Hoeven: Army Corps Issues Final EIS for DAPL, Recommending Pipeline Maintain Operation & Easement Be Reinstated

Senator Worked to Advance EIS, Sets Stage for Final Approval in Q1 2026

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Hoeven spoke with Assistant Secretary of the Army Adam Telle this morning about the EIS, which recommends that:

The pipeline operations are maintained.
The easement to cross Lake Oahe be reinstated.

Hoeven has been working to move the EIS process forward, having repeatedly discussed this issue with Army Corps officials. Today’s recommendations align with the priorities Hoeven has advanced with the Corps and will provide certainty for energy production in North Dakota and the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara (MHA) Nation.

The Record of Decision for the pipeline, which is the final approval under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, may be issued 30 days after the EIS is published in the Federal Register and is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2026.

“The Dakota Access Pipeline has been operating safely for more than eight years, moving more than a half a million barrels a day of light, sweet crude from North Dakota’s oil patch,” said Hoeven. “That’s energy we don’t need to import from our adversaries, and this is the proven, safest method for moving the oil we need to market. That’s why we’ve stayed on the Corps throughout this process to ensure they reach the right decision for our economic and national security. Today’s EIS sets up the final approval for DAPL in Q1 2026 and provides needed certainty for the continued operation of this critical infrastructure.”

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