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Photo by Canadian Press/AP/Nati Harnik

TransCanada, which has already secured a federal clearance after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January, said it was assessing the Nebraska commission’s decision.

“As a result of today’s decision, we will conduct a careful review of the Public Service Commission’s ruling while assessing how the decision would impact the cost and schedule of the project,” TransCanada president and CEO Russ Girling said in a release.

TransCanada did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether a new application would be needed before it could begin working on Keystone XL.

In the hours that followed the decision, business groups supporting Keystone XL touted the approval as a major win but environmentalists and opposed landowners seized on the dissenting view and potential legal questions arising from the alternative route as grounds to block the project.

“The alternate route, we understand, adds about 5 miles to the overall length of the pipe, but doesn’t change where it comes into or out of the state,” Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers president and CEO Tim McMillan said, adding that Monday’s decision was the last step in a prolonged nine-year regulatory process.

Since the alternative route doesn’t change the entry or exit points for Keystone XL in Nebraska, McMillan said it shouldn’t require other states, like South Dakota, to reconsider the project.

Opposition groups, however, sensed an opportunity for appeals and potentially new delays.