DOE proposes regulation to keep NEPA reviews limited for LNG exports

摘要

Citing efforts to “improve the efficiency” of its decision-making, the Department of Energy has proposed to limit National Environmental Policy Act reviews of LNG exports. The proposal could impact future proposed LNG facilities, those in the early review stages at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or future expansions of facilities. But the impact may be blunted because 11 of the 12 major LNG projects that recently cleared the FERC process already have DOE's signoff for exports to countries that lack free trade agreements with the US. Published in the Federal Register May 1, the proposal would enshrine into regulation a narrow view of DOE’s review obligations at a time when environmentalists continue to press for studies of upstream and downstream greenhouse gas impacts associated with new LNG facilities. A DOE official said the proposal aims to reduce a redundancy, given the lead role played by FERC in environmental review of LNG export facilities.