In a lawsuit challenging the 2019 Presidential Permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, the federal district court for the District of Montana denied requests to enjoin work on the pipeline. The court found that the plaintiffs failed to show “at this juncture” that they were likely to succeed on the merits of their claims and that they also failed to show they were likely to suffer irreparable injury. The court—which concluded that the Presidential Permit authorized only a 1.2-mile  border-crossing segment of the pipeline and not, as the plaintiffs argued, the additional 875 miles of pipeline in the U.S.—found that alleged irreparable injuries outside the scope of what the permit authorized were “beyond the scope of the relief available.” Although the court found that each side had “valid arguments for their side in the balance of equities and public interest,” the court found that the “weight of these factors remains unclear and fails to compel the granting of preliminary relief.” The court also rejected any addition of claims related to BLM’s right-of-way permit. In addition, the court granted summary judgment to the defendants on the plaintiffs’ treaty-based claims due to the court’s determination that the Presidential Permit’s scope was limited to the 1.2-mile segment and did not affect tribal land. The court asked for supplemental briefing on the remaining constitutional issues, focused on separation of powers issues related to border-crossing pipeline permits.

Challenge to presidential permit for Keystone XL pipeline.

Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Biden

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Montana Federal Court Denied Requests to Stop Work on Keystone Pipeline, Asked for More Briefing on Separation of Powers Issues

Filed

United States of America

Montana

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Montana Federal Court Denied Requests to Stop Work on Keystone Pipeline, Asked for More Briefing on Separation of Powers Issues

Policy instrument

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Finance