Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman last week approved the revised route for the northern portion of TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would run through his state. He notified both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of his decision in a letter.

Heineman approved the 194.5-mile rerouting and asked that the state evaluation report be used in the State Department’s supplemental environmental impact statement of the much-debated project.

The southern portion already has been approved; the northern portion of the controversial $7 billion, 1,700-mile project from Alberta to refineries in the Gulf Coast still requires a Presidential Permit from the State Department. The new route through Nebraska avoids the environmentally sensitive Sand Hills area, but the governor’s OK again was blasted by environmental groups (see NGI, Jan. 14).

A TransCanada spokesperson said the Nebraska action adds to all of the states that already have approved the northern route. The State Department can now complete its draft supplemental environmental impact statement. The company is hoping a final determination can be made “in the next few months,” but TransCanada has received no indication regarding timing for a decision.

Nebraska has been the focus of the proposed full Keystone XL development since a year ago, when the Obama administration denied TransCanada’s request for a presidential permit. Subsequently, the pipeline developer/operator filed a new application and proceeded with building the southern half of the project from Cushing, OK, to Gulf of Mexico refineries (see NGI, March 5, 2012)..

“As stated in the [Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality] final evaluation report, TransCanada has provided assurances to the state that the company would implement [specified] mitigation measures,” including developing an emergency response plan for a crude oil spill, providing fast access to the project’s material safety data sheet in the event of a spill, and carrying out baseline water well testing for affected landowners, Heineman said in his letter.

Separately, the National Association of Manufacturers called Keystone XL “an immediate job creator,” and urged a final approval from the Obama administration “as soon as possible to boost jobs.”

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