The Arizona Republican who will preside Thursday over a hearing of a House subcommittee
plans to dig into why President Barack Obama has not yet green-lighted the Keystone XL pipeline that is slated to carry 830,000 barrels per day of tar-sands oil from Alberta to refineries on the Texas gulf coast.
“I hope to delve into the Administration’s continued delay in approving the highly popular Keystone XL pipeline from Canada. Studies show this pipeline will create jobs and increase our energy independence while protecting the environment,” said Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee that’s holding the hearing.
"Continued delay"? Salmon seems to think the president is stalling on some whim. He probably wonders why Obama didn't okay the project the minute the SEIS
was released. After all, the consultants who drafted the document downplayed the pipeline's negative impacts. Which was no surprise given their record for seeing things the way their oil-industry paymasters want them to be seen, as Kevin Grandia, Brad Johnson and others
have revealed. Please continue reading below the fold about Republican complaints over Keystone XL.
Like Republican Rep. John Carter of Texas, who emerged from an hour-long meeting with Obama Wednesday confident that the president had indicated he would drop his objection to the pipeline, Salmon seems confused about how the process is actually supposed to work and how quickly.
The Carter comment was reported by Buzzfeed and created a brief stir. But other Republicans who had attended the meeting weighed in, saying they had gotten the impression the decision would be coming soon, but hadn't heard any presidential "yes" on the pipeline. The administration itself then put the brakes on speculation:
A White House official said Obama “did not indicate either way.” The official noted that the proposed pipeline remains under review at the State Department, which recently released a draft environmental analysis and will take comment[s] for 45 days.
“As you know the assessment is ongoing, and the State Department recently began the public comment period following the release of their Draft [Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement],” the White House official said.
Yes, Rep. Salmon and Rep. Carter, there's this little thing you perhaps have heard of called the National Environmental Protection Act that is required to be followed before any decision can be made in this matter. For the president to indicate that he has already decided to approve the pipeline short-circuits that legal process. It's possible he has decided one way or the other about the project but, if so, he would be unwise to tell anybody about it. And when he says that a decision is coming "soon," the word should be taken relatively, even though Maryland Republican Rep. Andy Harris, who also attended the meeting Wednesday,
told The Hill, "I think he said a couple of weeks.”
That collides with the fact we are only in the beginning stages of the NEPA-mandated 45-day public comment period, which ends April 22. Once it is complete and public comments have been considered, the final SEIS will be issued. But another step is required.
Approval of the presidential permit needed for any pipeline crossing international boundaries is dependent on finding that a project serves the "national interest." As the Congressional Research Service states:
[F]or a Presidential Permit, issuance of the final EIS represents the
beginning of a 90-day public review period during which the State Department gathers
information from necessary [federal and state agencies] to inform its national interest determinations. Ultimately, a decision regarding issuance of a Presidential Permit for a pipeline project would be reflected in a combined “Record of Decision and National Interest Determination,” issued by the State Department.
Forty-five days plus 90 days means the president won't be on firm ground to announce any decision on the pipeline until late July at the earliest.
Of course, Congress can try, as it has done unsuccessfully on five previous occasions in the past 16 months to speed up the process by requiring a decision from the president within 60 days. Rep. Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who is chairman of the House Budget Committee, is trying another tactic, including in his just-proposed federal budget for 2014 a requirement that Keystone XL be built.
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Public comments about the draft SEIS can be sent via email here.