Vermont environmental groups and some northeastern Vermont land owners are hailing a ruling that the state's Act 250 land use law applies to the possible reversal of flow in the Portland-Montreal Pipe Line.
A state regulator based in St. Johnsbury ruled Monday that any project to reverse the pipeline's flow would require review under several criteria of the environmental law.
Johanna Miller of the Vermont Natural Resources Council is calling the decision great news. She and Sandra Levine of the Conservation Law Foundation say it will give Vermonters a voice in whether tar sands oil should be shipped across the state.
Jim Murphy of the National Wildlife Federation says the ruling likely makes unnecessary a bill in the Legislature to make Act 250 apply to such projects.
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