American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2021 - 14

IndustryDigest
affecting the quality of the human
environment, " said Jaime A. Pinkham,
acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for
Civil Works, in a June 23 announcement.
" The Corps will ensure all potential
impacts and reasonable alternatives
associated with this project are thoroughly
analyzed and will ultimately support a
decision on the permit application. The
Corps received thousands of public
comments and tribal input on the
proposed project, which warrant further
review through an EIS, including potential
impacts to navigation. "
The Corps notes that the Line 5
project would tunnel under Michigan's
Straits of Mackinac to house a new 30inch
pipeline for light crude oil and
natural gas liquids. This project would
replace the existing dual submerged
pipelines crossing the straits, which
have been in operation since 1953.
The project has been subject to
significant swings of fortune that
include a ruling last summer by the
Michigan Court of Appeals that
upheld the constitutionality of Act
359, which was passed by a lameduck
legislature and signed by
outgoing Republican Governor Rick
Snyder in December 2018. Act 359
paved the way for the Straits of
Mackinac replacement by shifting
authority over Line 5 from the
Mackinac Bridge Authority to the
newly created Mackinac Straits
Corridor Authority. However, current
Democratic Governor Gretchen
Whitmer campaigned against Line 5
and Attorney General Dana Nessel in
March last year opined that Act 359
was unconstitutional because its title
did not match the body of the law
(AOGR, July 2020, pg. 26).
According to the Corps, it published
a public notice and held a public
hearing in December 2020, and received
more than 15,000 comments regarding
Line 5. It says the comments are being
reviewed and the application is being
evaluated in accordance with federal
regulations and policies. Under Section
10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of
1899 and Section 404 of the Clean
Water Act, the Corps' authority is
limited to the proposed crossing of the
Straits of Mackinac and impacts to
adjacent wetlands. ❒
ESA Listing Proposed For
Lesser Prairie Chicken
WASHINGTON-In the June 1
Federal Register, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service proposed to list two
distinct population segments (DPS) of
the lesser prairie-chicken (LPC) under
the Endangered Species Act. The
bird's five-state range spans parts of
Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma,
Kansas and Colorado.
USFWS says its scientific review of
threats to the LPC and ongoing
conservation efforts has determined the
bird's southern DPS is in danger of
extinction, and the northern DPS is
likely to become endangered in the
foreseeable future. Accordingly, the
service says it proposes to list the
southern DPS as endangered and the
Northern DPS as threatened with a 4(d)
CompSource Mutual
Insurance Co.
and Unity Insurance
Partners
present the Oklahoma
Energy Producers
Alliance
with a dividend
check generated
by the safety program.
From left
are Joe Kem,
OEPA President
David Little and
Brad Owens. According
to Compsource
Mutual, the
safety group dividend
plan helps
OEPA members
mitigate risk and manage worker safety. OEPA held its 2021 annual convention on June
4 at the Embassy Suites in Oklahoma City.
14 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
rule that tailors protections.
" The loss of America's native
grasslands and prairies of the southern
Great Plains has resulted in steep
declines for the LPC and other
grassland birds, " maintains USFWS
Regional Director Amy Lueders. " For
more than two decades, the service has
supported and encouraged our
partners' voluntary efforts to conserve
the LPC. Together, we have made great
strides in conserving key habitat and
raising awareness about threats to the
LPC, but we still have much work to
do to ensure we have viable LPC
populations. The service will continue
to closely partner with diverse
stakeholders across the LPC's range to
restore this iconic species. "
According to analysts at JD Supra,
many in the energy industry pan the
government's proposal as an
unnecessary federal overreach that fails
to appreciate voluntary conservation
programs to reduce LPC impacts.
Dozens of energy companies already
have enrolled in a Candidate
Conservation Agreement with
Assurances, with close to five million
acres enrolled, between USFWS, the
Western Association of Fish and
Wildlife Agencies and landowners.
" The listing of the species and
potential designation of critical habitat
will have a significant regulatory
impact, limit access to certain areas,
and increase costs to develop oil and
gas and renewable energy projects, "
the firm assesses. " If finalized, the
listing of the LPC will require
extensive biological due diligence and
careful planning, will increase costs to
mitigate any potential impacts, and
will likely increase the amount of time
needed to complete projects in the
vicinity of the LPC range. These
impacts could be tremendous
throughout the impacted area,
including in the Permian Basin-one of
the most important regions in the
country for oil and gas development. "
The LPC became a candidate for
ESA listing in 1998 and was listed as a
threatened species in 2014, although
that listing was vacated in 2015
following a lawsuit. In September 2016,
the service received a new petition to
list the species as endangered, and in
November 2016 made a substantial 90day
petition finding that listing may be
warranted, USFWS notes.
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2021

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