9th Circuit Denies Stay Of NWP Ruling Barring New Pipeline Construction

摘要

Posted May 28, 2020 In a major setback for the energy sector and Trump administration, an appellate court has denied an emergency request from the Justice Department (DOJ) and industry to stay a landmark district court ruling that vacated the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) general permit for constructing new oil and gas pipelines.DOJ and the industry parties "have not demonstrated a sufficient likelihood of success on the merits and probability of irreparable harm to warrant a stay pending appeal," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit says in a brief May 28 order.The case, Northern Plains Resource Council, et al. v. Army Corps of Engineers, has drawn national attention due to the broad impacts of the lower court's vacatur of CWA nationwide permit 12 (NWP 12) and the potential for Supreme Court review of whether district courts can issue national injunctions.The permit's vacatur means pipeline developers will no longer have the option of using the streamlined general permit and will instead have to seek CWA coverage under more-cumbersome individual permits.DOJ, a coalition of natural gas associations, and TC Energy, the company building the Keystone XL pipeline, all sought a stay of rulings from the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana that found the Army Corps of Engineers violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) when it promulgated NWP 12.