1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Court Rules Dakota Access Pipeline Needs Further Environmental Review Updated February 1, 2021 UPDATE: On January 26 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed the district courts decis
2、ion requiring the Army Corps of Engineers to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prior to issuance of an easement across federal land for the Dakota Access Pipeline, but reversed the district courts injunction prohibiting the operation of the Pipeline and directing that it be emptied of
3、oil. The original Sidebar discussing the district court case is below. The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a crude oil pipeline developed by Energy Transfer Partners, carries crude oil from the Bakken fields in northwest North Dakota to southern Illinois. As discussed in this Legal Sidebar, the DAPL
4、has been the subject of extensive debate and media attention, as well as prolonged litigation. Much of the attention on the DAPL centers on the portion of the pipeline route that is near or runs under Lake Oahe in North Dakota, a lake that has particular significance to Native Americans in the regio