In a stunning display of regulatory whiplash, Montana's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has decided that maybe, just maybe, it should have read the fine print before waving through a $2 billion pipeline. The Bridger Pipeline Expansion - a 650-mile behemoth that would connect Alberta's oil sands to Cushing, Oklahoma - has hit a bureaucratic snag that's making the Trump administration's fast-track dreams look slightly less express.

The project, which has been zipping through the permitting process with the kind of speed usually reserved for government shutdowns, got a bit of a reality check on July 22. The DEQ withdrew a waiver it had granted to Bridger Pipeline Expansion, LLC, a subsidiary of Wyoming-based True Companies, allowing the company to skip certain financial and environmental disclosures. Without that missing info, the state permit application is as incomplete as a politician's promise.

At the heart of the kerfuffle is Montana's Major Facility Siting Act, which requires large energy projects to spill the beans on economic, community, and environmental impacts. Bridger, apparently hoping to keep some secrets, requested a waiver in February to omit what it deemed 'irrelevant information.' DEQ, in a move that raised eyebrows, granted it. But then Earthjustice, representing two Montana residents, filed a complaint in June, and now the agency is doing a 180.

'DEQ was right to reverse course,' said Lars Phillips, an Earthjustice attorney, adding that the agency's initial decision was 'troubling.' The public, it turns out, was commenting on an incomplete application during the May comment period, which is like reviewing a movie after only seeing the trailer.

The pipeline, if built, would move about 500,000 barrels of crude tar sands oil per day, with a full capacity of 1.13 million barrels - enough to make even the most stoic environmentalist weep into their reusable straw. Supporters have nicknamed it 'Keystone Light,' a nod to the canceled Keystone XL, but Shannon James of the Montana Environmental Information Center begs to differ: 'It's Keystone XXL and a major climate threat that far too many people haven't heard about yet.'

And the route? It crosses water 150 times. 'Pipelines leak,' James said. 'It's not a matter of if, but when.' She's not exactly writing fan mail to a company with a 'troubling track record.'

DEQ lawyer Jeremiah Langston told Earthjustice that the agency is now requiring Bridger to cough up the missing information, and the permitting process is on hold until they do. Phillips is cautiously optimistic but wishes DEQ had been more upfront with the public. 'It is unfortunate that it took two Montanans standing up to big oil to force DEQ to require Bridger to comply with Montana law,' he said. Indeed, democracy works best when it doesn't require a legal nudge.