Winston’s Environmental Law Update

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has changed the standards it applies when approving a natural gas project. Going forward, FERC’s approval framework will consider downstream environmental effects from the use of transported natural gas—including putative impacts on climate change and environmental justice communities. There are, however, legal questions regarding FERC’s expanded view of its authority.

In this alert, we first examine whether such superseding approval by FERC would be subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and require an environmental impact statement (EIS).  Second, we explore how such backstop siting authority is likely to affect state Public Utility Commissions (PUCs) permitting decisions.  Overall, it is unlikely that the new IIJA will lead to a sudden acceleration of the siting of transmission lines.