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Alberta had yet to receive any word Thursday afternoon from British Columbia over the pipeline spat that has escalated into a wine boycott.

As tension between the two provinces continued to simmer, the federal government announced an overhaul of the environmental assessment tools for pipeline approvals. And the federal environment minister spoke to the environment ministers of both Alberta and B.C. Thursday to clarify issues of jurisdiction.

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Major new energy projects will have to be assessed and either approved or denied within two years under a massive new national assessment bill being introduced in the House of Commons.

Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said it will provide clarity and certainty about how the process works, what companies need to do, and why and how decisions are made.

She said the new system will help improve certainty to attract investments and prevent the polarization of sides and legal battles such as those currently affecting the Trans Mountain pipeline project at the heart of the Alberta-B.C. battle.