Description: Challenge to plan to expand Connecticut’s natural gas infrastructure.
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Connecticut Energy Marketers Association v. Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 12/29/2016 Opinion Download Opinion issued. Connecticut Supreme Court Said State Energy Strategy Did Not Require Environmental Review. The Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed a trial court’s ruling that the Connecticut Environmental Policy Act (CEPA) did not require preparation of an environmental impact evaluation (EIE) for a comprehensive energy strategy issued by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection in 2013. A trade association of energy marketers that sold gasoline and heating fuel to residential and commercial customers had argued that the strategy—which provided for increased capacity of natural gas infrastructure in the state—would exacerbate global warming by increasing the amount of methane-containing natural gas emitted into the atmosphere and was subject to CEPA. The Supreme Court said that the strategy was not an “action which may significantly affect the environment” requiring an EIE because private entities, not state agencies, would undertake and fund the activities, including construction of new gas pipelines, that allegedly would have a major impact on the environment. -
Connecticut Energy Marketers Association v. Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 07/20/2015 Appeal Download Appeal filed by trade association. The trade association appealed the decision. 07/02/2015 Memorandum of Decision Download Order issued granting motions to dismiss. Challenge to Connecticut Plan to Expand Natural Gas Pipeline Capacity Dismissed. The Connecticut Superior Court dismissed a lawsuit challenging the state’s Comprehensive Energy Strategy (CES), which the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) issued in February 2013 and which provided for a large-scale expansion of the state’s natural gas pipeline capacity. A trade association of energy marketers involved in sales of gasoline and heating fuel said the CES required preparation of an environmental impact evaluation (EIE) under the Connecticut Environmental Policy Act (CEPA). The trade group said that the environmental review should have considered methane leakage that would occur as a result of the CES’s implementation. The group noted that such leaks “comprise a significant source of [greenhouse gases] that should have been quantified and mitigated by DEEP as part of an EIE to ensure that the Plan is consistent with Connecticut’s climate change mandates.” The court dismissed the action on sovereign immunity grounds after finding that the group had failed to state a claim under CEPA. The court said that the state agencies (DEEP and the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority) had simply followed legislative duties imposed on them, and that the agencies could not ignore the legislature’s prescriptions. The CES therefore was not subject to the requirement for an EIE. As a result, the state’s sovereign immunity was intact, and the court did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the action. 10/07/2014 Complaint Download Complaint filed. A trade association of energy marketers involved in sales of gasoline and heating fuel filed a lawsuit in Connecticut Superior Court challenging the failure of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CTDEEP) and the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to prepare an environmental impact evaluation (EIE) pursuant to the Environmental Protection Act in conjunction with the plan to expand Connecticut’s natural gas infrastructure. The plan included expansion of natural gas pipeline capacity into the state, 900 miles of new gas mains inside the state, incentives for gas companies to begin construction quickly, and conversion of 300,000 residential and commercial customers to natural gas. Plaintiff alleged that CTDEEP had failed to consider the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of methane leakage from Connecticut’s natural gas distribution system.