Environmental Permitting Appeals and Pipeline Construction: Are the circuit courts the new environmental review courts?

Bricker attorneys Frank Merrill and Christine Rideout Schirra will be presenting 'Environmental Permitting Appeals and Pipeline Construction: Are the circuit courts the new environmental review courts?' for the Institute of Energy Law on June 25, 2020.

The Natural Gas Act (NGA) provides for original and exclusive jurisdiction in the US Courts of Appeals over any civil action for review of a state administrative agency order or action issuing, conditioning or denying a permit or other authorization required under federal law for interstate natural gas pipeline projects subject to certification under Section 7 of the NGA. Although varying by state, many state laws also provide for a mandatory or permissible state administrative review of such state administrative orders or actions.  Until recently there was very little case law on whether conclusion of the state administrative appeal process is a pre-requisite to judicial review under the NGA’s exclusive jurisdiction provision and how these two avenues for review of state permitting decisions relate to each other. 

This live webinar will review the status of case law surrounding 15 U.S.C. § 717r(d)(1), including recently decided and pending cases, and consider the potential impact to projects governed by the NGA.  In addition, practice tips will be provided on addressing the intersection of state and federal law in environmental permitting appeals.