A federal regulator's decision to let Kinder Morgan ignore select municipal bylaws for the construction of its Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is being challenged in court.

The National Energy Board gave the Texas-based company permission to bypass two of Burnaby, B.C.'s land and tree clearance bylaws late last year, ruling there had been an "unreasonable delay" in granting the project's permits.

But the city, which blames Kinder Morgan's incomplete permit applications for the delays, is trying to overturn the decision in the Federal Court of Appeal.

"The big issue is the constitutional power of the municipality to apply its laws," said Greg McDade, legal counsel for Burnaby.

"The NEB is an energy regulator that pretty much sides with the pipeline company. We don't think they're the right body to determine these important constitutional questions."

In asking approval to forego the permits, Kinder Morgan argued Burnaby officials, some of whom are outspoken critics of the pipeline, were causing delays deliberately.

While the NEB found no evidence Burnaby purposely used the permitting process to hold up construction, the regulator did rule its bylaws weren’t being applied in a “timely and reasonable manner.”

"The NEB actually agreed that there was no evidence that there had been any political interfering," McDade said. "But then the NEB went on to say that it was taking too long – but, of course, in our view that was the company's fault."

Pipelines are a particularly sensitive subject for some Burnaby residents after the 2007 Kinder Morgan spill, caused by a third-party excavator, that spewed 70,000 litres of oil into Burrard Inlet, affecting 17 kilometres of shoreline.

David Burns, who has lived in the city for decades, told CTV News he remembers the day of the spill well.

"I was sitting at my breakfast table and I thought [I saw] smoke going up,” he said. “It was oil.”

Though Burns was happy with the cleanup efforts in his neighbourhood, the idea of increasing the amount of diluted bitumen flowing through the area almost three-fold still makes him uneasy.

"I don't like the idea of the pipeline coming into the inlet, frankly," he said.

Burnaby's appeal also comes as tensions mount between B.C. and Alberta over a series of public consultations planned on the West Coast about pipeline safety.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has already tried to pressure B.C. into dropping its combative approach to the pipeline by hitting the brakes on a deal to purchase electricity from the province and banning B.C. wine sales.

On Friday, Notley announced she would give B.C. Premier John Horgan one more week to come around before ramping up the pressure with yet-undisclosed measures.

With files from CTV Vancouver's David Molko