New Executive Orders Will Speed Up U.S. Pipeline Development

On April 10, President Donald Trump issued two executive orders that will speed up pipeline permitting and other energy infrastructure projects. The Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance (EEIA), which the Metals Service Center Institute is a member of, worked with the administration over the past few months, holding multiple meetings with senior White House energy policy advisors and stressing the urgent need to fix a broken permitting regime that has allowed some states to block projects for years based on grounds not intended in the permitting laws.

The first order removes barriers to pipeline construction in the United States, provides incentives for private investment in energy infrastructure and updates transport regulations to allow shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by rail.

The second order provides the president with sole authority to grant permits for pipelines that cross the United States’ borders with Canada and Mexico, with advice from the U.S. State Department.

In a press statement EEIA President and CEO Toby Mack said, “Every American family is benefitting from the domestic energy revolution. Innovation and new discoveries of clean and affordable fuels like natural gas are cutting consumer prices, utility bills, and greenhouse gas emissions. That wouldn’t be possible without pipelines and other infrastructure that move our new-found energy wealth to the marketplace. … Our companies and workers look forward to building the projects that these Presidential orders make possible, and that strengthen our nation’s critical energy infrastructure.”