Lawmakers and industry split over tax exemption for interstate CO2 pipelines

Senator Jeff Magrum asked the Senate Finance and Taxation Committee to approve Senate Bill 2320, which would repeal a 10‑year property‑tax exemption that currently applies to interstate carbon dioxide pipelines and related centrally assessed property.

“Why are we exempting a property tax for a pipeline owned partially by the Chinese Communist Party?” Magrum said in committee testimony, citing public materials about investors in a proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline and arguing the state should not offer a 10‑year property‑tax abatement to certain interstate CO2 projects.

Magrum reviewed the exemption’s legislative history, saying the 1991 exemption was originally intended to support a single plant and to promote enhanced oil recovery, not long‑term geological storage or broad interstate projects. He described federal incentives and permitting that have changed the economics and ownership…