The State Department announced Wednesday that it will reject the proposed $7 billion expansion of the Keystone pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada’s tar sands to refineries in Texas.

“The Department does not have sufficient time to obtain the information necessary to assess whether the project, in its current state, is in the national interest,” it said in a statement.

The administration had delayed its decision on the pipeline last November, citing concern over the pipeline’s route through Nebraska’s sensitive Sand Hills region. The State Department said it would undertake an “in-depth assessment of potential alternative routes.”

Congress responded to that delay by giving the White House until Feb. 21 to make a decision on the