A federal appeals court that usually meets in Denver will be hearing cases in Oklahoma next week.
University of Oklahoma officials announced Thursday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit will hear oral arguments for ten cases next week at the College of Law in Norman.
The judges will convene Tuesday and Wednesday in the college's Dick Bell Courtroom.
Among the cases on the court's docket is one challenging a federal permit that was authorized for the construction of the Keystone Gulf Coast Pipeline.
In February 2012, the Army Corps of Engineers authorized a permit allowing the construction of TransCanada’s Keystone Gulf Coast Pipeline. The United States District Court of the Western District of Oklahoma affirmed the Corps actions. Sierra Club, Inc., Clean Energy Future Oklahoma, and the East Texas Sub Regional Planning Commission (collectively “Appellants”) are appealing that decision. They claim, in part, the Corps did not analyze the environmental consequences the pipeline could have such as the risk and impacts of oil spills or the cumulative and uplands impacts as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). Appellants also claim the Corps also violated the Clean Water Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.
The Keystone Pipeline is a proposed 1, 179 mile crude oil pipeline that would carry oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast. In May of 2012, TransCanada filed a new application for a Presidential Permit with the U.S. Department of State. In March of 2013, the State Department released an 11-volume environmental impact statement.
Hearings will begin at 9 a.m. and recess at noon.
The court's jurisdiction includes Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.
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