Merkley, colleagues to Army Corps of Engineers: Stop rubber-stamping oil, gas projects through Nationwide Permit 12

WASHINGTON (KTVZ) – Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), along with Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) sent a letter Friday to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Michael Connor, offering strong support for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to initiate a formal review of Nationwide Permit 12.

NWP 12 is a general permit created by the Corps under the Clean Water Act and Rivers and Harbors Act that authorizes the construction of oil and gas infrastructure and associated facilities that impair, dredge, or discharge fill material into U.S. waters.

Ahead of the two-year anniversary of the Corp announcing their intention to review NWP 12, the senators urge the Corps to complete its review and not wait until NWP 12 is set to expire in 2026, due to the harm rubber-stamping oil and gas projects have in our climate-constrained world.

“Fast-tracking of oil and gas infrastructure projects through NWP 12 threatens neighboring communities, the local environment, endangered species, and Tribal sovereignty, and contributes to the climate crisis. The Corps’ review of NWP 12 is necessary to prevent oil and gas infrastructure projects from continuing to bypass the public interest review and circumvent study of the impacts of new fossil fuel infrastructure on the climate emergency,” wrote the senators.

While the senators were encouraged when the Corps first initiated the formal NWP 12 review two years ago, there has been no further information shared regarding the review, let alone a final determination. The senators request an update on the Corps’ NWP 12 review and a timeline of when the Corps expects to complete the review.

Friday’s letter follows an effort Merkley led in 2022 to urge the Corps to end the fast-tracking of oil and gas infrastructure by rescinding NWP 12.

The full text of the letter can be found by clicking here and below:

Dear Assistant Secretary Connor:

We write as follow up to our July 2022 letter offering strong support for the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) initiating a formal review of Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12). This March will be two years since the Corps first announced its intention to review NWP and there has been no update on the status of the review. We urge you to complete your review and not wait until NWP 12 is supposed to expire in 2026 because we are confident that any review will find that NWP 12 does not make sense in our climate-constrained world, and that it is too harmful to continue rubber stamping projects.

In March 2022, the Corps announced a formal review of NWP 12, after President Biden signed Executive Order (EO) 13990. EO 13990 directed federal agencies to review the promulgation of federal regulations, and other actions taken during the previous four years, that conflict with the policy set forth in the EO. The Corps sought input on the appropriate balance between an efficient authorization process, the potential effects of oil and natural gas pipelines, and engagement with and informing the public regarding uses of NWP 12.

Fast-tracking of oil and gas infrastructure projects through NWP 12 threatens neighboring communities, the local environment, endangered species, and Tribal sovereignty, and contributes to the climate crisis. The Corps’ review of NWP 12 is necessary to prevent oil and gas infrastructure projects from continuing to bypass the public interest review and circumvent study of the impacts of new fossil fuel infrastructure on the climate emergency.

We were encouraged to learn that the Corps had initiated this formal NWP 12 review. However, it has been almost two years since the review was initiated and no further information regarding the review has been provided to the public, much less a final determination. We write to ask for an update on the Corps’ NWP 12 review, and a timeline of when you expect to complete the review.

Once again, we appreciate the initial step that you took by opening NWP 12 for formal review, and strongly urge you to eliminate this permit which is overly broad, harmful to the planet, and contributing to global climate chaos. We urge you to continue with this important review and we look forward to hearing from you on the status of your review.

Sincerely,