US President Barack Obama signed into law Friday a tax package that forces him to end the controversial review of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline by late February.
Earlier Friday, both chambers of Congress quickly passed legislation setting the 60-day deadline. The clock runs out February 21.
The Keystone provision was attached to a short-term extension of payroll tax cuts for middle-class Americans, an issue that has embroiled Capitol Hill in political bickering for two weeks. The bills passed by unanimous consent with very few members present, as most have already returned to their districts for Christmas.
"I want to thank all the members of Congress for ending the stalemate and making this happen," Obama told reporters at the White House before heading to Hawaii for Christmas.
TransCanada Shawn Howard spokesman said Friday the company appreciates any effort to expedite the approval process.
"This project has been under review for more than three years," he said. "It's one of the most heavily scrutinized and analyzed cross-border pipelines ever. By the time the work in Nebraska is completed, it will have been over four years."
The State Department, where the application sits, has insisted the deadline does not give it sufficient time to satisfy all environmental laws and reach a decision. Many observers have interpreted that to mean the Obama administration is poised to reject the project.
But the law gives a possible out for TransCanada. It says the permit would go into effect if the White House takes no action in 60 days.
When asked whether the permit could proceed without the State Department's explicit endorsement, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said last week she was not "prepared to speak to the legality and constitutionality of what the Congress is appearing to try to legislate here." She reiterated that the department needs time for "jumping through all the hoops" held in front of it, including a late route change through Nebraska.
"We want to do that right," she told reporters. "We want to get the appropriate environmental impact study before we can make a national interest determination. ... We've made those views clear to Congress, and again, I can't speak to exactly what the force of law is."
Howard shied away from saying whether TransCanada sees the White House's no-action route to approval as a possibility.
"This process has been as unpredictable as it gets," he said. "I'm not going to speculate on what could or couldn't happen. There's been enough surprises here."
TransCanada wants to build the 1,700-mile pipeline to carry heavy Canadian crude oil from Hardisty, Alberta, to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast.
