The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Certificate of Convenience and Public Necessity to the Mountain Valley pipeline project in 2017, authorizing new construction of a 300-mile natural gas pipeline through West Virginia and Virginia. Several environmental and citizen groups challenged the FERC decision in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Among many issues raised, the petitioners argued that FERC failed to properly consider downstream impacts on climate change resulting from the combustion of gas transported by the new pipeline, as required by the Court’s 2017 decision in Sierra Club v. FERC. On February 19, 2019, the D.C. Circuit issued a short (five page) decision in the Mountain Valley case, Appalachian Voices et al v. FERC . The decision summarily dismissed all sixteen of the petitioners’ challenges to FERC’s Order.
Continue Reading In an Unpublished Decision, D.C. Circuit Approves FERC Certificate for Mountain Valley Pipeline
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Global Energy Change: Increased Use of Natural Gas and LNG
Global energy change through increased use of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been the focus of this week’s World Gas Conference (WGC). The WGC, sponsored by the International Gas Union, has convened these conferences once every three years since 1931. This year’s meeting is being held in the U.S. for the first time since the natural gas boom that has occurred over the past ten years. The U.S. is now the world’s largest producer of natural gas and has begun to export LNG (a dramatic change from only a few years ago, when the U.S. imported both gas and LNG).…
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Continuing Review of New Pipeline Projects
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) officially announced that it is going to review its policy framework for certification of new interstate natural gas and LNG pipelines in the U.S. and issued a Notice of Inquiry (Notice or NOI). This is the first time in nearly twenty years that FERC will examine its pipeline review and approval policy, last issued in 1999. Kevin McIntyre, the current FERC Chairman, said review of the policy is intended to determine ‘whether, and if so, how’ any changes should be made in the evaluation of new pipeline projects. The NOI establishes a 60-day public comment period, beginning with publication in the Federal Register, thus the deadline for comments is June 25, 2018.
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Federal Agencies Agree to Speed Project Permitting
Posted in Construction and Design, Environmental, Legislation, Liquid, LNG, Natural Gas, NEPA, Oil, Policy, Uncategorized
The U.S. DOT and 10 other federal agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 9, 2018, which became effective on April 10, 2018. The MOU[1] is intended to implement Executive Order 13807 (Aug. 15, 2017), which established a “One Federal Decision” policy for infrastructure projects that require authorizations by multiple federal agencies.…
Senate Confirmations to Restore FERC Quorum; Committee to Review Permit Streamlining Bill
On August 3, 2017, the Senate confirmed both Neil Chatterjee (R) and Robert Powelson (R) as FERC Commissioners, returning FERC to a quorum after six months. FERC has been unable to issue major decisions without a quorum, although staff work has continued to work on a variety of fronts, including issuing environmental reviews for various pipeline construction and other energy projects. The Senate confirmations should be a relief for the energy industry, which has been subject to prolonged uncertainty as major project approvals have been at a standstill since February.
The quorum will be restored as soon as Chatterjee and Powelson are sworn in, which historically has taken from one to three weeks. The confirmation of the nominations of Chatterjee, a former aide to Senate Majority Leader McConnell and Powelson, a Pennsylvania regulator, brings the Commission to 3 members of what is typically a 5 member Commission. Trump previously announced nominations of Kevin McIntyre (R), an energy lawyer in private practice, and Richard Glick (D), a Senate aide, for the two remaining vacancies weeks ago, but only nominated them formally this week. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a hearing on those nominations for September 7, 2017.…
House Moves to End Requirement for Presidential Permits
On July 19, 2017, the U.S. House voted to give lead authority for authorizing cross border oil and gas pipelines to FERC, and to the Secretary of Energy for cross border electric transmission lines. HR 2883, entitled Promoting Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Act, removes the requirement for such cross border energy infrastructure to obtain Presidential Permits and instead establishes a 120 day review process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Natural Gas Act to obtain a “Certificate of Crossing.”
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Trump Selects Kevin McIntyre to Chair FERC
President Trump plans to nominate Kevin McIntyre to serve as chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). McIntyre currently works in private practice in the energy regulatory sector and has for 30 years. With McIntyre’s nomination, there will be four commissioner candidates in various stages of the nomination and confirmation process.
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Deadline Approaching for Input on Regulatory Improvements
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently published a notice inviting public comment to identify statutes, rules, regulations, and interpretations in policy statements or guidance that “unjustifiably delay or prevent completion of surface, maritime, and aviation transportation infrastructure projects.” As stated in the notice [attached], in keeping with President Trump’s regulatory reform agenda, DOT and other federal agencies are in the process of reviewing existing policy statements, guidance documents, and regulations that might pose impediments to transportation infrastructure projects. The upcoming deadline to provide input on that review is July 24, 2017. We encourage industry to consider submitting comments, particularly given DOT’s statement that comments are not restricted to burdensome regulations, but also extend to policy statements, interpretations and guidance.
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Legislation Advances to Streamline Natural Gas Permitting
A bill intended to streamline the siting of natural gas pipelines and increase transparency is advancing through the U.S. House. As approved by voice vote, H.R. 2910 , would facilitate concurrent federal and state agency reviews to help streamline the siting review process under the Natural Gas Act (NGA) which is led by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). This bill comes at a time when the permitting process for natural gas pipelines has become protracted, cumbersome, and subject to third party challenges and delays at the federal, state and local levels.
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FERC Still Lacks Quorum as Trump Announces Nomination of Glick
President Trump announced that he will nominate Richard Glick to serve as a commissioner at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Glick currently serves as the General Counsel for the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and is a Democrat. Glick also previously worked as a lobbyist in the energy industry.
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