There have been several recent developments in the approval and
review process for TransCanada's Energy East pipeline
project.
Most significantly, on April 26, 2016, the National Energy Board
(NEB) issued a "preliminary timeline" for the hearing
process, which indicates that the NEB's report on the project
will be issued by March 2018. The timeframe for the NEB's
process has been extended to 21 months for the process versus the
usual 15 month time limit. That is in keeping with the Federal
Government's January 27, 2016 announcement that the time for NEB review of
the Energy East project would be extended by six months (see our
previous
post discussing changes to the interim approach that the
Government will require for the review of major projects currently
under environmental review). The NEB's report on the project
will be presented the Federal Cabinet, who will then have six
months to make a decision.
