Citing a drawn-out regulatory timeline, Sendero Carlsbad Gateway LLC is urging FERC to issue a certificate for its proposed 23-mile, 24-inch diameter Permian Basin natural gas pipeline.

Further delays in authorizing the Carlsbad Gateway project, which would transport Permian associated gas between Eddy County, NM, and Culberson County, TX, will only contribute to additional flaring, harming both producers and the environment, the company said in a recent filing.

“Every day of continued delay in Commission action in this proceeding increases the hardship on Sendero and producers in the region,” the company said. “Delay in development of the needed Sendero pipeline contributes” to flaring associated gas volumes by producers, “an economic waste with adverse environmental consequences. Sendero stands ready to commence construction of the proposed pipeline, which will eliminate unnecessary flaring, as soon as the Commission acts.”

Sendero, a subsidiary of Sendero Midstream Holdings, filed for a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission certificate last year and received a favorable environmental assessment for the intra-basin natural gas line in January. The company told FERC that its affiliate has already completed a $100 million processing plant designed to work in tandem with the Carlsbad Gateway line.

“Sendero lacks the residue gas takeaway capacity needed to support the full operation of its just completed new plant,” the company said. “As a result, both Sendero and its customers are adversely affected by the delay in Commission action.”

Sendero is not the first Lower 48 pipeline developer to express frustration with inaction on FERC certificate decisions this year.

This summer, Dominion Energy Transmission Inc. canceled its Sweden Valley Project, telling FERC that it lost a customer after waiting months past its requested deadline for receiving a certificate of public convenience and necessity.

Blaming a prolonged review at FERC, Tallgrass Energy LP said it had to push back the start-up date for its 600,000 Dth/d Cheyenne Connector pipeline to early 2020.

FERC has been split along party lines since last year, and the Commission’s handling of its pipeline reviews, including the consideration of climate impacts, has been a contentious topic. Long-time Democratic Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur is bidding farewell to her role at FERC this year. Her departure would restore a Republican majority on Commission votes.