On February 17, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an updated pipeline certificate policy statement and interim greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions policy statement. Both statements go into effect immediately, impacting new and pending interstate pipeline projects.
FERC’s updated Policy Statement on Certification of New Interstate Natural Gas Facilities, which outlines how FERC will determine whether a proposed project “is or will be required by the public convenience and necessity,” comes after FERC issued Notices of Inquiry (NOIs) in 2018 and 2021. The NOIs asked stakeholders whether and how FERC should amend its current policy statement that was enacted in 1999. APGA submitted comments in both instances. Commissioners intended to modernize the statement and better incorporate what some felt were mandates regarding environmental impacts handed down from the courts. The updated statement also clarifies certain landowner protections and other considerations FERC will balance when considering whether to grant a certificate for a natural gas project.
The Interim Policy Statement on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Natural Gas Infrastructure Project Reviews was issued in response to the technical conference FERC held last year pertaining to GHG mitigation for pipeline projects, in which APGA member Stephen Mayfield, from the City of Tallahassee, participated. It is intended to be a framework FERC will follow to evaluate a natural gas infrastructure project’s GHG emissions and climate change impacts, including how FERC will quantify a project’s emissions, whether those emissions are significant, and whether mitigation will be made a condition of a certificate. This evaluation will then feed into the balancing considerations laid out in the updated pipeline certificate policy statement. FERC will be accepting comments on the interim GHG emissions policy statement through April 4.
While Chairman Glick and others argued that the updated policy statements will provide legal durability, both Commissioners Danly and Christie held firm that they believe the policy statements will only increase legal challenges and chill investment in the natural gas industry, which could in turn hinder reliability. FERC was split along party lines in approving the new policy statements. Glick, Clements and Phillips voted for them while Danly and Christie voted against.
See this week’s General Counsel Report for additional information.
APGA is still reviewing the policy statements and will engage as appropriate. A copy of the fact sheet pertaining to FERC’s updated pipeline certificate policy statement is
available here, and the fact sheet for the interim GHG emissions policy statement is
available here. Additional information, including links to staff presentations and the policy statements themselves, is
available here.
For questions on this article, please contact Renée Lani of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-0836 or by email at
rlani@apga.org.