The long-debated Keystone XL crude pipeline cleared another hurdle when Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman notified President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in late January that he has approved a re-routing of the project across his state.

The Republican governor’s decision leaves the issue with the President, who had cited environmental concerns about the project’s original route through Nebraska in a denial issued in January 2012. Gov. Heineman outlined the state-level reviews and public hearings conducted by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) since then and concluded the project “would have minimal environmental impacts in Nebraska.” A Department of State spokesman said no presidential decision will be made before the end of the first quarter.

The state’s decision makes several stipulations in addition to re-routing the line away from the Sand Hills and areas of northern Nebraska with soils considered environmentally sensitive. For example, landowners may request baseline water well testing before construction for all wells within 300 feet of the right-of-way’s center line.

TransCanada Corp., the project sponsor, said in a release it welcomed the decision. Russ Girling, president and chief executive, added TransCanada has worked closely with the state to re-route the pipeline and address environmental and safety concerns.

“Over the past year, we have been listening to Nebraskans as we worked to identify a new route for the Keystone XL Pipeline that avoided the Sand Hills, protected sensitive areas and addressed as many concerns as possible,” he said. “The NDEQ process has clearly taken into account the input from Nebraskans and today’s approval of the Nebraska re-route by Gov. Heineman moves us one step closer to Americans receiving the benefits of Keystone XL—the enhanced energy security it will provide and the thousands of jobs it will create.”

This proposed 1,179-mile, $5.3 billion pipeline requires presidential approval since it crosses an international border. It could enter service in late 2014 or early 2015, depending on when final approval comes.