Government Wants Keystone Lawsuits Dismissed

  • June 12, 2017

 

The Trump administration has taken the latest step in the court fight over the efforts of environmentalists who stop the Keystone XL pipeline which would eventually move oil to Cushing, Oklahoma and southward to the Gulf oil refineries.

It was Friday when government lawyers argued federal courts don’t have the legal standing to review the government’s approval in March of the permit that will allow construction of the pipeline.

 

“As multiple courts have found, because the issuance of a presidential permit for an international crossing is an exercise of the President’s delegated authority over foreign affairs and national security, the exercise of that authority constitutes presidential action that is not reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act,” stated a filing by the attorneys.

The Trump administration is asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana to dismiss two lawsuits filed in March by tribal and environmental groups. The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council and others filed suit, contending the State Department’s undersecretary for political affairs failed to ensure State Department compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.

TransCanada Corp., the developer of the line proposed through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska also filed its motion to discuss the suits.  Those who filed the original suits will be able to respond in July.

 

Jerry Bohnen