Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

Court finds FWS approval inadequate for Atlantic Coast Pipeline

Oil & Gas Journal: A federal appeals court in Richmond found the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s authorization for the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline was inadequate and vacated the agency’s incidental take authorization statement. Environmental organizations and the project’s sponsor disagreed over whether the May 15 decision would bring a halt to the pipeline’s construction.

“We conclude, for reasons to be more fully explained in a forthcoming opinion, that the limits set by the agency are so indeterminate that they undermine the incidental take statement’s enforcement and monitoring function under the Endangered Species Act,” three US Fourth Circuit of Appeals judges said in their joint decision.

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