According to the Washington Observer-Reporter, a formal application for the Mountain Valley Pipeline was filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) last week. The pipeline will extend 301 miles and connect the shale gas fields of northwestern West Virginia with Pittsylvania in western Virginia. FERC has acknowledged receipt of the pipeline application and will soon set a 30-day public comment period.
The Roanoke Times reports that Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC will be hosting 14 “community open houses” in several counties throughout the region where they have proposed a 300-mile interstate natural gas pipeline. If approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the pipeline will deliver natural gas produced from wells in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Mountain Valley spokesperson Natalie Cox stated that up to 30 representatives from Mountain Valley who are subject matter experts in their particular area of the project will be present at the open-houses. The first four open-houses are scheduled for this week and will consist of various stations focused on specific topics as opposed to formal presentations. Representatives from FERC will also be in attendance to answer questions about the proposed pipeline.
John Wellinghoff officially resigned his post as Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Sunday, November 24, 2013. Wellinghoff, the longest serving FERC Chairman in history, will be joining the law firm of Stoel Rives LLP. The now-departed FERC Chairman announced his intention to leave the agency in May 2013, but agreed to stay on until his replacement could be named and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. President Obama’s first choice to fill the position, former Colorado energy regulator Ron Binz, recently withdrew from consideration in the face of opposition. The White House has indicated that another current FERC Commissioner, Cheryl LaFleur, will serve as acting Chairman until a permanent replacement is confirmed.
This week the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a trio of key energy bills. In addition to the bill that would limit federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing, the House also passed two bills that include provisions aimed at reforming federal permitting processes. By a vote of 228-192, the House passed the Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act (HR 1965), which would, for example, require the Department of the Interior to decide on a federal lands drilling permit application within 60 days of receipt or the application would be deemed approved. Today, the House voted 252-165 to pass the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act (HR 1900), which would require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve or deny a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a prefiled project within 12 months after receiving a complete application, and would also require other federal agencies to act on related licenses, permits or approvals within 90 days of FERC issuing an environmental impact statement. The Obama administration has reportedly threatened to veto all three bills.
President Obama recently announced his nomination of Ron Binz to serve as the next Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Binz served as the Chairman of the Colorado Public Utility Commission from 2007 to 2011 and has spent the past several years working as principal at Public Policy Consulting, specializing in public utilities issues, and as a Senior Policy Advisor at the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University, which is headed by former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. The Washington Post reports that Binz has a track record as a “strong proponent of renewable energy” and deep understanding of the nation’s electricity distribution system. The U.S. Senate must approve Binz’s appointment to replace the current FERC Chairman, John Wellinghoff, who announced his intent to resign from the position in late May 2013.
On June 13, 2013, Constitution Pipeline Company, LLC filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to construct a 122-mile interstate transmission line from Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, to Schoharie County, New York. The line, if approved, would transport approximately 650,000 dekatherms per day of natural gas, enough to supply 3 million homes. Reuters reports that the project is expected to cost $683M.
On April 1, 2013, Dominion announced that it was submitting an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a $3.4 billion to $3.8 billion natural gas liquefaction project at its existing Dominion Cove Point LNG Terminal located on the Chesapeake Bay in Lusby, Maryland, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Cove Point will serve both the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. Subject to receipt of regulatory approvals, Dominion plans to start construction on the 5.25-MTPA (million tons per annum) facility in 2014 and put the liquefaction facilities in service in 2017.
As a result of the booming gas market in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale, Columbia Gas Transmission Group submitted plans Monday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a $210 million expansion to its Philadelphia network, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Columbia’s plans include installing a 20-inch-diameter pipeline on a 7.5-mile route in Gloucester County and a 26-inch-diameter pipeline for 8.9 miles in Chester County. Columbia expects FERC approval of the East Side Expansion Project by June 2014.
A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction in favor of Tennessee Gas Pipeline, LLC, precluding two environmental groups from bringing a permit challenge before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, the Scranton Times-Tribune reports. Tennessee Gas filed a complaint and sought the injunction to block attempts by the environmental groups to seek review of permits associated with the company’s Northeast Upgrade Project. In an order issued February 5, 2013, District Judge Robert Mariani concluded that Natural Gas Act precluded the Environmental Hearing Board from reviewing permits issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to Tennessee Gas under the Clean Water Act and the Clean Streams Law. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network and the Responsible Drilling Alliance brought an appeal before the Environmental Hearing Board in December 2012 seeking review of permits.
The court noted that two permits were issued under the Clean Water Act and one permit was issued under the state Clean Streams Law, but concluded that the three were interrelated such that review by a federal appellate court alone rather than two separate tribunals was appropriate. The court also concluded that the Natural Gas Act precluded the Environmental Hearing Board from reviewing the DEP’s permitting decisions prior to an appeal to a federal appellate court. The court’s analysis focused on the application of Section 717r(d)(1) of the Natural Gas Act, which provides that “the United States Court of Appeals for the circuit in which a facility . . is proposed to be constructed, expanded, or operated shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over any civil action for the review of an order or action of a Federal agency … or state administrative agency acting pursuant to Federal law to issue, condition, or deny any permit … required under Federal law … .”
On January 30, 2013, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) published a notice in the Federal Register of the availability of a report prepared by the Office of Energy Projects, “Recommended Parameters for Solid Flame Models for Land Based Liquefied Natural Gas Spills.” In the report, FERC evaluates the suitability of using LNGFIRE3 in siting onshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, as is currently required under the minimum federal safety standards administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). After comparing with recommendations and parameters from a May 2012 report prepared by Sandia National Laboratories for the U.S. Department of Energy, “Liquefied Natural Gas Safety Research Report to Congress,” FERC concludes that LNGFIRE3 is suitable for such use. In a prior report , FERC evaluated the suitability of using another model, DEGADIS, to determine the vapor-gas-dispersion exclusion zones for onshore LNG facilities under PHMSA’s siting requirements.
On January 11, 2013, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order denying a joint request by three environmental groups to delay the construction of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C.’s (TGP) Northeast Upgrade Project in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. FERC found that the environmental groups had not shown that they would be irreparably harmed by allowing the Project to go forward, and that the agency had complied with the National Environmental Policy Act in considering the environmental impacts of the Project. According to a January 10, 2013 press release, two of the environmental groups have filed a separate challenge to FERC’s approvals of the Project in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Additionally, as noted in a previous post, TGP recently filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block an administrative challenge to the Project before Pennsylvania’s Environmental Hearing Board.
The Scranton Times-Tribune is reporting that Houston-based Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, LLC, has filed a federal-court complaint seeking to block attempts by two environmental groups to interfere with the operator’s Northeast Upgrade Project. Specifically, Tennessee Gas seeks to preclude the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board from considering petitions and an appeal filed by the Delaware River Network and the Responsible Drilling Alliance. Tennessee Gas seeks to prevent the groups from delaying construction of the 41-mile pipeline project, which would travel across New Jersey and Northeast Pennsylvania. It argues that, because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved construction of the pipeline, the EHB is preempted from taking any action on the petitions and appeal, which are scheduled to be argued before the EHB on Jan. 14, 2013. Pursuant to its contractual obligations, Tennessee Gas must complete the project by Nov. 1, 2013.