Proponent Arguments

VOTE YES TO KEEP THE LANDOWNER BILL OF RIGHTS. We need Referred Law 21 to protect landowners, hold pipelines, accountable, deliver property tax relief, support our agriculture economy, and keep taxes low for all South Dakotans. If this ethanol value-enhancing pipeline is going to get built in South Dakota, it

needs to be on fair terms to our farmers and ranchers. We need

Referred Law 21.
It includes the following benefits for landowners and all South Dakotans:

1. Tax Relief for Taxpayers/Revenue for Counties: In addition to millions in annual property taxes, 21 forces the pipeline to pay an additional dollar per year per linear foot of pipeline – half of which goes to the county and half to the landowner.
2. Leak Liability: Ensures pipelines pay for any damage caused by leaks.
3. Indemnity for Landowners: Requires carbon pipeline to indemnify landowners for liability.
4. Minimum Burial Depth: Requires carbon pipeline to be buried at least 4 ft deep, exceeding federal regulations of 3 ft.
5. Disclosure of Dispersion Models: Requires carbon pipelines

to release the plume studies, so people know what happens if

there is a leak.

1. Lifetime Drain Tile Repairs: Requires carbon pipelines to

repair any damage to drain tile.

1. Agricultural Impact Mitigation: Requires carbon pipelines

to file an ag impact mitigation plan.

1. Information Disclosure: Requires carbon pipelines to

disclose landowner rights and protections in their documents.

These are common sense laws that make our agricultural heritage more secure. Our state’s ethanol industry needs carbon pipelines to access new markets and enable the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel that will add more value to the corn we grow.

Please vote Yes.

Walt Bones, farmer and impacted landowner Parker, South Dakota

Opponent Arguments

Referred Law 21 is a special law that advantages private, for-profit, carbon dioxide pipeline companies and their foreign investors at the expense of South Dakotans.
Heavily lobbied by pipeline companies and related industries, Referred Law 21 was amended multiple times in the bargaining process and given the misleading name “Landowner Bill of Rights”. Misleading, because no additional rights beyond those enumerated in the Constitution are endowed by this law. The ‘rights’ described are mainly provisions already guaranteed in codified law and other 2024 legislation.

Referred Law 21exempts “pipelines for the transmission of carbon dioxide” from property taxation and shields them from future tax increases and additional fees. (Sections 1 and 7)
Pipeline companies and other “transmission facilities” need only obtain a construction permit from the three Public Utilities Commissioners in Pierre to be exempted from all local zoning rules and regulations that other companies doing business in those jurisdictions must follow, including setbacks and other safety protections. (Section 6)

The meager one-dollar-per-foot surcharge pipeline companies pay to the counties is a bargain for the ability to bypass local governance. The fifty-cent portion that is shared among affected landowners is a small comfort if land was taken without consent. Section 2 is unclear, so this could be a one-time payment.

Referred Law 21 was passed to uniquely benefit the carbon pipeline industry. It encompasses three separate subjects in the title and includes subjects not stated in the title. Article III of the South Dakota Constitution forbids special laws and multiple subjects, so a constitutional challenge is likely.

“Economic Development” should never be blindly pursued at the expense of individual property rights and equal treatment under the law.

The Legislature got it wrong. South Dakota may be open for business, but we are not for sale.

VOTE NO on Referred Law 21
Jim Eschenbaum, SD PRLCA Chairman