by §479B, and that its provisions concerning emergency response, hazard mitigation, abandonment, and discontinuation were expressly preempted by the Pipeline Safety Act. It preliminarily enjoined enforcement of the ordinance effective immediately.