In September 2008, TransCanada Corp., a Canadian company, applied to the U.S. Department of State (State Department) for a permit to cross the U.S.-Canada international border with the Keystone XL pipeline project. As originally proposed, the pipeline would carry crude oil produced from the oil sands region of Alberta, Canada, to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries. In most instances, decisions about the siting of oil pipelines, even interstate oil pipelines like the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, are made by state governments if the state governments choose to exercise a pipeline siting authority. The federal government generally does not regulate the siting of oil pipelines, although it does oversee oil pipeline safety and pricing issues. However, the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of a pipeline that connects the United States with a foreign country requires the permission of the State Department, conveyed through a presidential permit. Accordingly, the proposed Keystone XL pipeline required a permit. Executive Order 13337 delegates to the Secretary of State the President's authority to issue such a permit upon a determination that the project is in the national interest. The proposed project, and the environmental review of the approval pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), garnered significant interest in media and political circles. There was significant debate both at the national level and at the state level, particularly in Nebraska, where many expressed concern that the pipeline would run through environmentally sensitive areas in the state. On December 23, 2011, Congress passed and the President signed into law the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011. Title V of the act addressed the Keystone XL presidential permitting process. Under that provision, the President was required to grant the Keystone XL pipeline permit within 60 days of the law's enactment, unless the President determined that the pipeline was not in the national interest. If the President did not make a national interest determination and took no action to grant the permit, then the law provided that the permit would be "in effect by operation of law." Title V of the act appears to be the first legislative foray into the permitting of the border crossing facilities as contemplated in Executive Orders 11423 and 13337. As required by Title V of the act, on January 18, 2012, the State Department recommended that "the presidential permit for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline be denied and, that at this time, the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline be determined not to serve the national interest." The State Department asserted that its recommendation "was predicated on the fact that the Department does not have sufficient time to obtain the information necessary to assess whether the project, in its current state, is in the national interest." The State Department press release also indicated that the 60-day time period provided for the in the act "is insufficient" for a determination as to whether the pipeline is in the national interest. The State Department said that "subsequent permit applications" and "applications for similar projects" were not precluded by the denial of this particular permit application. The same day, the President stated his determination that the Keystone XL pipeline project "would not serve the national interest." He made this determination, as required by Title V of the act, in a memorandum to the Secretary of State. On May 4, 2012, the State Department received a new application from TransCanada for a reconfigured Keystone XL pipeline that would run from the Canadian border and connect to an existing pipeline located in Steele City, NE. This new application identified proposed new routes through Nebraska. Also, on September 5, 2012, TransCanada submitted this preferred alternate route to the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. The governor of Nebraska approved this new route through the state on January 22, 2013. While this process played out at the federal and state administrative level, Congress continued to show legislative interest in the pipeline. In addition to Title V of the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011, several other pieces of legislation were introduced in the 112 th Congress to compel expedited review of the Keystone XL application. Another legislative proposal, the North American Energy Access Act ( H.R. 3548 ), would have transferred permitting authority over the Keystone XL pipeline project from the State Department to FERC, and would require the commission to issue a permit for the project within 30 days of enactment. This legislative interest has not abated in the 113 th Congress, as multiple bills have been introduced that would effectively supersede the State Department's permitting authority and grant a presidential permit for TransCanada to construct and operate the border-crossing facility of the Keystone XL pipeline, including H.R. 334 , H.R. 3 , and S. 582 . Meanwhile, on March 1, 2013, the State Department issued a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (draft SEIS) as required by NEPA, evaluating the environmental impacts of the revised proposal. The issuance of this document is followed by a 45-day comment period. After the comment period ends, the State Department may issue the Final EIS, and subsequently a decision on whether to issue the presidential permit. This recent legislative activity intended to direct action on the two Keystone XL presidential permit applications appears to represent the first congressional efforts to amend the established executive branch procedure for the permitting of cross-border pipeline facilities, and there is some question as to whether this raises constitutional issues related to the jurisdiction of the two branches over such facilities. Additionally, as states considered taking action with respect to the pipeline, questions arose regarding whether state siting of a federally approved pipeline is preempted by federal law. Another question was whether a state's dictating the route of the pipeline was a violation of the dormant Commerce Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits one state from acting to protect its own interests to the detriment of other states. Finally, the adequacy of government review of the proposed pipeline under NEPA, the routing of the pipeline, and the emissions caused by the oil production was a cause of some concern and controversy. This report reviews those legal issues, observing generally that legislation altering the pipeline border crossing approval process appears likely to be a legitimate exercise of Congress's constitutional authority to regulate foreign commerce and that state oversight of pipeline siting decisions does not appear to violate existing federal law or the Constitution. The report also suggests that the State Department's implementation of its authority to issue presidential permits appears to allow for judicial review of its NEPA determinations. A companion report from CRS focusing on policy issues associated with the proposal, CRS Report R41668, Keystone XL Pipeline Project: Key Issues , by [author name scrubbed] et al., is also available. The Constitution does not expressly accord the President any authority to regulate foreign commerce. However, the President's recognized authority in the area of foreign affairs permits him to take action in matters of foreign commerce such as border crossing facilities, as discussed below. There has been some judicial recognition of the President's ability to exercise authority over matters implicating foreign commerce, even in the absence of an express delegation of authority by Congress, but the Supreme Court has not definitively opined on the circumstances in which any such authority may be exercised. The executive branch exercises permitting authority over the construction and operation of "pipelines, conveyor belts, and similar facilities for the exportation or importation of petroleum, petroleum products" and other products pursuant to a series of executive orders. This authority has been vested in the U.S. State Department since the promulgation of Executive Order 11423 in 1968. Executive Order 13337 amended this authority and the procedures associated with the review, but did not substantially alter the exercise of authority or the delegation to the Secretary of State in Executive Order 11423. Executive Order 11423 provided that, except with respect to cross-border permits for electric energy facilities, natural gas facilities, and submarine facilities, The Secretary of State is hereby designated and empowered to receive all applications for permits for the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance, at the borders of the United States, of: (i) pipelines, conveyor belts, and similar facilities for the exportation or importation of petroleum, petroleum products, coal, minerals, or other products to or from a foreign country; (ii) facilities for the exportation or importation of water or sewage to or from a foreign country; (iii) monorails, aerial cable cars, aerial tramways and similar facilities for the transportation of persons or things, or both, to or from a foreign country; and (iv) bridges, to the extent that congressional authorization is not required. Executive Order 13337 designates and empowers the Secretary of State to "receive all applications for Presidential permits, as referred to in Executive Order 11423, as amended, for the construction, connection, operation, or maintenance, at the borders of the United States, of facilities for the exportation or importation of petroleum, petroleum products, coal, or other fuels to or from a foreign country." Executive Order 13337 further provides that after consideration of the application and comments received thereon: "[I]f the Secretary of State finds that issuance of a permit to the applicant would serve the national interest, the Secretary shall prepare a permit, in such form and with such terms and conditions as the national interest may in the Secretary's judgment require, and shall notify the officials required to be consulted ... that a permit be issued." Thus, the Secretary of State is directed by the President to authorize all border crossing facilities that the Secretary has determined would "serve the national interest." However, the source of the executive branch's permitting authority is not explicitly stated within the executive orders. Powers exercised by the executive branch are authorized by legislation or are inherent presidential powers based in the Constitution. Executive Order 11423 does not reference any statute or constitutional provision as the source of its authority, although it does state that "the proper conduct of foreign relations of the United States requires that executive permission be obtained for the construction and maintenance" of border crossing facilities.