Following the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) decision to scale back how it presents cumulative impact analysis in environmental reviews, legal practitioners are closely watching how the shift will affect project approvals and compliance under federal law. While the move is intended to streamline permitting, questions remain about whether it could invite increased legal challenges tied to how environmental impacts are assessed.
Speaking with Bloomberg Law, Bracewell’s Ann Navaro pointed to the Commission’s approval of Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage Inc.’s natural gas pipeline and related facilities in Pennsylvania and Ohio, which contained the cumulative impact order. For that project, FERC did have a specific cumulative impacts section, but said it won’t be doing so moving forward.
Because of that analysis, “it’s not time for somebody to try to challenge that, but I expect we will see more litigation in the future,” Navaro said.
