US sets 2 February deadline for Keystone comments

OREANDA-NEWS. The US State Department is giving federal agencies until 2 February to weigh in on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, signaling the end to a step in the process for determining whether the project is in the national interest.

The State Department is reviewing Canadian midstream company TransCanada's proposal to build the \$5.4bn, 830,000 b/d pipeline to transport crude from Alberta's oil sands and the Bakken formation to the US midcontinent.

The State Department must make a national interest determination because the pipeline crosses the US-Canadian border, incorporating the views of eight other agencies.

The State Department launched that 90-day review consultation process on 31 January 2014 but interrupted it indefinitely on 18 April, citing an ongoing legal battle in Nebraska over how the pipeline route was approved.

The Nebraska Supreme Court on 9 January then upheld the statute used to approve the route, removing the legal hurdle that had delayed the approval process.

State officials also had to wade through 2.5mn comments on the pipeline. On 16 January, the State Department notified the agencies they have until 2 February to submit any comments.

State Department officials have not indicated when they expect the review to be completed. "Once we have received all of the information needed for completion of the review, that information has been analyzed, and the final documents have been prepared, a determination will be made," the State Department said.

TransCanada chief executive Russ Girling had expressed hope on 9 January that if the State Department restarted the 90-day clock, as it has done, that a final decision would be forthcoming within a couple of months.

The State Department's notice to other agencies comes as the US Senate is considering a bill to authorize construction of the pipeline, despite President Barack Obama's threat to veto any Keystone XL bill that reaches his desk. The Senate is expected to vote on the measure by the end of the month.

The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives approved a companion measure by a vote of 266-153 on 9 January. That was the 10th time the House has voted to approve a Keystone XL bill.

Proponents of the legislation are confident they have more than the 60 votes needed in the Senate to ensure passage of a clean Keystone XL bill that would mirror the House version. But senators have offered at least 55 amendments so far.

Among those amendments is a proposal sponsored by senators Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania) to abolish language in the Renewable Fuel Standard the sponsors insist mandates the use of corn-based ethanol. The senators are not expected to be successful in attaching their amendment to the Keystone XL bill. Senator Ted Cruz, (R-Texas) has proposed an amendment that would repeal the president's authority to restrict oil exports.

The Senate voted 57-42 today to table an amendment sponsored by senator Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts) that would have barred any crude transported by the Keystone XL pipeline or any refined products derived from that oil from being exported.