Governor Heinman’s approval came after his review of the final evaluation report from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and is the last step in the re-route review process established by the Nebraska state legislature.
The approved re-route will now become part of the project’s Presidential Permit application with the United States Department of State, which was filed on May 4 2012.
TransCanada Keystone Pipeline has proposed to construct, operate, and maintain a 1,408 km long, 36 inch diameter crude oil pipeline from the US-Canadian border to Steele City, Nebraska, referred to as the Keystone XL Pipeline Project.
The projected in-service date for Keystone XL is late 2014 or early 2015, subject to approval of TransCanada’s Presidential Permit application.