pipelines
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.” […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of April 26, 2021
National Energy Policy: Secretary of the Interior Revokes Orders Deemed Inconsistent with Executive Order on Climate Policies ⚡
On April 16, 2021, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, issued a Secretary’s Order revoking previous orders deemed inconsistent with Executive Order (EO) 13990. The EO titled, Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis, was signed by President Biden on January 20, 2021. The Secretary’s Order revoked twelve orders, issued by previous Secretaries of the Interior, related to energy development. The Secretary’s Order also directed a review of Interior policies, rules, and regulations to […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – April 19, 2021
Pipelines: Dakota Access Petitions Court of Appeals for Rehearing on Pipeline Decision ⚡
On April 12, 2021, Dakota Access, LLC petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbus Circuit for a rehearing of a January 2021 court decision. (Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, No. 20-5197). The January court decision vacated the subsurface easement used by Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) to traverse beneath Lake Oahe. The January decision found that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by issuing the pipeline easement in 2017 […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of March 29, 2021
Pipelines / Water Quality: Court of Appeals Denies Review of FERC Order Regarding Water Quality Certification for Natural Gas Pipeline Project ⚡
On March 23, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied a petition to review a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order regarding the water quality certification for the Northern Access 2016 pipeline project (Pipeline Project). (New York State Dep’t of Envt’l Conservation v. FERC, No. 19-1610). The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) filed a petition for review after FERC ordered that DEC waived their authority to rule on water quality certification […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of March 8, 2021
Water Quality: Court of Appeals Reverses Lower Court Decision that Enjoined Use of New Clean Water Act Rule in Colorado ⚡
On March 2, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed a lower court decision that had enjoined the use of section 404 of the Clean Water Act in Colorado. (State of Colorado v. EPA, Nos. 20-1238, 20-1262, 20-1263). In April 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers (Agencies) published the Navigable Waters Protection Rule: Definition of the “Waters of the United States.” The Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) defines Waters […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of March 1, 2021
Pipelines: Court of Appeals Denies Emergency Stay of Mountain Valley Pipeline Construction ⚡
On February 19, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied an Emergency Motion for Stay Pending Appeal regarding Mountain Valley Pipeline construction in Appalachian Voices v. FERC, Docket nos. 20-1512 and 21-1040. Several environmental groups filed an Emergency Motion for Stay after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued orders allowing the pipeline project to continue construction. The Motion requested that that the court stay new pipeline construction to prevent environmental damage along the proposed pipeline route. The court denied […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of February 15, 2021
National Energy Policy: Department of Justice Withdrawals Policies Precluding Use of Supplemental Environmental Projects in Settlement Agreements ⚡
On February 4, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) issued a Memorandum withdrawing policies that precluded the use of Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) in settlement agreements. The memo withdraws an SEP policy from August 2019 titled “Using Supplemental Environmental Projects in Settlements with State and Local Governments” and a policy from March 2020 titled “Supplemental Environmental Projects in Civil Settlements with Private Defendants.” SEPs […]
Shale Law Weekly Review – Week of February 8, 2021
Pipelines: Supreme Court Agrees to Hear PennEast Pipeline Eminent Domain Case
On February 3, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court granted PennEast Pipeline’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari. PennEast filed the Petition after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that PennEast was barred from bringing a lawsuit against New Jersey due to the state’s Eleventh Amendment immunity. (PennEast Pipeline Co., LLC v. New Jersey, Nos. 19-1191 thru 19-1232). PennEast was approved to begin construction on its pipeline when it sued New Jersey under the Natural Gas Act to gain access to state properties using eminent […]
