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General Category => National/Breaking News => SCOTUS News => Topic started by: Elderberry on October 01, 2019, 06:12:20 pm

Title: 4 pipeline fights to watch this term
Post by: Elderberry on October 01, 2019, 06:12:20 pm
E & E News by Niina H. Farah 9/30/2019

The Supreme Court could decide to wade into the natural gas pipeline wars this term.

As the court begins its 2019 session, energy experts are watching whether the justices will weigh in on federal permitting, eminent domain and state sovereignty issues around pipeline construction.

So far, the justices have opportunities to consider the Forest Service's authority to permit the Atlantic Coast pipeline to cross the Appalachian Trail and to decide whether developers of the Mountain Valley project can lawfully seize private property before paying. Solicitor General Noel Francisco has urged the justices to hear the Atlantic Coast dispute, which significantly boosts the case's odds of review.

"Natural gas and oil pipeline infrastructure is not getting less controversial and the Supreme Court may find it appropriate to issue a ruling that definitively settles the matter," ClearView Energy Partners LLC wrote in a recent analysis.

A third possible case involving state lands takings for the PennEast pipeline may also be brought before the Supreme Court. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is still mulling a request to reconsider its decision to block developers' access to New Jersey-owned acreage.

Experts also expect that challenges over gas exports from pipelines could soon make their way to the nation's highest bench. Those exports are problematic, challengers say, because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's authority to delegate eminent domain power to pipeline builders is limited to projects in service of interstate commerce.

More: https://www.eenews.net/stories/1061181927 (https://www.eenews.net/stories/1061181927)