Eleven months ago, national attention briefly focused on Great Falls when Judge Brian Morris of the U.S. District Court for Montana issued an order halting work on the Keystone XL oil pipeline. In a few short weeks, that focus will return again, when Morris is expected to hand down his decision on whether or not President Trump exceeded his authority by issuing an executive order allowing work on the $8 billion project to move forward.

On Wednesday, attorneys representing both the President and two conservation organizations met in Great Falls to argue the merits of a motion seeking to throw out a presidential permit issued by Trump on March 29, 2019. If Morris sides with the president, work on the Keystone XL pipeline could resume as early as next April.

"TC Energy has concluded it will not move forward with pre-construction activity for the remainder of 2019," said Peter Steenland, lead attorney representing TC Energy Corporation, the Calgary based oil and gas developer that owns the Keystone XL pipeline. "Instead we are focused for the balance of 2019 on obtaining any remaining permits and securing land use authorizations."

Work on the 1,179 mile long Keystone XL has been stalled since 2015, when the Obama administration announced it was halting construction on the grounds it would compromise America's effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A variety of conservation groups have litigated to block the project, arguing that a pipeline spill would pollute critical water supplies and harm wildlife habitat.

Two days after taking office, Trump issued an executive order overturning Obama's rejection of the pipeline.Trump has enthusiastically endorsed a renewed emphasis on domestic production of fossil fuels. The administration has rolled back environmental regulations on emissions from power plants and vehicles and opened up federal lands to drilling and mining.

On March 23, 2017, Trump's State Department reversed Obama's decision and issued a permit allowing construction on the project to begin. Shortly after that two environmental conservation groups, Indigenous Environmental Network and North Coast Rivers Alliance, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for Montana alleging the Environmental Impact Statement submitted for the project did not adequately address all relevant issues.

In his order of Nov. 8, 2018, Morris found for Indigenous Environmental Network, stating that the Interior Department had not properly accounted for factors such as the cumulative effects of greenhouse gasses and the environmental risk of oil spills.

Morris' decision did not permanently block development of the Keystone XL project but required the administration to conduct a more complete review of potential adverse impacts related to climate change, cultural resources and endangered species.

Four months later, the president issued his own permit authorizing construction of "a 36-inch diameter pipeline extending from the international border between the United States and Canada .. to and including the first mailnline shut-off valve in the United States located approximately 1.2 miles from the international border"

Indigenous Environmental Network's most recent complaint alleges Trump exceeded his authority in issuing the permit. Stephan Volker, the lead attorney representing both conservation groups filing the complaint, said Trump displayed a complete disregard for congressional and court authority, and was simply attempting to "sidestep" Morris' court order.

"It's undisputed that the 2019 permit is the gateway to the project," Volker said. "It's a whole new world where the law doesn't apply and whoever has the fastest bulldozer wins."

Volker argued that Trump and the Interior Department are taking a "piecemeal" approach to making t, whereby so much of the pipeline was already in the ground, that it would make little sense to halt its completion. Bureaucratic momentum would take over and carry the Keystone XL pipeline across the finish line."

Marissa Piropato, attorney for the Department of Justice's Environmental and Natural Resorces Division, argued that the president was well within his constitutional authority in issuing the permit.

"We believe in the president's inherent constitutional authority to act," Piropato said. "The plaintiff believes the president only has the authority to act if Congress authorizes it."

"The presidential permit's only effect was to authorize a 1.2 mile segment of the pipeline crossing the international border," she added. "The permit still requires TC Energy to acquire all relevant rights-of-way from all state and local authorities."

Energy and policy analysts say the battle of Keystone is disproportionate to any potential impact the pipeline could have on either the environment or the nation's economy. An analysis published by the State Department during the Obama administration estimated the Keystone project would support

Similarly the government report concluded that the increase in carbon dioxide pollution associated with burning the oil transported through the pipeline would amount to less than one percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States

Morris' order on the complaint is expected in November