FERC issued a final rule on March 18 amending its regulations to establish a one-year period for state agencies or other certifying authorities to act on requests for water quality certifications required for a certificate of...more
3/22/2021
/ Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity ,
Clean Water Act ,
FERC ,
Infrastructure ,
Native American Issues ,
Natural Gas ,
Navigable Waters ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Section 401 ,
Tribal Governments ,
Water Quality
In the wake of the February extreme cold weather that caused record levels of electric generation to be taken offline, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the Commission) has scheduled a two-day technical...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) on February 18 seeking new information and comments on whether it should revise its policy statement on the certification of new interstate...more
2/19/2021
/ Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Reform ,
FERC ,
Infrastructure ,
Natural Gas ,
NEPA ,
Notice of Inquiry ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Policy Statement
On February 17, Texas Governor Greg Abbott took the extraordinary measure of directing the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) to restrict out-of-state exports of natural gas produced in Texas through February 21. Noting the...more
After severe winter weather forced Texas into experiencing power outages and rolling blackouts, there will likely be resulting federal and state investigations into the outages, federal investigations into commodity and...more
2/18/2021
/ CFTC ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Futures ,
Government Investigations ,
Natural Gas ,
NERC ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Power Grid ,
Reliability Standards ,
Severe Weather ,
Storm Damage
FERC Chairman Richard Glick announced his plans on February 11 to better incorporate environmental justice and equity concerns into FERC’s decision making process. Improving the process for reviewing and determining the need...more
2/18/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Reform ,
Environmental Policies ,
FERC ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Policy Statement ,
Regulatory Agenda
It’s been a difficult several days for the oil industry. First, the Biden administration revoked the border-crossing permit for the Keystone XL pipeline on January 20. Another executive order, among other things, directed the...more
2/1/2021
/ Bakken Shale ,
Biden Administration ,
Crude Oil ,
Dakota Access Pipeline ,
Easements ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Keystone XL Pipeline ,
Native American Issues ,
Natural Gas ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Tribal Lands ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Vacated
President Joe Biden issued a series of executive orders on January 27 to further confront the “existential threat” of climate change, to reaffirm the executive branch’s commitment to evidence-based policymaking and...more
Action, or in some cases inaction, by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) during its last open meeting before the start of the Biden administration sent a strong message to the natural gas industry...more
1/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Reform ,
FERC ,
Infrastructure ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Regulatory Agenda
As the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden took significant steps on his first day in office to advance the energy and climate initiatives of his administration. This LawFlash provides a brief summary of several...more
1/22/2021
/ Arctic Drilling ,
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ,
Biden Administration ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Reform ,
Fuel Efficiency ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Keystone XL Pipeline ,
Native American Issues ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Tribal Lands
In an expected move, President Joe Biden has designated Commissioner Richard Glick as the new FERC Chairman. Chairman Glick takes over from Commissioner James Danly, whose term as Chairman lasted less than three months....more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proposed revisions to its Policy Statement on Natural Gas and Electric Price Indices (Policy Statement) on December 17 to encourage market participants to report transactions to...more
Following its December 17 open meeting, FERC issued an order withdrawing and terminating a proceeding that had been opened earlier this year to examine oil pipeline affiliate contracts. FERC initiated that proceeding on...more
The US Department of Energy (DOE or Department) finalized a rulemaking proceeding last week that revises its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing procedures pertaining to certain authorizations under the...more
12/8/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Exports ,
FERC ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Natural Gas ,
Natural Gas Act ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Reform
The US Senate has confirmed the nominations of Mark Christie (R) and Allison Clements (D) to fill the remaining Republican and Democratic vacant seats on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. These confirmations restore...more
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has released the Hydrogen Program Plan, a strategic framework that intends to “accelerate research, development, and deployment (RD&D) of hydrogen and related technologies in the United...more
A recent report from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission encourages financial regulators to consider the risks climate change poses to the US financial system and includes recommendations for addressing these risks....more
A decision by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on June 30 rejected the near routine use by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of tolling orders to prevent rehearing requests from being denied by operation of...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a notice on May 20 that it will convene a Commissioner-led technical conference to consider the ongoing, serious impacts that the emergency conditions caused by the...more
In response to President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a notice that it does not intend to...more
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Neil Chatterjee on April 2, 2020, announced the commission’s plan to assist regulated entities in managing enforcement- and compliance- related burdens during the ongoing...more
A week after first issuing guidance identifying the workers considered essential for critical industries in the United States during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the US Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity...more
In response to the US president’s declaration of a national emergency due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, on March 20 the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a notice to operators...more
Commission Chairman Neil Chatterjee held a press conference on March 19 to discuss FERC’s work during the current pandemic, provide updates regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19), and respond to questions from the media. ...more
A cyberattack on a single gas compression facility resulted in the shutdown of a natural gas pipeline for two days, according to a recent alert from the US Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure...more
2/26/2020
/ Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Emergency Response ,
Hackers ,
Information Technology ,
National Security ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Management ,
Supply Chain ,
Threat Management