# Federal government authority over Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-government-authority-over-keystone-xl-and-dakota-access-pipelines/782951>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 24, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-government-authority-over-keystone-xl-and-dakota-access-pipelines/782951 "2017-03-24T19:57:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-government-authority-over-keystone-xl-and-dakota-access-pipelines/782951/1 "2017-03-24T19:57:38Z")

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I’ve read some material on these and I guess my question is too simple and obvious to write about.

These pipelines seem to be commercial projects. What authority does the federal government have to block (Obama) or permit (Trump) these projects?

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**Author:** ![Falchion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Falchion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falchion)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-government-authority-over-keystone-xl-and-dakota-access-pipelines/782951/2 "2017-03-24T20:17:50Z")

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> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> I’ve read some material on these and I guess my question is too simple and obvious to write about.
> 
> These pipelines seem to be commercial projects. What authority does the federal government have to block (Obama) or permit (Trump) these projects?

Regarding the Keystone XL pipeline, any border crossing requires a Presidential Permit issued by the Secretary of State. See [https://www.state.gov/p/wha/rt/permit/](https://www.state.gov/p/wha/rt/permit/)

The Dakota Access pipeline crosses some federal land that requires a federal permit.

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**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/federal-government-authority-over-keystone-xl-and-dakota-access-pipelines/782951/3 "2017-03-26T04:47:19Z")

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Seems that the Interstate Commerce Clause may apply, as well.