GPA Midstream Association v. U.S. Department of Transportation

On June 27, 2022, the D.C. Circuit granted a joint motion by petitioner and respondents to hold the case in abeyance while they negotiate a potential resolution that might involve “a limited period of non-enforcement of certain requirements in the final rule.” Proposed intervenor Environmental Defense Fund did not take a position on the motion to hold the proceedings in abeyance.

On June 1, 2022, Environmental Defense Fund filed a motion to intervene in support of the respondents, citing its “strong interest” in the case, including based on its interest in protecting its members from worsened effects of climate change that they would suffer if the rule were vacated because gathering lines are a significant source of methane emissions.

On May 2, 2022, GPA Midstream Association—a trade group of 60 members that gather and process natural gas into merchantable pipeline gas—filed a petition for review in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) final rule on “Pipeline Safety: Safety of Gas Gathering Pipelines: Extension of Reporting Requirements, Regulation of Large, High-Pressure Lines, and Other Related Amendments.”