FERC Denies Rehearing of Order Approving Elba Island LNG Export Terminal
FERC has issued an order denying Sierra Club’s and others’ requests for rehearing of FERC’s June 1, 2016 order approving construction and operation of Elba Liquefaction Company, L.L.C. et al.’s proposed LNG export terminal at Elba Island, near Savannah, Ga. and feeder pipeline. Generally, FERC denied the rehearing requests contending that FERC’s environmental review of the proposed LNG export terminal violated the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and that FERC inadequately addressed issues related to the safety of the LNG storage tanks. FERC also rejected Sierra Club’s argument, raised for the first time, that the environmental review of the project should have considered the effects of exports of the LNG commodity, ruling that the U.S. Department of Energy had approved the export of LNG from the terminal years before the applications to construct and operate the terminal and pipeline were filed with FERC.