Latest news with #HB1052
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Yahoo
Man sentenced for home burglaries targeting Asian families
A man from Seattle—who prosecutors said terrorized Seattle's Asian community with home invasion robberies—was sentenced last Friday. Prosecutors explained that 28-year-old Demarcus Pate was part of a group that targeted the Asian community, particularly the elderly, during the summer of 2023. In some cases, they followed their victims home. In other cases, they approached victims getting out of their cars in their driveways. Pate was charged with a hate crime and confessed. 'This individual pled guilty to not only unlawful possession of a firearm, and two counts of burglary, but also a hate crime for the intentional targeting of Asian households,' Douglas Wagoner with the King County Prosecutor's Office said. The crime spree happened in the summer of 2023, a particularly troubling year for hate crimes involving the Asian community. They were fearful for their safety and had to take extra steps to protect themselves. 'We saw 114 anti-Asian hate crimes charged by our office, and that was the most of any year we have on record,' Wagoner said. Pate eventually pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to 6 and a half years in prison. Prosecutors said that when community safety has been violated, and there is evidence of a crime, charges will follow. 'Home invasions, cases that involve burglary, property crimes, or hate crimes, you're going to see King County prosecutors bring those cases to the courtroom and seek justice,' Wagoner said. There are additional cases against other suspects in this case that are ongoing. Defendants are innocent until proven guilty. King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion is working to bring greater accountability for hate crimes this legislative session with HB 1052, which was approved by the Washington State Legislature and is on Gov. Bob Ferguson's desk pending signature. This legislation would allow prosecutors statewide to charge hate crimes motivated 'in whole or in part' because of the defendant's perception of the victim's 'race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or mental, physical, or sensory disability. "When there is evidence to show that people were victimized by a hate crime – in whole or in part because of a defendant's bias – those perpetrators must be held accountable. Prosecutors need this legal fix to ensure that happens,' King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said. 'I appreciate the leadership of Rep. Cindy Ryu and Sen. Manka Dhingra to hold people accountable when they act out from a place of hate.' From 2018-April 20, 2025, the KCPAO charged 53 anti-Asian hate crimes after referrals from police investigators. The years with the specific number of anti-Asian hate crimes: 2018: 4 2019: 2 2020: 7 2021: 13 2022: 8 2023: 14 2024: 5
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Regulators deny Summit's CO2 pipeline application
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The latest attempt to route a CO2 pipeline through South Dakota has ended in a defeat for the company. The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday denied the permit application from Summit Carbon Solutions. Commissioner Kristie Fiegen and commission chair Gary Hanson voted for the denial. Commissioner Chris Nelson voted no. The denial was without prejudice, which means Summit can file another application in the future. Summit submitted the application in November, after South Dakota voters had rejected Senate Bill 201. It attempted to state that a PUC permit overrides any local regulations. The passage of SB 201 last year led to significant turnover in the legislative elections last year and brought a stronger anti-CO2 membership to both the House of Representatives and the Senate. That in turn led to passage this year of House Bill 1052 that says CO2 projects can't use eminent domain to force their way across people's properties. The passage of HB 1052 then led to Summit asking the state commission to suspend the schedule and put the application on hold indefinitely. That position later changed. On Tuesday, Summit attorney Brett Koenecke repeated that Summit was willing to accept 12 months. Summit has received approval for the pipeline from other states. Landowners attorney Brian Jorde requested the denial. He told the South Dakota commission on Tuesday that Summit has no way to get the line from Iowa into Lincoln County and no way to get the line to North Dakota through McPherson County. Koenecke said Summit still believes there is a chance to reach agreements with landowners along the South Dakota portion of the route. But, he noted, 'I think the price of poker has gone up considerably.' Said commission chair Hanson, 'I don't see the possibility of an indefinite suspension.' He told Koenecke, 'You're between a rock and a hard place.' Koenecke said there are people — 'lots of them' — who support the proposed pipeline. 'Why can't you let it play out?' he asked the commissioners. 'Let's find out if this is possible. Let's find out.' Jorde, the landowners attorney, said Summit doesn't plan to refer HB 1052 to a public vote. 'It's like watching a slow car crash,' he said. Commissioner Fiegen made the motion for denial. 'The application is not ready to go forward,' she said. 'The current route in my view is not viable.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Regulators face major decision on CO2 line
