The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Ottawa is moving to designate a proposed oil pipeline to the West Coast as a "national interest" project, allowing for fast-tracked approvals and exemptions from some environmental laws. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe reports that comments on this designation are due by Sept. 18, as noted in a notice published in the Canada Gazette on Aug. 1. The proposed pipeline has been submitted to the government's Major Projects Office, with the Alberta government as the proponent. It would be owned by Trans Mountain, the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission and Pembina Pipeline. Pembina has a 10-per-cent interest in the construction, with the option to purchase an additional 10 per cent once the pipeline is operational. The government's notice says Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc will work with the Alberta and British Columbia governments on the project. The proposed pipeline is a central component of an energy agreement between the federal and Alberta governments. The 1,250-kilometre pipeline would carry upward of one million barrels of crude oil from Bruderheim, Alta., to a port near Delta, B.C. for shipment to international markets.