The Corps "is in the process of reviewing active permit applications relative to" the Trump order, adding that "the data field will be added back once we refine which permit actions may be covered" by the directive, said Corps spokesman Doug Garman in an email response to ENR.

Projects landing on the expedited list include a proposed tunnel replacing part of the Line 5 pipeline, which carries crude oil and natural gas from Alberta under Lake Michigan to Ontario and Michigan. The Enbridge owned project has awaited the Corps OK of a federal Clean Water Act permit for five years while Michigan officials have pushed to shut the line entirely, claiming its high risk for leaks. 

Expedited reviews also could be given to a Louisiana liquefied natural gas export terminal, several gas-fired power plants and an ExxonMobil-owned mine project on the Alaska North Slope. Also on the list are a water pipeline project near Tampa, Fla. and water treatment plant in Missouri, transportation and transmission projects that cross water bodies and a 200-MW Louisiana solar energy project—despite administration refusal to recognize the progress and viability of renewable energy development in the U.S. as key to its energy mix. 

Garman declined to provide added detail on how project selections were made for expedited permit approval; whether environmental reviews for such approvals have more limited scope under the National Environmental Protection Act and other laws; how the Corps' expedited designation affects other needed federal and state reviews; and when a revised list will be posted.

'End Run'

The Corps has used emergency designations related to expedited permitting in the past, such as for disaster recovery rebuilding but “emergency permits do not negate requirements" of environmental analysis and mitigation, or compliance with legal statutes, says Mark Sudol, a senior advisor at Washington, DC environmental permitting consultant Dawson & Associates and a former Corps regulatory program chief. 

David Bookbinder, director of law and policy at the Environmental Integrity Project, terms the list an "end-run around the normal environmental review process [that] is not only harmful for our waters, but also is illegal under the Corps own emergency permitting regulations.” 

The new tumult comes as the White House Council on Environmental Quality proposed an "interim" final rule that would repeal regulations dating back more than 50 years under the NEPA law and require each federal agency to develop new ones to meet the Trump energy order—with guidance for voluntary steps outlined in a Feb. 19 memo from Katherine Scarlett, council chief of staff.

A court ruling last year said the council did not have authority to issue the NEPA regulations. The U.S. Supreme Court also is set to rule in a separate case related to the regulations.

“This rule is the first step in a process where [the council] will have the opportunity to work with federal agencies on improving NEPA,” says Associated Builders and Contractors Vice President Ben Brubeck.

Sudol says, however, that moving the final rule beyond the interim stage could take longer than the administration's year-long estimate since it will involve required public notice and comment, which he says will be extensive, with lawsuits likely. 

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats Tim Kaine, of Virginia and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said Feb. 19 they will soon force a debate and roll call of a resolution to terminate the energy emergency order, contending it "is such a sham devised for such a corrupt purpose," Kaine said, emphasizing record domestic oil and gas production and a thriving clean energy sector.