Maureen Gorsen, partner in the firm’s Environmental & Land Use Group, was quoted in a Law360 article discussing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) critique of the State Department addressing environmental impacts of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which could delay the department’s decision to approve or reject the project and could cause legal challenges from pipeline opponents.
Gorsen commented on the recent letter from EPA criticizing the State Department’s supplemental environmental impact statement, and considered whether they were designed to give the State Department a road map to bolster its review from legal challenges.
“It could be a signal from EPA that, ‘Hey, these are the areas where you’re a little light, where you could be open to a legal challenge,’” Gorsen said. “In that case, it makes the [final] decision tighter, or more defensible.”