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The Dakota Access Pipeline was likely built without the proper environmental reviews but may continue to operate during litigation, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said the Army Corps of Engineers must now decide whether it is safe to operate the pipeline and must submit its reasoning to the lower court judge who ordered the pipeline’s shutdown in early July. The decision leaves the pipeline “operating illegally,” Earthjustice Attorney Jan Hasselman, who sued over the pipeline on behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said in a statement. The Army Corps is expected to allow the pipeline to continue to operate.

The ruling, in effect, punts the decision over DAPL’s future to voters. If elected, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden could direct the Army Corps to abandon the pipeline route, while a second Trump administration would continue to support and promote the pipeline.