CRS INSIGHT
Army Corps Easement Process and Dakota Access
Pipeline Easement Status
February 2, 2017 (IN10644)
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Related Author
Nicole T. Carter
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Nicole T. Carter, Acting Section Research Manager (ncarter@crs.loc.gov, 7-0854)
The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is a 1,172-mile pipeline system to transport oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The
pipeline's developer is pursuing a route that would cross under the Missouri River on federally owned land in North
Dakota at the Lake Oahe project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). Public debate and litigation over the
pipeline has raised questions for Congress regarding the Corps process for granting pipeline easements to cross federally
owned, Corps-managed land (hereinafter referred to as Corps land), including the scope of impacts considered,
especially oil spill risks and tribal impacts. Below is a discussion of both the Corps' process for approving pipeline
easements and the DAPL easement request specifically.
Easement Process and DAPL Easement Status
Figure 1 shows the Corps' decisionmaking process for evaluating requests for private oil or gas pipelines to cross Corps
land and non-Corps land with a Corps real estate interest (e.g., private lands with a federal flood or other flowage
easement). As shown in Figure 1, the process may consist of both
a Corps permission to alter a Corps civil works project (shown in grey) and
a Corps easement to cross Corps land or a consent to cross non-Corps land with a Corps real estate interest
(shown in beige).
In July 2016, the Corps provided permission for DAPL to alter the Corps' Lake Oahe project, subject to certain
conditions being included in a final easement. This permission moved the easement request into the first beige box in
Figure 1. Under the Obama Administration, the Corps' position was that its permission to alter the Lake Oahe project
did not grant DAPL an easement to cross the federal lands at Lake Oahe. On December 4, 2016, the Assistant Secretary
of the Army (Civil Works) issued a statement that the agency would "not grant an easement to cross Lake Oahe at the
proposed location based on the current record." On January 18, 2017, the Corps published a Notice of Intent to prepare
an environmental impact statement (EIS), pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. §4321),
in connection with the requested easement for the pipeline to cross Lake Oahe. The notice indicated that the EIS would
analyze alternative crossings of the Missouri River, oil spill risks, and various tribal impacts. On January 24, 2017,
President Trump issued a presidential memorandum directing the Corps to consider both rescinding or modifying its
December 2016 decision and rescinding the January 2017 Notice of Intent. Analysis of the memorandum is available in
CRS Legal Sidebar WSLG1722, Executive Memorandum Pushes Army Corps to Reconsider Recent Dakota Access
Pipeline Decisions, by Adam Vann. For more on DAPL, see CRS Insight IN10567, Dakota Access Pipeline: Siting
Controversy, by Paul W. Parfomak. For more on the Corps and tribes, see CRS Insight IN10608, Army Corps Projects
and Tribal Consultation: Requirements, Policies, and Controversy, by Nicole T. Carter.
Figure 1. Corps Process for Approving the Crossing of Corps Projects and Real Estate
Interests by Oil and Gas Pipelines
Source: CRS.
Notes: House NR = House Natural Resources Committee; Senate ENR = Senate Energy
and Natural Resources Committee. Information within parentheses refers to the U.S.
Code (U.S.C.) for the guiding statute or to Corps documents, including Engineer
Circulars (EC), Engineer Regulations (ER), and Army Regulations (AR).
Permission to Alter a Corps Project
Corps authority to allow alterations to its projects derives from Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33
U.S.C. §408). Permission is required for all alterations to Corps projects, not only alterations by pipelines. For pipelines
over 24 inches (24") in diameter, the Corps conducts a technical review of the pipeline's effects on Corps projects
pursuant to Engineer Circular (EC) 1165-2-216.
The Corps' July 25, 2016, permission for DAPL to alter the Lake Oahe project was accompanied by a Finding of No
Significant Impact. The finding was based on an environmental assessment prepared pursuant to NEPA to determine if
impacts of the permission would be significant.
Easement or Consent to Cross
Pursuant to Section 28 of the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA; 30 U.S.C. §185), federal agencies have authority to grant a
private oil and gas pipeline an easement to cross federal land. The Corps is evaluating the request for the DAPL
easement to cross federal land at Lake Oahe under this MLA authority.
The Corps also can consent to a pipeline crossing non-Corps lands with a Corps real estate interest (e.g., flowage
easement) using a broad, military-wide real estate authority (10 U.S.C. §2668). The Corps has provided DAPL with
consents to cross federal flowage easements at various locations on its route.
Congressional Notification
Under the MLA, two congressional authorizing committees must be notified if the developer of an oil and gas pipeline
with a diameter of 24" or greater is requesting to cross federal land. The Corps notified the committees of the DAPL
application to cross federal lands at Lake Oahe in September 2015.
The Corps must notify the committees a second time if it intends to grant an easement and of any conditions to be
imposed on the applicant. The notification requirements are shown in green in Figure 1.
Evaluation of Request
To decide on easements and consents, the Corps follows Chapter 8 of Engineer Regulation (ER) 405-1-12, Real Estate
Handbook and Army Regulation (AR) 405-80. ER 405-1-12 requires that the Corps find that "the proposed easement
will not be inconsistent with the authorized purposes of the Federal installation or project." According to ER 405-1-12,
site-specific environmental, cultural, and operational requirements may be added to the easement or consent; also, the
agency is to impose any special requirements for safe operation of a pipeline or related facilities.
During its analyses of the DAPL Lake Oahe easement, the Corps is required to determine whether the crossing is
inconsistent with the Corps real estate interest and if the agency could issue a pipeline easement consistent with the
multiple requirements established by the MLA for pipeline easements on federal lands.