On May 4, 2012, the Department of State received a new application from TransCanada Corp. for a proposed pipeline that would run from the Canadian border to connect to an existing pipeline in Steele City, Nebraska. The new application includes proposed new routes through the state of Nebraska. The Department is committed to conducting a rigorous, transparent and thorough review.

The Department’s responsibility, under Executive Order 13337, is to determine if granting a permit for the proposed pipeline is in the national interest. We will consider this new application on its merits. Consistent with the Executive Order, this involves consideration of many factors, including energy security, health, environmental, cultural, economic, and foreign policy concerns.

The Department is preparing a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the assessment of the new Keystone XL pipeline permit application. The Supplemental EIS will include thorough analysis of the proposed new routes in Nebraska, as well as analysis of any significant new circumstances or information, relevant to environmental concerns, that has become available since the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) was completed in August 2011 on the original Keystone XL project application.

In accordance with its interim guidance, the Department of State has selected Environmental Resources Management (known as “ERM”) to serve as an independent third-party contractor for its environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project. ERM is assisting the Department in conducting a thorough analysis of both the new route in Nebraska (in cooperation with the State of Nebraska) and any other relevant information that has become available. The Department intends to post a copy of the ERM contract and organizational conflicts of interest disclosures on this website.

We will continue to cooperate with the state of Nebraska, as well as with other relevant State and Federal agencies, in the review of TransCanada's new application to construct the pipeline to Steele City.

In June 2012, Governor Heinemann of Nebraska said the state's review of the new proposed route will take six to ten months. Last November, when we announced consideration of an alternate route through Nebraska, our best estimate on timing was that we would complete the review process in the first quarter of 2013. We received TransCanada’s new application on May 4; we do not anticipate concluding the review before the first quarter of 2013.

We will conduct our review in a rigorous, transparent and efficient manner, using existing analysis as appropriate.

UPDATE

On September 7, 2012, the Department of State received an environmental report from the applicant, TransCanada Corp. It is a normal part of the federal environmental review process for the private company applying for a permit to submit its own initial analysis of the environmental issues relevant to its proposal. We are reviewing TransCanada’s environmental report.