Debt ceiling law raises questions on timeline of Line 5 tunnel environmental review

The federal debt ceiling deal signed into law last weekend sets a hard deadline — just two years — on federal environmental reviews of infrastructure projects.

But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees permitting for the project, announced in March it was extending the environmental review for the tunnel to allow for a more “thorough analysis.”

The Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority met this week and questioned what the new law means for the permitting process of Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 tunnel.

The extension added an extra year-and-a-half to the review process, pushing the final permitting decision into 2026. But under the new law, the timeline could be shortened again.