Federal and state permitting remain active and on separate tracks for the Line 5 tunnel project, MDOT and Army Corps staff told the Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority on Oct. 17.

"In the time since the 30 day public comment period ended on 06/30/2025, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to process public comment and work towards the release of the final environmental impact statement as well as a subsequent record of decision," Michael Belligan, an MDOT environmental specialist assisting the authority, said. He added that the final EIS is expected sometime this fall and the record of decision would follow about 30 days later.

Belligan described the sequence and public-access steps: the final EIS responds to public-comment issues raised against the draft EIS; once the final EIS is issued there is a 30-day period after which the record of decision, including any permit issuance decision, will be published. The authority requested that links to the draft EIS be made readily available through the authority's website; staff confirmed the draft is accessible through Army Corps and MDOT project pages.

On state permits, Belligan said EGLE has two separate components for the project. He said EGLE determined on Sept. 19, 2025 that the reissuance application for the NPDES permit is administratively complete; EGLE will draft the permit, send it to the applicant (Enbridge) for review, then provide a draft to tribal staff (expected Jan.–Mar. 2026) before a 30-day public comment period and a public hearing. Belligan said the NPDES permit is expected to be decided prior to Oct. 1, 2026.

He contrasted that with Part 303 (wetlands) and Part 325 (Great Lakes submerged lands) permitting, where EGLE publishes the application and background information for public review rather than issuing a draft permit first. Belligan said the Part 303/325 application was found administratively complete on July 16, 2025; EGLE held a virtual information meeting Aug. 12 and a virtual public hearing Aug. 19, with public comment collected July 31–Aug. 29. He said EGLE's current processing deadline for the application is Dec. 13, 2025 but added additional time may be needed.

Why it matters: The Army Corps' record-of-decision and EGLE permits are among the regulatory prerequisites the authority cited as conditions before construction could commence. The differing processes, review steps and tribal coordination timelines mean approvals could arrive at different times.

Provenance: Michael Belligan began the permitting update at 00:05:45 and concluded detailed EGLE discussion around 00:13:00.

Speakers: [
{"name":"Michael Belligan","role_title":"Environmental Specialist","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Michigan Department of Transportation","first_reference":{"timecode":"00:05:45","transcript_line_range":[1,8]}}
]

Authorities: [
{"type":"other","name":"U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Final Environmental Impact Statement / Record of Decision process","referenced_by":["army-corps-egle-permit-timeline-2025-10-17"]},
{"type":"other","name":"NPDES permit (reissuance) process","referenced_by":["army-corps-egle-permit-timeline-2025-10-17"]},
{"type":"other","name":"Part 303 (wetlands) and Part 325 (Great Lakes Submerged Lands Act) application processes","referenced_by":["army-corps-egle-permit-timeline-2025-10-17"]}
]

Topics: [
{"name":"permitting_timeline","justification":"Article summarizes state and federal permit schedules and procedural differences relevant to project timing.","scoring":{"topic_relevance":1.00,"depth_score":0.80,"opinionatedness":0.00,"controversy":0.60,"civic_salience":0.85,"impactfulness":0.75,"geo_relevance":1.00}}
]

Provenance_segments: [
{"block_id":"345.17","local_start":0,"local_end":9000,"evidence_excerpt":"Good morning, board. First I'll start with the Army Corps of Engineers permit status as you mentioned... The final EIS is expected to be completed sometime this fall with the latter, the record of decision, coming 30 days later. Per Army Corps of Engineer staff on October 8 recently, there are no other further updates to relay.","tc_start":"00:05:45","tc_end":"00:06:24","reason_code":"topicintro"},
{"block_id":"559.575","local_start":0,"local_end":9000,"evidence_excerpt":"On 09/19/2025, EGLE determined that the reissuance application... is administratively complete... the draft permit will be provided to tribal staff, approximately between January and March as it's expected 2026... the NPDES permit is expected to be issued or decided prior to 10/01/2026.","tc_start":"00:09:19","tc_end":"00:11:38","reason_code":"topicfinish"}
]