Court Backs FERC on Dominion Cove Point LNG Terminal
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has issued an opinion rejecting EarthReports’, Sierra Club’s and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network’s joint appeal of FERC’s orders, which authorized construction and operation of the Dominion Cove Point LNG export terminal at Lusby, Md. According to Law360, the Petitioners, among other things, “claimed that FERC flouted the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to analyze [the project’s] impacts on future gas production and greenhouse gas emissions.” Citing its recent opinion in the Sabine Pass LNG terminal case, the Court rejected those claims, ruling that “FERC reasonably concluded that a link between a specific LNG project and gas production is too speculative to be considered an indirect impact.” The Court ruled that the U.S. Department of Energy was responsible for conducting the required environmental impact review associated with natural gas exports.