Today, the United States Army Corps of Engineers sent a Notification to Congress regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline, announcing the Corps’ intention to grant an easement for the oil pipeline to cross Lake Oahe. (Document HERE.) The easement is located north of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation and is the subject of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. United States Army Corps of Engineers lawsuit. Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the oil pipeline, does not need any additional federal approvals, but congressional notification is typically followed by a two-week waiting period before construction begins.

The Army Corps said it intends to waive the two-week waiting period.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has vowed to challenge the decision in court, and activists have vowed to fight the project both in North Dakota and on Capitol Hill.