EPA on cusp of Keystone pipeline comments

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said Thursday that her agency is about to weigh in on the State Department’s environmental analysis of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.

The upcoming comments on State’s August environmental impact statement — which gave the pipeline a favorable review — will be closely watched as the Obama administration’s decision on whether to permit the project looms. The EPA has been very critical of past State analyses.

“We have comments that we are just about completing on the current environmental impact statement,” Jackson told a group of student environmental activists at Howard University.

The State Department is leading the administration’s review of TransCanada Corp.’s proposed pipeline to bring crude from Alberta’s massive oil sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries.

A decision on whether to grant a permit is expected by roughly the end of the year.

Jackson’s remarks on the proposed $7 billion, 1,700-mile pipeline come a day after a protester interrupted President Obama’s speech in Denver to voice opposition to the project.

Obama said he was aware of “deep concern” about the project — an idea that Jackson reiterated Thursday.

“I think the president said it best yesterday,” she said. “He has certainly heard your voices and he is very much aware of the concerns that have been raised about ... the pipeline.”

She noted concerns about refinery emissions, potential spills and other issues.

Jackson also said the debate on the proposal is a healthy one.

“It is awesome that we are having this conversation in this country,” Jackson said, noting the scale of the pipeline that would “bisect” the country. “This should be a moment where we have a really big conversation.”

The pipeline review is politically tricky terrain for the White House, which faces pressure from major business groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, that say the project would boost the economy and enhance energy security, and from environmentalists, who are planning another big demonstration against the pipeline for Nov. 6 at the White House.

Some environmentalists, citing greenhouse gas emissions from the energy-intensive oil sands projects, are casting the decision as a referendum on Obama’s commitment to battling climate change.

In other comments, Jackson continued her criticism of GOP-led efforts to thwart a number of recent and upcoming EPA air-pollution rules.

She added that she expects a congressional effort to block upcoming auto mileage and greenhouse gas standards for model year 2017-2025 vehicles that EPA is crafting with the Transportation Department.

“There will be an effort, I promise you, to reverse it,” Jackson said, adding that she expects it will be led by someone from California.

That could be a reference to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who has criticized the standards.

— This post was updated at 11:32 and 11:45 a.m.