Experts Say Lawsuits Likely if TransCanada Moves to Build Part of Keystone XL

In the weeks since the Obama administration decided to delay its decision on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, TransCanada has said repeatedly that it could build the southern segment of the project without waiting for State Department approval.

TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard made that claim again last week, when he told InsideClimate News that the pipeline's southern leg—from Cushing, Okla. to the Gulf Coast—doesn’t require State Department approval because it doesn't cross an international boundary.

"We believe we can start building now," Howard said.

But six environmental law and policy experts interviewed by InsideClimate News say that building the southern segment would violate the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which applies to federal projects that have "significant" environmental impacts.

"Case laws are pretty clearly defined. [You're] not supposed to get around NEPA by breaking up a project," said Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, director of the international program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

The 1,700-mile Keystone XL would carry heavy tar sands crude oil from Alberta, Canada to Texas. The southern leg represents about a quarter of the project and could be used to reduce the current glut of oil in Cushing by transporting it to the Gulf Coast.

Howard said TransCanada thinks it already has all the necessary permits for the southern segment, although it is "obviously seeking clarification" from the State Department. A State Department spokesperson told InsideClimate News on Monday that TransCanada has not consulted with the agency about building the southern leg.

Lena Moffitt, a Washington, D.C. representative for the Sierra Club, said section 1506 of NEPA prohibits TransCanada from taking any action—such as construction—that would "have an adverse environmental impact" before the NEPA process is officially complete. That won't happen until the State Department issues the Record of Decision—a document that either approves or denies the overall pipeline permit.

The State Department had been expected to make its decision by the end of this year, but the original pipeline route, which would have passed through the Nebraska Sandhills above the Ogallala aquifer, caused so much outrage among Nebraskans and environmentalists that the agency recently announced that it would delay its decision until early 2013 so it could study alternative routes through the state. A group of Senate Republicans including Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar and Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, is trying to speed up the process. Last week they unveiled two pieces of legislation that would force federal agencies to make a final decision on the Keystone XL within 30 to 60 days.

What would happen if TransCanada went ahead and built the southern leg without waiting for the State Department's decision?

The answer, the experts say, is unclear, because the pipeline has entered tricky legal and political territory. Any attempt to build the southern segment without federal approval of the entire pipeline would likely lead to a lawsuit, they agreed. But several said it's unclear how NEPA would be interpreted if the issue goes to court.