Montana AG Leads 20-State Coalition to Intervene in Two Federal Suits Defending Pipeline Permit NWP 12
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is leading a coalition of 20 state attorneys general seeking to intervene in two federal lawsuits defending a widely used permitting process for oil and natural gas pipelines crossing rivers, streams and wetlands. The other 19 states in the coalition are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming.
According to Montana Newsroom's November 2 report, the two lawsuits challenge Nationwide Permit 12, reissued by the Trump administration in 2026 and administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which allows qualifying pipeline projects to receive streamlined federal authorization for water crossings. In their motion, the states wrote that if the permit were eliminated, pipeline construction and maintenance costs would increase and pipeline availability would decrease, and that "Montana and its citizens would incur increased transportation costs through the lack of pipeline access."
Environmental organizations including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth U.S., the Waterkeeper Alliance and the Montana Environmental Information Center contend the Army Corps failed to adequately evaluate environmental effects, alleging violations of federal water, environmental review and endangered species laws. Figures cited by Knudsen's office show Montana produces about 70,000 barrels of crude oil per day and about 4 billion cubic feet of natural gas per month. The motion to intervene is a procedural step and does not decide the merits of the lawsuits.
(Source: Montana Newsroom)
Source: Montana Newsroom
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于海伦娜的蒙大拿州议会大厦。David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Montana State Capitol in Helena. By David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
