Judges appear skeptical of FERC tolling order practice, uncertain on remedy

摘要

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission faced skepticalquestioning April 27 from DC Circuit Court of Appeals judges about itspractice of putting off rehearing decisions on natural gas pipelineauthorizations, even as the same judges wrestled with the implicationsof unsettling the current system.For over three hours, the court heard oral argument in the caseinvolving the 196.5-mile, 1.7 Bcf/d Atlantic Sunrise project. While thepipeline is already in service, the case has broad implications for futuregas project timelines as it calls into question FERC’s tolling orderpractice which has had the effect of slowing judicial appeals fromopponents while projects are built.