A Canadian company seeking to build a pipeline to transport crude oil from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries has submitted a new application for the southern segment of the project that avoids sensitive wetlands in Texas.

TransCanada submitted its new application in April, after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency raised concerns about the effect the original plan would have on wetlands along the Texas Gulf Coast and called for a more rigorous review process. Under the new plan, the company will drill under the wetlands rather than run across them, eliminating the need for EPA involvement, said Vicki Dixon, regulatory program manager for the southwestern division of the Army Corps of Engineers.

"The applicant is avoiding some of the impacts that were in the previous request," Dixon said. "At this point, from their initial review, the impacts have been reduced from what they had been in the previous proposal."