The Bureau of Land Management Approves a Revised Right-of-Way Application for the Mountain Valley Pipeline Project
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FALLS CHURCH, Va. – The Bureau of Land Management approved today Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC’s revised right-of-way application for the Mountain Valley Pipeline project to construct and operate a natural gas pipeline across National Forest Service lands in accordance with the Mineral Leasing Act.
The BLM’s decision to approve approximately 3.5-mile right-of-way across the Jefferson National Forest relied on and was informed by the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service’s supplemental environmental impact statement titled, “Mountain Valley Project and Equitrans Expansion Project Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement” and the final environmental impact statement issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2017. The BLM participated as a cooperating agency in the preparation of both environmental impact statements.
While there are no BLM-managed lands along the Mountain Valley Pipeline route, the BLM is responsible for granting rights-of-way and temporary use permits over federal lands that are administered by two or more federal agencies in accordance with the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920. In addition to the approximately 3.5-mile right-of-way across the Jefferson National Forest, there is approximately 60 feet along U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lands along the Weston and Gauley Bridge Turnpike Trail in West Virginia, which the BLM authorized in 2017.
Additional information and project-relevant documents are available on the BLM e-planning website here.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.