Representative Lee Terry (R-NE) has introduced legislation that would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline within 30 days of receiving the application, if the project is deemed safe. The bill would remove it from the oversight of the Interior Department and the Army Corps of Engineers, but it would still pend approval from the State Department because it crosses the Canadian border.
According to FERC and the State Department, the bill would cause jurisdictional and legal issues because FERC doesn’t have the authority to site oil pipelines. Under the current arrangement, the Interior Department monitors construction and maintenance of pipelines in the United States. The legislation would make FERC the sole agency responsible for the Keystone XL project, as the Army Corps of Engineers would lose its permitting authority and its role in reviewing and approving pipelines.
With such a drastic rearrangement of responsibilities, all for the sake of one specific project, officials from numerous branches of the federal government have voiced their opposition to the bill. Since Representative Terry introduced the bill, it has been backed by several other House Republicans. Opposition has been just as fierce, with Democrats and environmental agencies speaking out against it.
Led by Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts, House Democrats have attempted to counteract the Republican legislation by introducing a measure that would prevent exports of the oil transported through the Keystone XL pipeline. There has been a great deal of controversy over the proposed route of the pipeline, which is planned to run from the tar sands region of Alberta in Canada to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico, crossing several states and potentially coming close to sensitive ecosystems and population centers.
