Sjaarda: SB 201 is not a compromise

SB 201 is not a compromise. 

SB 201 was a bill passed in the legislature this past session and signed into law by our governor.  It was celebrated under the impression of a The Landowner Bill of Rights, under the carefully crafted narrative, that two opposing sides found common ground, but in reality, was nothing short of stripping landowners of basic Constitutional rights. 

I think that SB201 was written by pipeline companies for pipeline companies. All of what is claimed to be landowner protections in SB201 are terms that could and should be negotiated in any voluntary easement.  

In fact, there were amendments to the original bill that took away benefits for the landowners. One provision in the original bill was to pay landowners $1/liner foot of pipeline annually for the life of the pipeline. They changed that to only a $.50 property tax reduction and it will only last as long as the 45Q tax credits are available. The original bill also had a 50-year limit on the easement, and they decided to increase that to a 99-year easement, which would impact more than two generations of landowners.

As far as landowner protections, there really is one big thing that we want: to prevent private companies from taking our land away without our consent. If we could get that, then that would be a compromise. Originally proponents claimed they could build their pipeline with voluntary easements.

The only thing the landowners have to protect them is their local county officials who are willing to step up and place reasonable setbacks to protect their houses and land, and SB201 took those away.

If SB201 was so beneficial for landowners and if this was such an achievement for property rights protections, it begs the question why landowners across the state have formed the South Dakota Property Rights and Local Control Alliance (SDPRLCA) for the sole purpose of referring this law to the ballot?

Instead of celebrating the law, landowners are circulating petitions to put the question on the ballot in November so the voices of the people of South Dakota can be heard on this issue. 

As your Representative, I will always support the right of the people’s voice to be heard, so if you’d like to sign the petition or learn more about it, please email me at john.sjaarda@sdlegistature.gov.

If you own any property, you can understand that without property rights, we have no freedom. Let’s help get our local control back! 

John Sjaarda

District 2 State

Representative, Farmer & Landowner