D.C. Circuit Court Voids Texas LNG Project Approvals, Finding Flaw in Administrative Process
“We appreciate the significant disruption [the decision] may cause the projects. But that does not outweigh the seriousness of the Commission’s procedural defects,” the judges wrote.
D.C. Circuit Court Voids Texas LNG Project Approvals, Finding Flaw in Administrative Process
The ruling stated that FERC did not follow administrative procedure sufficiently.
AUG 7, 2024
Project approvals for two liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities and a pipeline in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley have been voided by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said the agency overseeing them failed to sufficiently update environmental impact statements.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved permits for two Cameron County projects — Texas LNG Brownsville and Rio Grande LNG —back in 2019 after the projects had been under development and review for three years.
In 2021, the City of Port Isabel, the Sierra Club, and other plaintiffs sued over the approvals, alleging that regulators did not appropriately update environmental impact statements in congruence with the permit grants.
“The Commission erroneously declined to issue supplemental environmental impact statements addressing its updated environmental justice analysis for each project and its consideration of a carbon capture and sequestration system for one of the terminals,” the three-judge panel found. “It also failed to explain why it declined to consider air quality data from a nearby air monitor.”
“Given the nature and severity of the flaws in the Commission’s second effort to properly assess the projects, we vacate the reauthorization orders and remand to the Commission for further consideration.”
Failure to sufficiently update the environmental reviews, the judges stated, violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Petitioners, the judges summarized, “argued that the Commission’s analyses of the projects’ ozone emissions and impacts on climate change and environmental justice communities were deficient under NEPA and the Administrative Procedure Act (‘APA’). They also claimed that the Commission failed to justify its determinations of public interest and convenience under the Natural Gas Act.”
“We appreciate the significant disruption [the decision] may cause the projects. But that does not outweigh the seriousness of the Commission’s procedural defects,” the judges wrote.
That group of plaintiffs intervened in the administrative law case concerning the permit approvals and eventually asked the circuit court to weigh in.
Jared Hockema, Port Isabel city manager, said of the decision, “Today’s decision is a great victory in our battle to protect public safety and preserve our environment and quality of life. We are very pleased that the D.C. Circuit Court agreed with our position that the development of these LNG facilities would adversely affect our community, and that the impact of these adverse effects had not been adequately considered.”
“In fact, the court found that the permits for these facilities were issued despite FERC’s recognition of these impacts. Furthermore, today’s decision vindicates our longstanding position that the cumulative impacts of functionally dependent facilities must be considered, which removes a polluter’s loophole.”
A spokesman for Texas LNG, owner of one of the projects, told The Texan, “We are studying the opinion, which is a procedural decision to correct a technical deficiency. We have full confidence FERC will address this matter judiciously and efficiently and look forward to working with them on this important issue.”
“Texas LNG is an industry-leading export facility designed to be the greenest on the planet once operational. Our project has undergone environmental impact studies previously and received tremendous support from government officials and financial and export partners. Our team is committed to resolving this issue quickly and completely to continue our progress toward FID and construction in the near term.”
The three projects will now await the next steps from FERC before making any more progress.
In a related development this week, the Biden administration announced it will appeal a July ruling in the hopes of re-establishing its administrative pause on LNG export permits.
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