Opinion ID: 3005368
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Easements Across Federal or Indian Lands

Text: Both the Corps and the Bureau granted Enbridge easements to cross federal and Indian lands. See 30 U.S.C. § 185(a) (authorizing agencies to issue rights of way for transportation of oil and gas across federal lands); 25 U.S.C. § 321 (authorizing the Department of the Interior to issue rights of way for oil and gas transportation across Indian lands). The Corps easements allowed the pipeline to cross 1.3 miles of land in two parcels owned by the federal government along the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers. The Bureau easements afforded rights of way across 34 tracts, or 12.3 total miles, of Indian lands the Bureau manages in trust for tribes. The Corps and Bureau prepared three discrete NEPA analyses, in the form of EAs, to consider the anticipated environmental effects of granting Enbridge rights to construct segments of the pipeline across those lands. Each analysis considered only the environmental impact anticipated within its respective geographic area.