In re Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP

The D.C. Circuit declined to place an emergency stay on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of the Dominion Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Maryland, or to expedite briefing. The court said that the petitioners had not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review or articulated strongly compelling reasons for expediting briefing.

On May 6, 2015, environmental groups filed a petition for review in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

On May 4, 2015, FERC denied the requests for rehearing. In denying the rehearing requests, FERC concluded, among other things, that it was not required to consider the impacts of production activities in the Marcellus Shale region because they were not sufficiently causally related to constitute indirect effects of the Cove Point project. FERC also affirmed its finding “that impacts from additional shale gas development supported by LNG export projects are not reasonably foreseeable.” FERC also stood by its consideration of the project’s direct greenhouse gas emissions and said that it was not required to consider air emissions and climate change impacts of such emissions from the transportation and ultimate consumption of gas exported from the Cove Point project. FERC rejected the contention that it had not adequately considered potential climate change

On October 15, 2014, environmental groups requested that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rehear and rescind its September 29 order authorizing construction and operation by Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP, of liquefaction and terminal facilities for the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Cove Point, Maryland, and associated pipeline facilities to transport natural gas to the LNG terminal facilities. The environmental groups also asked for a stay of FERC’s order to prevent construction or land disturbance associated with the authorized actions. The groups claimed that FERC’s order failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act. The request for rehearing enumerated a number of alleged shortcomings in the environmental review, including that FERC had “improperly discounted the significance of the project’s direct greenhouse gas emissions” and had “ignored the reasonably foreseeable upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions” that the project would cause.