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The company seeking a state permit for South Dakota's first-ever carbon-dioxide pipeline now wants regulators to put its request on hold indefinitely so there is more time to negotiate with reluctant landowners. But attorneys for a group of landowners opposed to the project argue that Summit Carbon Solutions' permit application should be dismissed rather than delayed, because their clients have zero intention of letting the controversial line ever cross their properties. Mega Millions changes start this week That's the dilemma facing the three members of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, who on Thursday will consider how to handle Summit's request. It's the latest choke point in a years-long fight over South Dakota's tradition of landowner rights and the farmer-owned ethanol processors whose year-round purchases of locally-grown corn will increasingly depend in the future on finding some way to reduce releases of CO2 into the atmosphere. What's created the current controversy was the South Dakota Legislature's decision this year to outlaw the use of eminent domain for CO2-carrying pipelines. House Bill 1052 was quickly signed into law by the state's new governor, Larry Rhoden, a rancher and former legislator who has never been a fan of letting big projects use the legal system to force their way through people's land. In announcing his decision last month, Gov. Rhoden said it would give Summit the opportunity to negotiate with landowners for access. 'The ethanol industry will remain a crucial part of our state's economy and a key asset as we implement an all-of-the-above energy approach to restore American energy dominance,' he stated. Summit filed its application for a state permit on November 19, 2024. State law requires the PUC reach a decision within one year. The commission had already scheduled an evidentiary hearing that would start on August 13 and continue through September 13, and had ruled on hundreds of intervention requests from landowners and others, when, just days after the governor signed HB 1052, various landowners began withdrawing as intervenors in the Summit permit proceeding. Then on March 12, Summit asked the PUC to suspend the hearing schedule and grant the company an indefinite delay. Two weeks later, the landowners group asked the PUC to deny Summit's application altogether and filed formal declarations from 80 landowners spread along the proposed route that 'no survey of any kind and no easement agreement of any kind will be granted to Summit.' On that same day of March 27, the PUC staff filed its response to Summit's request. The PUC staff supported Summit on suspending the hearing schedule but opposed Summit on doing so indefinitely. The PUC staff recommended that the commissioners place guardrails: Summit must notify the commission of its intent to resume the process at least 1 monthin advance. Summit must provide monthly status updates via letters filed into the docket and attendquarterly status hearings before the commission. The commission should have 12 months to process the docket and issue a decisiononce Summit resumes the process. All of this comes a year after the Legislature approved Senate Bill 201 that would have changed a key provision in state law. The law that was in effect gave the PUC the option of overriding local regulations when granting a permit. The final version of SB 201 would have required that any PUC permit override all local regulations. A coalition of landowners and an alliance of other groups referred SB 201 to a statewide vote in the November 2024 general election. Voters rejected it in 65 of 66 counties. That defeat kept in place the old law giving the commission the option of whether to suppress local control. The opponents of SB 201 also ran candidates against many of the senators and many of the representatives who had voted for 201 and knocked out a dozen incumbents in the June 2024 primary elections while also winning contests for open seats. Those results changed the Legislature's membership sufficiently that anti-201 majorities now control both chambers. That in turn led to passage this year of the legislation denying eminent domain for CO2 pipelines. The alliance issued a statement after HB 1052 was signed into law: 'Governor Rhoden listened to the people and heard their message to ban eminent domain for CO2 pipeline projects.' The alliance's leader, Jim Eschenbaum of rural Miller, was elected by the South Dakota Republican Party central committee as its new chair. On March 31 of this year, three of the anti-CO2 lawmakers — Republican Sen. Joy Hohn, Republican Sen. Mark Lapka and Republican Rep. Karla Lems — filed a request that the PUC allow them or their businesses to withdraw as intervenors from the Summit permit proceeding. Lems was prime sponsor of the new law outlawing eminent domain for CO2 lines; Lapka was its lead Senate sponsor. On Friday, Summit's legal team filed its responses to the commission. Regarding the PUC staff's proposed safeguards, Summit stated, 'While Staff's suggested guardrails are not perfect, the Applicant can see its way clear to agree to the suggestions which Staff has made therein.' As for the landowners group's request that the commission deny Summit's application altogether, Summit responded that the request was 'opportunistic.' Summit pointed out that the commission already has held public meetings and determined intervenors. (The meetings were along the proposed route in the communities of Sioux Falls, Mitchell, De Smet, Watertown, Redfield and Aberdeen.) Summit's South Dakota application is part of a broader project that would collect CO2 from various ethanol producers in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota and ship it to central North Dakota for burial. One of the proposed Summit line's potential customers is Gevo's proposed aircraft renewable-fuels plant at Lake Preston, South Dakota. Under South Dakota's previous governor, Kristi Noem, South Dakota made major financial commitments to the project. Both her husband, Bryon Noem, and then-Lt. Gov. Rhoden participated in the groundbreaking. The governor-appointed state Board of Economic