LINCOLN- Praire seed farm owner Kay Kottas got a shock when a land agent called seeking permission to survey her farm for a planned carbon-dioxide pipeline by another kind of tallgrass, Houston-based Tallgrass Energy. She got a further shock when she discovered there were no state regulations or local ordinances governing such a pipeline. This is different from neighboring states Iowa and South Dakota.

In Nebraska, Kottas said, “they could probably build it under my driveway if they wanted” because of the lack of regulations. In the Nebraska Legislature last week, State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard introduced a bill to ban carbon-dioxide pipelines and sequestration of carbon in the state. Counties can make ordinances, but there is currently nothing stopping these pipelines on the state level.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission, which dealt with the controversial route of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, has no similar power over pipelines that carry CO2. And a state legislative proposal in 2022 to govern reclamation of carbon pipelines, once they are shut down, went nowhere. “It’s time to have a discussion (here),” Erdman said.

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