The Trans Pecos Pipeline is a 143 natural gas pipeline that will run through the unspoiled sensitive Big Bend area into Mexico. Energy Transfer Partners is only filing for a presidential permit with the U.S. Department of State for the approximately 1,000-foot segment of pipe that will run beneath the Rio Grande. For the remainder of the 143-mile pipeline, the energy company avoids the much more stringent requirements that come with federal oversight of an internationally designated project, similar to the KXL pipeline which ran into Canada.
The State Dept. must require a full Environmental Impact Statement of the entire length of the pipeline as breaking it into smaller sections is segmentation and is illegal according to the National Env. Police Act of 1969.