The permit references Bridger's application, placing the pipeline under the jurisdiction of the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. "Slightly different from the last administration," Trump told reporters after signing the permit, according to pool reports, referencing former President Joe Biden's revocation of the cross-border permit on his first day in office in January 2021.

Before breaking ground, Bridger must still secure a Montana Major Facility Siting Act Certificate of Compliance, a federal Bureau of Land Management right-of-way authorization and a full Environmental Impact Statement that satisfies both the National Environmental Policy Act and Montana's equivalent statute.

Documents reviewed by ENR show the pipeline would be built from API 5L X70 PSL-2 high-strength steel with a 36-in. outer diameter. Standard sections would carry a 0.5-in. wall thickness with 14–16 mil fusion-bonded epoxy coating; horizontal directional drill and bore sections—used at all major water and highway crossings—would step up to 0.625–0.750-in. wall thickness with an additional 30-mil abrasion-resistant overcoating.

At full operating strength, pressure could reach 1,440 pounds per square inch gauge, with a minimum burial depth of 48 in.

Eight pump stations would be distributed along the route, with one sited on federal land near the border crossing. The system would also include 72 mainline valve sets at intervals of no more than 15 miles, positioned on both sides of major water crossings to allow for rapid isolation in the event of a release. A 50-ft permanent right-of-way will be flanked by a 100-ft temporary construction easement.

At major river crossings, including the Yellowstone and Missouri, disclosures show Bridger would bore 30 ft to 40 ft beneath the riverbed. The company's leak prevention program includes SCADA-based 24/7 remote monitoring, inline smart pig inspection and cathodic protection.

Bridger spokesperson Bill Salvin said the company expects to begin construction in fall 2027 with completion by late 2028 or early 2029. "We designed the pipeline with integrity and safety in mind," he said. "We have emergency response plans should something happen where oil happens to get out of the line, which is fairly rare."

No contractor has been named and no project cost estimate has been publicly disclosed.

The route runs about435 miles through nine Montana counties and 210 miles through five Wyoming counties before reaching the Guernsey hub in Platte County, where it would connect with existing infrastructure providing access to Cushing, Okla., and Gulf Coast markets.

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Canadian Segment, Environmental Hurdles Still Ahead

On the Canadian side, South Bow Corp.—spun off in 2024 from TC Energy, the Alberta-based company that was set to build the Keystone XL project but cancelled it in June 2021. The action cost more than $1 billion in provincial investment. 

South Bow says it is evaluating what the company calls the Prairie Connector, leveraging about 150 km of Keystone XL pipe already installed in Alberta to deliver crude to the Bridger line at the border.

"South Bow continues to evaluate the Prairie Connector project, a potential expansion of its Canadian asset base that would leverage existing infrastructure and permitted corridors to improve market access for Canadian crude oil," spokesperson Solomiya Martoiu said in an emailed statement to media.

At peak capacity, the Bridger expansion would move roughly two-thirds of the volume Keystone XL was designed to carry.

Environmental groups have pledged to contest the project through state permitting and the required federal environmental impact statement.

In a comment letter filed May 1 with federal and Montana environmental officials on behalf of 15 organizations, Earthjustice argued that the pipeline put the environment and communities at risk. "The question is not whether a pipeline will spill oil, but rather when it will spill oil," the letter states.

Bridger Pipeline Expansion LLC and other True Cos. subsidiaries carry a documented spill history—including a 2015 rupture that discharged more than 50,000 gallons of crude into the Yellowstone River, a 2016 failure in North Dakota that released more than 600,000 gallons into the Little Missouri River and a tributary, and a 2022 diesel spill of 45,000 gallons in Wyoming. True subsidiaries paid a $12.5 million civil penalty to settle federal litigation over the Montana and North Dakota incidents.