Legal uncertainty looms over fast-track pipeline permitting, even after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to reinstate a key federal program.
The high court on Monday kept a critical Keystone XL permit on ice, but revived the underlying Nationwide Permit 12 program for other projects, allowing the Army Corps of Engineers to resume streamlined approvals of water crossings for new pipelines across the country.
The decision provided relief for an industry that faced long delays without the program. The American Petroleum Institute, for example, hailed the Supreme Court’s move as a “significant step toward restoring more certainty for energy companies.”
But...