President Donald Trump signed executive actions to accelerate the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline projects and to decree that American steel should be used for pipelines built in the U.S.
Trump also signed an action to expedite environmental review and approval of high-priority infrastructure projects that he hopes to get moving as part of his drive to rebuild U.S. airports, roads and bridges.
Trump told reporters that "we are going to renegotiate some of the terms" of the Keystone XL project. "And if they like, we will see if we can get that pipeline built —a lot of jobs—28,000 jobs, great construction jobs."
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He said the Dakota Access Pipeline would be "subject to terms and conditions negotiated by us."
Trump said his order on pipelines "will put a lot of steelworkers back to work."
"We are very insistent that if we are going to build pipelines in the United States, the pipes should be built in the United States," he said.
Earlier on Jan. 24, Rob Barnett, senior policy analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said the Keystone order Trump was expected to sign is “really a narrow thing that would take the State Department out of cross-border pipeline” decisions.
While that removes one step of the process, pipelines still face a stringent regulatory process, including local requirements and legal challenges.
“It’s not as if tomorrow … you could go out and begin construction,” he said. “This is not something you can wave a wand and simply resolve by executive order or fiat.”
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