Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

Court rejects NYSDEC's appeal of FERC's Valley Lateral ruling

Oil & Gas Journal: A US federal appeals court denied the New York Department of Environmental Conservation’s (NYSDEC) appeal of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision that NYSDEC waived authority to issue or deny a water-quality certification for the Millennium natural gas pipeline’s 7.8-mile Valley Lateral when the state agency did not act within the federal Clean Water Act’s Section 401 1-year timeframe (OGJ Online, Sept. 18, 2017).

“We conclude that the department waived its authority to review Millennium’s request for a water-quality certification under the Clean Water Act by failing to act on that request within 1 year,” Circuit Judge Jose A. Carbanes said in a Mar. 12 decision in US Appeals Court for the Second Circuit in New York. “We also conclude that FERC does have jurisdiction over the pipeline. Accordingly, we deny the petition for review.”

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