Judge Retains Freeze on Streamlined Pipeline Permitting (1)

A federal judge is standing by his order barring a streamlined permitting process for oil and gas pipelines.

Chief Judge Brian Morris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana on Monday rejected pleas from government and industry lawyers who sought to revive a general permit that applies to pipelines that cross major wetlands and waterways.

The decision could delay multiple pipeline projects.

Morris struck down the program last month in a case involving the Keystone XL oil pipeline—concluding the Army Corps of Engineers didn’t comply with the Endangered Species Act when it crafted the streamlined process for ...