The review process for the Line 5 tunnel project in the Straits of Mackinac may be fast-tracked under an emergency order from the Trump administration.
The current deadline for the U.S. Army Corps to approve or deny the Line 5 tunnel is slated for 2026.
Calls to speed up the process from the state of Michigan and Enbridge have gone nowhere. But now, a potential "emergency" designation could affect the environmental review of more than 600 projects across the country.
David Bookbinder is the policy director for the Environmental Integrity Project. During a press conference today, he said declaring emergency status on a project could eliminate opportunities for public feedback.
“Aside from the problems of the Corps short-circuiting its own environmental review, we have to go back to the very premise of the president's declaration which is that we have a national energy emergency, which is simply ridiculous," he said.
In a statement from Enbridge, the company said the tunnel will make the pipeline safer, and the federal permitting process has been ongoing for nearly five years.
Under the executive order deadline, the USACE is expected make a decision on the project's status tomorrow.
A spokesperson for the USACE in Michigan did not answer questions regarding the tunnel, but said in a written statement, the corps is working with the administration to meet their requirements.
