Description: Challenge to FERC authorization of PennEast Pipeline project.
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Delaware Riverkeeper Network v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 01/28/2022 Motion Download FERC filed unopposed motion to dismiss and remand record to agency. 10/01/2019 Order Download Order directing that cases be held in abeyance pending final disposition of In re PennEast Pipeline Company, LLC. 05/06/2019 Reply Download Joint reply brief filed by petitioners New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission, and New Jersey Division of the Rate Counsel. 05/02/2019 Reply Download Petitioners' joint reply brief filed. 04/04/2019 Brief Download Joint answering brief filed by respondent-intervenors PennEast Pipeline Company, LLC and Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. 03/28/2019 Amicus Brief Download Amicus brief filed by Interstate Natural Gas Association of America in support of FERC and affirmance. 03/21/2019 Brief Download Brief filed by respondent FERC. 12/28/2018 Amicus Brief Download Amicus brief filed by Environmental Defense Fund in support of petitioners New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection et al. 12/28/2018 Amicus Brief Download Amicus brief filed by Institute for Policy Integrity at NYU School of Law in support of petitioners. 12/28/2018 Amicus Brief Download Amicus brief filed by Niskanen Center in support of petitioners. 12/28/2018 Brief Download Errata to petitioners' joint opening brief filed. 12/21/2018 Brief Download Joint brief filed by petitioners New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection et al. 12/21/2018 Brief Download Petitioners' joint opening brief filed. 05/09/2018 Petition for Review Download Petition for review filed. Proceedings Filed in D.C. Circuit to Challenge FERC Approvals of PennEast Project. A number of petitions for review were filed in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge FERC’s issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the PennEast project and FERC’s denial of requests for rehearing. The PennEast project includes a 116-mile natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, three lateral pipelines, a compression station, and appurtenant aboveground facilities. Issues raised by the petitioners in the requests for rehearing included FERC’s consideration of greenhouse gas emissions and impacts on climate change. -
Delaware Riverkeeper Network v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 08/29/2018 Order Download Consolidation order issued by U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidating petitions filed in D.C. Circuit and Third Circuit. 08/28/2018 Notice Download Notice of multicircuit petitions for review filed by FERC. 08/13/2018 Petition for Review Download Petition for review filed. -
Homeowners Against Land Taking – PennEast, Inc. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 08/23/2018 Petition for Review Download Petition for review filed. -
New Jersey Conservation Foundation v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 08/21/2018 Petition for Review Download Petition for review filed. -
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 09/18/2018 Petition for Review Download Petition for review filed. -
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 05/21/2018 Petition for Review Download Petition for review filed. -
New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 09/04/2018 Petition for Review Download Petition for review filed. -
In re PennEast Pipeline Co.
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 08/10/2018 Order Download Rehearing denied. FERC Denied Rehearing of Authorization of PennEast Pipeline. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) denied rehearing of its order authorizing construction of the PennEast Project, a 116-mile natural gas pipeline extending from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and related lateral pipelines and facilities. FERC rejected arguments that its environmental review did not adequately consider the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on climate change. FERC said its review had gone beyond what NEPA required by examining regional and national emissions to put the project’s estimated greenhouse gas emissions in context. FERC also said it had appropriately used a qualitative approach in its analysis of climate change effects. FERC reiterated its position that the social cost of carbon was not a useful tool for its NEPA reviews. Two commissioners dissented. Commissioner LaFleur said she believed the record demonstrated sufficient need for the project, but that she fundamentally disagreed with the majority’s approach to examining climate impacts. She wrote that she believed the social cost of carbon “can meaningfully inform the Commission’s decision-making to reflect the climate change impacts of an individual project.” Commissioner Glick said the order denying rehearing was “not the product of reasoned decisionmaking,” citing in particular the majority’s assertions that upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions were not reasonably foreseeable and that it was not required to determine whether the impact from climate change was significant. 02/12/2018 Request for Rehearing Download Request for rehearing filed. Conservation Groups Asked FERC to Reconsider Authorization of PennEast Pipeline Project. Two conservation groups filed a request for rehearing and motion for stay of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order granting a conditional certificate of public convenience and necessity for the PennEast Pipeline Project. The project includes approximately 116 miles of natural gas pipeline extending from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, multiple lateral connections, a compressor station, and other facilities. The groups asserted that the order granting the certificate violated the Natural Gas Act, the Takings Clause, the Clean Water Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and NEPA. With respect to the Natural Gas Act, the groups contended that FERC’s order failed to demonstrate that the project was required by the public convenience and necessity because, among other shortcomings, FERC failed to balance claimed economic benefits against potential adverse impacts, including adverse environmental impacts. The groups noted in their filing that if the pipeline would lead to a net increase in gas consumption, as claimed by the applicants, it would also enable upstream gas production (and fugitive emissions of methane) and downstream gas consumption (and combustion emissions of carbon dioxide). The groups also contended that the environmental impact statement for the project was “wholly deficient” because, among other reasons, it failed to include a robust alternatives analysis with adequate consideration of a no action alternative or clean energy or liquefied natural gas alternatives.