Development gave Gevo a sales-tax break potentially worth up to $12,294,059 on October 11, 2022, for the proposed Lake Preston facility. A month later, the board gave a related proposed facility, Dakota Renewable Hydrogen, also to be at Lake Preston, a sales-tax break potentially worth up to $3,351,400. In 2023, Gevo received approval for $187 million from the state livestock-nutrient management bond fund. On the September 15, 2022, day of the groundbreaking, Noem didn't attend but described Gevo's project as 'the largest economic investment in South Dakota history. The announcement quoted Lt. Gov. Rhoden: 'Today, we get to celebrate South Dakota's continued growth. I'm excited about the long-term partnership that this facility will have with our farmers.' One of the photos from the event distributed by Noem's office and posted on X showed Rhoden next to then-state Economic Development Commissioner Steve Westra, with Noem's husband a few men farther down, all throwing dirt from gold-painted shovels. Everyone there was smiling. The next day, Noem used her weekly column to further promote Gevo's project. 'Companies like Gevo are also proving that government mandates aren't necessary for our energy industry to be environmentally responsible. They are taking the lead to 'go green,' and they're working with our farmers to do it,' her column said. 'The facility will use sustainable, regionally grown corn as its feedstock and will pay farmers a premium for sustainably grown corn. This is one area where the free market should – and is – taking the lead,' the column concluded. 'I'm proud of Gevo and all the innovative, hardworking businesses in South Dakota. They are helping make our state an example to the nation.' The Gevo project and the related Dakota Renewable Hydrogen facility both received PUC approval in December to have Kingsbury Electric Cooperative assigned as their electricity provider. That came after settlements were reached. But Gevo told South Dakota lawmakers last year it would put the project elsewhere if necessary. The backup plan became clear on February 25, 2025. Gevo announced acquisition of assets of an ethanol production plant and CO2 sequestration facility in western North Dakota. Summit has intended to bury COS from its multi-state line in the same general area. A week later the South Dakota Senate gave final legislative approval to banning eminent domain for CO2 lines. Two days after that, Gov. Rhoden signed it into law. And six days later, Summit was asking the PUC to delay its request for a permit. The PUC will consider the various arguments on Summit's request starting at 2:30 p.m. CT on Thursday in room 413 of the state Capitol in Pierre. Audio from the meeting will be available via Internet at KELOLAND News plans to cover the meeting and report the results. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ames' Summit pauses carbon pipeline permit application after South Dakota eminent domain ban
PIERRE, S.D. — Summit Carbon Solutions' carbon sequestration pipeline is officially on hold in South Dakota, a key state in the Ames-based company's plan for the $8.9 billion project, which also would extend to Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and North Dakota. Summit filed a motion Wednesday with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission to suspend its permit application for the pipeline "indefinitely." The decision comes on the heels of the South Dakota Legislature passing legislation prohibiting developers from using eminent domain to acquire land, construct or operate a carbon dioxide pipeline. Under eminent domain, governments and companies they authorize can take private property, with compensation, for projects that will benefit the public. South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signed the bill March 6 and the legislation will go into effect July 1. In the Wednesday filing, Summit Carbon wrote that the legislation affects the company's ability to perform needed land surveys. Pipeline developers conduct civil, biological and cultural surveys in order to determine the suitability of the land and the feasibility of constructing subsurface pipelines, as required by the state regulator's permitting process. "With the passage of HB 1052, the Applicant's ability to obtain survey permission has changed," the company stated. "However, the project must survey the route completely in order to inform the Commission of the constructability prior to obtaining a permit. The surveys which are necessarily required to inform the route decisions as to right of way will be significantly delayed." The company added that "the timelines involved in Commission action on this application are unrealistic." The Wednesday motion pauses Summit Carbon's permit application, which had a one-year window. The company indicated it could resume the process at a later date. "Given these challenges, we have requested a review and adjustment of the schedule accordingly," the company said in a statement. "Summit Carbon Solutions remains committed to working through this process and advancing the project in states that support energy and innovation." The state regulator denied the company's first permit application in September 2023 after 19 months of hearings, but had said it was open to reconsideration. Another company, Navigator, dropped plans for a competing carbon pipeline after South Dakota also denied its permit application. Summit has won permits in Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota, and doesn't need one in Nebraska, which has no state-level permitting process. It and its supporters have touted the pipeline as a way to extend the viability of ethanol, the production of which is a major consumer of the Midwest's corn crop. It would carry carbon dioxide emissions from ethanol plants to an underground sequestration site in