On March 22, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order setting forth new standards it will use to evaluate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with natural gas pipeline projects. The order, which FERC publicly touts as a compromise approach, may help lay to rest questions about FERC’s treatment of GHGs in environmental analysis and licensing processes, an issue that has proven highly divisive in recent years. The new order makes clear that FERC will now consider the GHG impacts of natural gas pipelines, both as a part of its environmental analysis of pipeline proposals and as one of the factors it will weigh in determining whether a pipeline is in the public interest and therefore should be issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN). CPCNs are required to authorize the construction of an interstate pipeline under Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA). To view the full article visit the JDSupra.
