The State Department is considering whether it needs to reapprove the Keystone XL pipeline after Nebraska regulators on Monday approved an alternate route for the project.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission voted 3-2 in favor of a permit for Keystone XL, which had been considered the last major regulatory hurdle facing the long-debated project.
But the commission rejected developer TransCanada’s preferred route, approving an alternative that would move the pipeline further east.
Opponents of the project say the new route will require the company to apply for several new permits from the federal government and potentially a State Department review of the revised route. The company also must secure property easements from a new group of landowners.
A State Department spokesman told Politico it is weighing the possibility of another review.
“We won’t know about any impacts until we learn precisely the extent of any changes, something we are currently engaged in,” State Department spokesman Vincent Campos said.
Former President Barack Obama’s State Department considered the Keystone XL application for seven years before Obama rejected it in November 2015, a month before signing the Paris climate change agreement.
The Trump administration granted a permit for the pipeline in March, but the pipeline needed approval by the five-member Nebraska Public Service Commission to be built in the state.
The $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline would ship oil from Canada’s Alberta oil sands to Steele City, Neb., and then on to refineries along the Gulf Coast.
TransCanada said Monday it is reviewing the cost of the project after the route change before deciding whether to proceed.
“As a result of today’s decision, we will conduct a careful review of the Public Service Commission’s ruling while assessing how the decision would impact the cost and schedule of the project,” said Russ Girling, TransCanada’s president and chief executive officer.
