Underground Construction - April 2021 - 10
WASHINGTONWATCH
Stephen Barlas | Washington, D.C. Editor
FERC Kicks Off Broad Pipeline
Approval Re-Examination
Clouds are gathering over future pipeline
construction as the President Biden administration's environmental focus begins
to seep into Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) initiatives.
The commission, with Democratic
Chairman Richard Glick doing the steering,
took two significant steps in February,
which would end up complicating future
approval of pipeline building.
One is a notice of inquiry (NOI) reopening
a dormant regulatory docket from three
years ago, which asked whether FERC
should revise its 1999 policy statement
regarding the certification of new interstate
natural gas pipeline facilities. The other is
an unprecedented briefing paper responding to environmental complaints about a
Massachusetts compressor station FERC had
previously approved and is now in operation.
The NOI covers four topics. Three could
result in a more rigorous approval process
sensitive to environmental concerns and
the fourth wonders if the commission could
make changes to improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of its certificate process. For
each topic, FERC sets forth specific questions on which it seeks stakeholder feedback.
In total, the Commission received over
3,000 comments in response to the April
2018 NOI. The February 2021 NOI expands
on the previous four categories and adds a
fifth dedicated to " the Commission's identification and addressing of any disproportionately high and adverse human health
or environmental effects of its programs,
policies, and activities on environmental
justice communities and the mitigation
of those adverse impacts and burdens. "
Some of the questions raise issues that are
already being examined by federal courts
and FERC in other dockets.
That " crossover " can be seen in the
" briefing paper " which looks at questions
around the air emissions from the previously
approved and now-in-operation compressor
station in Weymouth, Mass., and their
10
APRIL 2021 | UCONonline.com
impact on " environmental justice " communities. The briefing paper may be even more
ominous for pipelines since it raises the
question, implicitly, of whether FERC can
turn around and cancel or impose new restrictions on a project it previously approved.
It is ominous in another regard, too.
" It provides an opportunity for immediate action, where a complete vetting of
FERC's NGA certificate policy may take a bit
longer through the NOI process, " explained
Kirstin Gibbs, an energy lawyer and pipeline regulations expert at the law firm of
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.
" This is not to say, however, that FERC's
approval of the Weymouth compressor station will be reversed as result of the further
briefing, " she added. " But it is likely that the
outcome in this docket will provide insight
regarding the direction of FERC's policy
regarding future development of natural
gas infrastructure, which likely will signal
caution to potential investors. "
The significance of the briefing paper is
underlined by the fact that major pipeline
groups such as the Interstate Natural
Gas Association of America (INGAA), the
Natural Gas Supply Association and the
American Gas Association, as well as several
interstate natural gas pipeline companies,
have said they will submit comments.
" It is somewhat unusual that individual pipeline companies would intervene
in another pipeline's certificate docket,
which suggests that these stakeholders
are concerned that what happens in this
docket will have a significant impact on
future policies impacting the development
of natural gas pipeline infrastructure in the
future, " states Gibbs.
The compressor station in question
was built by Algonquin Gas Transmission
as part of the Atlantic Bridge Project.
Algonquin is a subsidiary of Enbridge.
FERC authorized the project in 2017. It
was subsequently challenged in court, but
Algonquin won the case, and the com-
pressor was finally put into operation in
September 2020.
But during testing of equipment, a gasket
failed, triggering the manual activation of
its emergency shutdown system. A small
amount of volatile organic chemicals was
released as a result. After Algonquin satisfied the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration (PHMSA) that the
problem was fixed, FERC gave Algonquin
approval to operate the compressor station
on Jan. 25, 2021.
But local groups, such as the Fore River
Residents Against the Compressor Station
(FFRACS), pressed FERC to open a rehearing on the compressor station, and the commission acceded with its briefing paper. Fore
River is arguing that benzene emissions
form the Weymouth compressor station
pose " undue health risks for surrounding
communities including EJ communities. "
" EJ " stands for environmental justice.
The Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection vetted those
issues when it approved the project, and
FERC included a discussion of any EJ impact in its environmental assessment. This
was based on its analysis of low-income and
minority populations and EJ communities
in Quincy, Mass, using U.S. Census Bureau
data from 2010 and 2013, and the EJ
Screen tool recommended by EPA.
Algonquin's response to the FFRACS'
charges which led to FERC issuing the
briefing paper states: " Based on the
information gathered, the EA concluded -
and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C.
Circuit later affirmed - that the Atlantic
Bridge Project will not result in any 'disproportionately high or adverse environmental or human health impacts on minority or
low-income communities.' "
Republican Commissioners James Danly
and Mark C. Christie dissented from the
briefing paper. Danly argued, " Regardless,
there is no basis in law to re-examine
final orders. Absent a violation of those
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Underground Construction - April 2021
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Contents
Underground Construction - April 2021 - CT1
Underground Construction - April 2021 - CT2
Underground Construction - April 2021 - Cover1
Underground Construction - April 2021 - Cover2
Underground Construction - April 2021 - Contents
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