FERC Backtracks On Pipeline Approval Policy Changes

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a brief order on March 24, 2022, backtracking on the historic – and divisive – changes it had announced several weeks ago to its natural gas pipeline certification policies.

In its earlier changes, issued on Feb. 17 along partisan lines, FERC released two final policy statements concerning its evaluation of natural gas projects, both of which were apparently motivated by a concern over climate change. First, the Commission updated a previous policy statement describing how it will determine whether a new interstate natural gas transportation project is required by "public convenience and necessity" under Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA). Second, FERC issued an interim policy statement explaining how it will assess the impacts of natural gas infrastructure projects on climate change in its reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and NGA. In both of these statements, FERC signaled that it