During his campaign, Gov.-elect Ralph Northam wanted the regulatory process for a pair of controversial natural gas pipelines planned to be built through Virginia to be “as thorough and environmentally responsible as permitted under state and federal law.”

Yet on the eve of crucial votes by the State Water Control Board that begin this week for water-quality certifications for the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines, the Democratic lieutenant governor appears content to stay away from what critics contend has been a deeply flawed review of the potential water quality hazards posed by the blasting, trenching, ridgetop flattening and tree removal that construction will entail.

The citizen board, whose seven members were appointed by outgoing Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat who has backed the pipeline projects as drivers of jobs and economic development, will vote over the next two weeks on whether the state will issue certifications under the federal Clean Water Act that there is a “reasonable assurance” that water quality will be protected during construction. The pipelines, already approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other federal agencies, will cross some of the most mountainous terrain in the state, and opponents contend they cannot be built without dislodging sediment that could damage streams, aquifers and drinking water sources.

Asked whether Northam supports the water board issuing the permits before he takes office in January, a spokeswoman said he “will respect the final determination made at the end of a transparent, science-driven regulatory process.” The spokeswoman did not respond when asked whether Northam thought the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s proposed certifications will adequately protect state waters.

The board meetings on EQT Midstream Partners’ Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would run 300 miles from West Virginia into Pittsylvania County, are Wednesday and Thursday. The board will take up certification for the Dominion Energy-led Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which would run 600 miles from West Virginia through the heart of Virginia and into North Carolina, with an extension to Hampton Roads, on Dec. 11 and 12.

Environmental groups say the board, as a result of how the DEQ has narrowed its review, does not have the information it needs to issue legally defensible certifications.

Though DEQ Director David Paylor has insisted Virginia is going to the limits of its powers in the permitting process, the agency ceded its authority to review the actual spots where the pipeline will cross waterways to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and will approve the pipeline developers’ plans to manage erosion, sediment and stormwater separately. Opponents also contend the agency has not set a water-quality baseline for the waterways crossed by the pipelines by conducting what’s known as an anti-degradation analysis, which refers to the requirement to protect existing uses of water.