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D.C. Circuit Vacates Transco Certificate

By Renée Lani posted 08-01-2024 12:40 PM

  
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an opinion that vacated a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) certificate of public convenience and necessity for a natural gas pipeline.

The pipeline, operated by the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC (Transco), was intended to run through a number of mid-Atlantic states and deliver gas primarily to customers in New Jersey and Maryland.  In the decision, the panel of three judges made a number of findings, including that “the Commission violated [the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)] by failing to assess significance regarding [greenhouse gas (GHG)] emissions” and that “FERC acted arbitrarily in granting the Certificate Order because it did not response to some of the material challenges to its findings of market need for the Project.”

In deciding to vacate the Certificate Order, the Court noted that it could not sufficiently determine whether FERC would be able to substantiate its decision on remand.  The Court found vacatur the appropriate remedy because, even though there would be disruptive consequences since the pipeline was already operational in part, the deficiencies in FERC’s certificate order outweighed that consideration.  The certificate is now remanded to FERC for the Commission to remedy the number Court-identified flaws in its analysis and rationale.

A copy of the Court’s decision is available here.

If you have questions regarding this article, please contact Renée Lani of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-0836 or by email at rlani@apga.org.

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