North Dakota. Summit spokeswoman Sabrina Zenor said Wednesday the company is considering "all options," including completing the project without a route through South Dakota. But it's not clear how viable that option would be. For one thing, Iowa's permit is conditioned on Summit receiving a permit from South Dakota, home to Poet, the biggest U.S. maker of ethanol. The state has the second-largest share of the 57 ethanol plants on the pipeline route after Iowa. It's also the planned conduit for the 2,500-mile pipeline to reach North Dakota. Summit has faced stiff opposition in South Dakota, largely from rural, conservative landowners whose properties would be affected. The company attempted to claim its right to the use of eminent domain when it filed more than 80 eminent domain lawsuits against South Dakota landowners in April 2023. Opponents often criticize the purported safety risks of carbon dioxide pipelines by pointing to a February 2020 emergency near Satartia, Mississippi, where a pipeline leak resulted in plume of carbon dioxide drifting to the nearby town, forcing the evacuation of about 200 residents and sending 45 people to local hospitals. Though not regarded as toxic, carbon dioxide is an asphyxiant, displacing oxygen in the air. According to a 2022 Congressional Research Service report, prior to the Satartia accident, CO2 pipeline operators reported only one injury and no fatalities caused by regulated carbon pipelines from 2002 to 2022. The pipeline is not without opponents in Iowa, though the Iowa Utilities Commission granted it a permit, including the right to use eminent domain, in November. In addition to safety concerns, Iowa landowners said they were concerned about the effects of pipeline construction on farmland it would cross. The Iowa House has passed bills like South Dakota's, and is considering more. But they have failed to advance in the state Senate. Des Moines Register staff writer Donnelle Eller contributed to this article. This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Summit Carbon pauses permit application for South Dakota pipeline
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Carbon pipeline company seeks pause in permitting schedule after SD adopts eminent domain ban
Rep. Karla Lems, R-Canton, speaks to hundreds of rally attendees at the South Dakota Capitol in Pierre on Jan. 13, 2025, during an event highlighting opposition to a carbon dioxide pipeline. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight) Summit Carbon Solutions wants the schedule of proceedings for its South Dakota permit application 'paused for review and adjustment' after the state's Legislature and governor approved a ban on the use of eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines. The company filed a motion Wednesday with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission asking for a suspension of the scheduling order and an indefinite extension of the deadline for regulatory action on the application. The existing schedule includes a multi-day evidentiary hearing in August and September. Summit cited House Bill 1052, signed last week by Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden, as a significant obstacle to completing land surveys along the pipeline's planned route. 'With the passage of HB 1052, the Applicant's ability to obtain survey permission has changed,' wrote Summit attorney Brett Koenecke. 'The surveys which are necessarily required to inform the route decisions as to right of way will be significantly delayed.' South Dakota governor signs eminent domain ban on carbon pipelines Eminent domain is a legal process for acquiring access to land for projects that have a public benefit, with compensation for landowners determined by a court. It's commonly used for projects such as electrical power lines, water pipelines, oil pipelines and highways. The ban has been hailed as a victory by some landowners who have resisted Iowa-based Summit's proposed $9 billion carbon capture pipeline. The project would transport carbon dioxide emissions from dozens of ethanol plants in five states to an underground storage site in North Dakota. It would qualify for billions in federal tax credits incentivizing the sequestration of heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions. The project has permits in other states, although some are being challenged in court. South Dakota regulators rejected Summit's first application in 2023, largely due to the route's conflicts with local ordinances that mandate minimum distances between pipelines and existing features. The company has since made adjustments to its route and reapplied. Critics of the project are interpreting Summit's motion as another victory for the opposition. 'This request for extension is a clear sign that Summit knows they have lost the trust of South Dakota, and will be unable to proceed on their original timeline without being able to force surveys on unwilling landowners,' said Chase Jensen, of Dakota Rural Action, in a statement. Rhoden, a longtime advocate for property rights, described the ban last week as a way to restore trust between landowners and developers. Summit issued a statement last week criticizing the ban as unfairly targeting its project and said 'all options are on the table' when asked if it was considering legal action. Summit did not immediately respond to South Dakota Searchlight's requests for comment Wednesday. The company is not the first to encounter trouble earning a permit for a carbon capture pipeline in South Dakota. Navigator CO2 canceled its $3 billion project in October 2023, citing the 'unpredictable nature of the regulatory and government processes involved, particularly in South Dakota and Iowa.' South Dakota regulators had denied Navigator's permit application a month earlier. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
