Ruling Backs Eased CWA Pipeline Permit But Judge Raises NEPA Concerns

摘要

An appellate court is backing the administration's streamlined Clean Water Act (CWA) permit for pipelines that partially defers environmental impacts analyses, but one judge in a concurring opinion suggests the process - which advocates warn limits EPA's input in permits - might violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In a May 29 ruling in Sierra Club, et al. v. Lieutenant General Thomas P. Bostick, et al, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit rejected environmentalists' claims that the Army Corps of Engineers violated NEPA by issuing its nationwide permit (NWP) 12 in 2012 without considering oil spill risks and cumulative effects of pipelines on the environment. NWP 12, issued under CWA section 404(e) authority, governs utility line projects, and the administration often uses it to approve segments of pipeline construction. The ruling is available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details. (Doc. ID: 181845) Energy company TransCanada Corporation used coverage under the permit to build the pipeline, which had been planned as the southern U.S. segment of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline that would bring Canadian tar sands into the United States. Environmentalists have long opposed the project, and were hoping a win in the 10th Circuit would help block it.