pipelines
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of September 6, 2021
GHG Emissions: Pennsylvania IRCC Approves Carbon Pricing Proposed Rulemaking
On September 1, 2021, the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRCC) reviewed and approved a rulemaking proposed by the Environmental Quality Board (EQB). The proposed regulation (Reg. #7-559) was initially published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on November 7, 2020 and would amend 25 Pa. Code Chapter 145 and establish a CO2 Budget Trading Program. The purpose of the program would be to restrict carbon emissions from fossil-fuel-fired electric generating units (EGU) through carbon pricing. In addition, Pennsylvania will join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cooperative market-based cap-and-trade […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of August 30, 2021
Pipelines: The American Petroleum Institute Announces Publication of Updated Pipeline Control Systems Cybersecurity Standard
On August 18, 2021, the American Petroleum Institute (API) released its 3rd edition of Standard 1164, Pipeline Control Systems Cybersecurity. This publication is designed to provide guidance for the strategic protection of the national critical infrastructure against cyber-attacks. API stated that this “expansion of the standard supports the Biden administration’s national security priorities as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UNSDG) 9 for resilient infrastructure.”
Mergers and Acquisitions: Federal Trade Commission Chair to Investigate Unlawful Business Practices in the U.S. Gasoline Market
On August 25, 2021, […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of August 9, 2021
LNG Infrastructure: Court Orders FERC to Review Climate Change Impacts of Texas Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals
On August 3, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an opinion finding that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) failed to sufficiently address the impacts of three liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals located in Cameron County, Texas. Vecinos Para el Bienestar De La Comunidad Costera, et al. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, No. 20-1045. The case was brought by several environmental groups that argued FERC’s review of the LNG projects’ climate change impacts did […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of June 21, 2021
Economic Development: Maine Passes Law Requiring State Divestment of Fossil Fuel Securities ⚡
On June 16, 2021, the Governor of Maine signed into law L.D. 99 (H.P. 65), titled “An Act to Require the State to Divest Itself of Assets Invested in the Fossil Fuel Industry.” The act prohibits the Treasurer of State (Treasurer) from investing in the stocks, bonds, commercial paper, or securities of any fossil fuel company and requires the Treasurer to review the holdings of the Maine Public Employees Retirement System and completely divest any fossil fuel-related holdings by January 1, 2026. The law requires the […]
Shale Law Weekly – Week of June 14, 2021
Pipelines: Court of Appeals Denies Abeyance of Jordan Cove Pipeline Challenge ⚡
On June 7, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an order denying a motion to put the Jordan Cove Pipeline case on hold. Deborah Evans, et al v. FERC, No. 20-01161; FERC Nos. CP17-494-000 and CP17-495-000. Jordan Cove Energy Project L.P. (Jordan) and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline, LP’s (Pacific) put forward a motion to hold in abeyance the case challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) March 2020 authorization of the Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of June 7, 2021
Pipelines: FERC Approves Gulf Run Pipeline in Louisiana ⚡
On June 1, 2021, the Federal Energy and Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order approving the February 2020 application of Enable Midstream Partners, LP (Enable) subsidiary Enable Gulf Run Transmission, LLC, to build and operate its 134-mile Gulf Run Pipeline. The project will take shale gas to the company’s Red River Parish Westdale compressor station and from there to Starks, Louisiana (Nos. CP20-68 and CP20-70). According to an announcement from Enable, the pipeline is expected to be finished and in operation by the end of 2022.
Pipelines: Federal […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of May 31, 2021
GHG Emissions: Supreme Court Remands Three Climate Cases Back to Courts of Appeals for Further Consideration ⚡
On May 24, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a list of orders granting petitions of certiorari for climate change–related lawsuits filed against various fossil fuel companies. The Court remanded the cases back to their respective circuits, pursuant to the Court’s May 17, 2021 decision in BP P.L.C., et al., Petitioners v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, No. 19-1189. Proper jurisdiction—state or federal—is at issue in all three cases, and prior Court of Appeals’ rulings had ordered that they be […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of May 24, 2021
GHG Emissions: Supreme Court Remands Baltimore Climate Change Suit Back to Court of Appeals ⚡
On May 17, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion remanding back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit a Maryland climate change suit brought by the Mayor and City of Baltimore against multiple oil companies, including BP, Chevron, CITGO, ConocoPhillips, Marathon Petroleum, and Shell Oil. BP P.L.C., et al., Petitioners v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, No. 19-1189. The oil companies had petitioned for a writ of certiorari after unsuccessfully attempting to remove the case from Maryland state […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of May 17, 2021
Air Quality: EPA Rescinds Clean Air Act Benefit-Cost Rule ⚡
On May 14, 2021 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted in the Federal Register an interim final rule titled, “Rescinding the Rule on Increasing Consistency and Transparency in Considering Benefits and Costs in the Clean Air Act Rulemaking Process” (86 FR 26406). The recission retracts the December 2020 rule promulgated by the previous administration (85 FR 84130). The December 2020 rule required the agency to include in the preamble of all proposed “significant” Clean Air Act regulations the results of a benefit-cost analysis demonstrating “a clear causal or […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of May 10, 2021
Pipelines: North Carolina DEQ Reissues Clean Water Act Certification Denial for Mountain Valley Pipeline’s Southgate Project ⚡
On April 29, 2021, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Division of Water Resources announced its second denial of 401 Water Quality Certification and Jordan Lake Buffer Authorization for the Southgate Extension of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). DEQ’s reissuance of denial follows the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s March 2021 vacatur and remand of the agency’s August 2020 denial, which instructed DEQ to “explain why the Department chose denial over conditional certification.” […]
