The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it now is reviewing and may revise a list posted on its website of hundreds of current applications for project environmental permits that the Trump administration wants fast-tracked under President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order that cites a “national energy emergency” in the U.S.

The list of nearly 700 permit applications, which was posted without public announcement or previous public comment, are primarily for fossil fuel energy-related projects and include multiple applications in many cases.

Corps spokesman Doug Garman said in an email response to ENR that the agency “is in the process of reviewing active permit applications relative to” the Trump order, adding that “the data field will be added back once we refine which permit actions may be covered” by the directive.

Projects landing on the expedited list include replacement of the Line 5 pipeline, which carries crude oil and natural
gas from Alberta under Lake Michigan into Ontario and Michigan. The project has awaited the Corps’ OK of a federal Clean Water Act permit for five
years as permit battles also continue with state officials. Expedited reviews also could occur for a Louisiana liquefied natural gas export terminal,
several gas-fired power plants and an ExxonMobil-owned mine project on the Alaska North Slope. 

Also on the list are a water pipeline project near Tampa, Fla., transportation projects, transmission projects that cross water bodies and a solar energy project, despite administration inability to recognize the progression and viability of renewable energy development in the U.S. as key to its energy mix. 

Garman declined to provide added detail on how project selections were made for expedited permit approval; whether environmental reviews for such approvals have more limited scope and/or eliminate criteria under the National Environmental Protection Act and other laws; how the Corps’ expedited designation affects other needed non-agency federal and state reviews; and when a revised list will be posted.

The Corps has used emergency designations related to expedited permitting in the past, such as for disaster recovery rebuilding but “emergency permits do not negate requirements” of environmental analysis and mitigation, or compliance with legal statutes, says Mark Sudol, a senior advisor at regulatory consultant Dawson & Associates and a former Corps regulatory program chief. 

The expedited project reviews outlined come as the White House Council on Environmental Quality proposed an “interim” final rule that would repeal its regulations under the NEPA law and require federal agencies to develop new ones to meet the Trump energy order. A court ruling last year said the council did not have authority to issue the NEPA regulations.

“This rule is the first step in a process where [the council] will have the opportunity to work with federal agencies on improving NEPA,” says Associated Builders and Contractors Vice President Ben Brubeck.

Sudol says, however, that moving the final rule beyond the interim stage could take longer than the administration’s year-long estimate since it will involve required public notice and comment, which he says will be extensive, with lawsuits likely.