Full Title: Army Corps Easement Process and Dakota Access Pipeline Easement Status
Author(s): Nicole T. Carter
Publisher(s): Congressional Research Service
Publication Date: February 1, 2017
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is a 1,172-mile pipeline system to transport oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The
pipeline’s developer is pursuing a route that would cross under the Missouri River on federally owned land in North
Dakota at the Lake Oahe project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). Public debate and litigation over the
pipeline has raised questions for Congress regarding the Corps process for granting pipeline easements to cross federally
owned, Corps-managed land (hereinafter referred to as Corps land), including the scope of impacts considered,
especially oil spill risks and tribal impacts. Below is a discussion of both the Corps’ process for approving pipeline
easements and the DAPL easement request specifically.