SCOTUS Ruling Reinstates Nationwide Permit 12

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) reinstated the use of Nationwide Permit (NWP) 12 – used to authorize certain actions during utility line construction – in a ruling on July 6. Originally, in April, a federal court in Montana determined that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wrongly issued the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline project. This action halted the construction of this pipeline.

In Monday’s ruling, the SCOTUS allowed the permit to go back into effect for most pipeline construction, however, the ruling refused to renew the use of the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.  The ruling was deemed a setback for the Keystone project even though other pipelines can now use the permit.

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