The controversial Keystone XL petroleum pipeline once again faces an uncertain future, following a federal court ruling striking down the Trump Administration’s 2017 effort to jump-start the project.
Judge Brian Morris of the U.S. District Court in Montana wrote in a Nov. 8 decision that the U.S. State Department, which has primary jurisdiction over the 1,179-mile cross-border pipeline’s permit decisions, violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedures Act by failing to provide “a reasoned explanation” to support reversing the agency’s 2015 record of decision that denied construction permits to the project’s developer, Calgary-based TransCanada.