The Trump administration has identified hundreds of “emergency” energy projects whose approvals could be fast-tracked.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has updated its website to put hundreds of new projects on its emergency docket under President Trump’s energy emergency declaration.
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Among those on the list are approval for the construction of a tunnel that would allow a segment of the controversial Line 5 pipeline to run through Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac.
The Corps’s website states that projects that are considered “emergencies” can be expedited.
The Corps did not directly respond to questions as to whether the projects identified under the executive order would be given such treatment.
Instead, Army Corps spokesperson Doug Garman said via email that the agency “is in the process of reviewing active permit applications relative to the Executive Order.”
The agency’s website states that an “emergency” is a situation that would result in an unacceptable hazard to life, a significant loss of property or an immediate, unforeseen and significant economic hardship
As of Wednesday afternoon, 593 pending permits for about 350 different projects were listed as being on the emergency docket because of Trump’s declaration.
Many of them are for fossil fuel-related projects, including various pipelines, oil well pads and projects related to coal and gas. However, solar energy projects also appear on the list.
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Nevertheless, environmental organizations expressed concerns that the federal government may not give these expedited projects a full environmental review.
“The Trump Administration appears to be gearing up to use false claims of an ‘energy emergency’ to fast-track and rubber-stamp federal approvals for projects across the country that will be destructive to America’s wetlands, waterways, and communities,” said David Bookbinder, Director of Law and Policy at the Environmental Integrity Project, in a written statement.
“This end-run around the normal environmental review process is not only harmful for our waters, but is illegal under the Corps’ own emergency permitting regulations,” he added.
His group highlighted projects that it found to be of particular concern, including not only Line 5, but also potential permits for an oil pipeline running beneath Louisiana’s Sabine Lake, a major gas-fueled power plant in Texas, expansion of a sand and gravel mine in Pennsylvania and a gold mine inside a national forest in Idaho.
Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office and has repeatedly argued that the U.S. faces an emergency situation due to Biden’s energy policies.
Under Biden, oil production reached new highs. However, the Biden administration also took steps to restrict oil and gas drilling on public lands and in public waters.
The declaration itself directs the leaders of federal agencies to identify any emergency authorities they may have to facilitate the production or processing of energy.
