President Trump issued on August 15 an Executive Order to streamline the approval process for infrastructure projects, including pipelines.  The order, entitled “Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure,” establishes as a goal that the “processing of environmental reviews and authorization decisions for new major infrastructure projects should be reduced to not more than an average of approximately 2 years.”  A Fact Sheet released with the Executive Order highlighted oil and natural gas pipeline projects as an important beneficiary of the streamlining move.  From an initial review of the Executive Order it would appear the new procedures will have an impact on the timetables for future infrastructure projects, but not necessarily on projects that are currently underway in the regulatory review process, such as the Atlantic Coast Pipeline or the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Executive Order Issued to Streamline Pipeline Environmental Reviews
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