By Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Army Corps of Engineers will complete as soon as next week its revised list of energy projects that could be fast-tracked under President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency, a U.S. Army Corps official told Reuters.
The Army Corps, a federal engineering service with permitting authority over projects involving wetlands and waterways, posted in February a list of more than 600 projects requiring faster environmental approvals, but then quickly removed the list from its website to give the agency more time to vet projects.
The original list included high-profile projects such as Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline tunnel replacement under Lake Michigan, several natural gas power plants, and liquefied natural gas export terminals proposed by Cheniere and Venture Global. But it also included several potential errors, including some projects that had already been canceled or completed.
The heads of the Army Corps’ eight geographic divisions will receive revised lists from the heads of 41 sub-districts by Friday, and then share the compiled list with Army Corps headquarters as soon as next week, said Shane McCoy, head of regulatory affairs for the Corps’ Detroit office, on Monday.
Army Corps of Engineers headquarters did not immediately comment.
Trump had ordered the Army Corps to issue permits enabling the filling of wetlands and dredging or building in waterways as part of the January 20 emergency energy declaration, which was aimed at expanding U.S. energy production to meet projected soaring demand.
Trump last week also invoked emergency powers to boost domestic production of critical minerals used across the economy as part of a broad effort to offset China’s control of the sector.
On Monday, six Michigan tribal nations wrote to the Army Corps withdrawing as cooperating agencies in the review of the Enbridge pipeline tunnel through the Straits of Mackinac, saying they expected the project would be rubber-stamped regardless of their input.
“All of the tribes have withdrawn as a cooperating agency because the process is flawed and we don’t want to be seen as supporting their flawed process,” said David Gover, senior attorney with the Native American Rights Fund.
Enbridge spokesperson Gina Sutherland said the Line 5 tunnel is “critical energy infrastructure” and the company remains committed to including tribes in the project.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; additional reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary; Editing by Rod Nickel)
