An appropriations measure approved by Congress last weekcontains a key provision that would set aside funding for the WhiteHouse Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to coordinateinteragency permitting of pipeline projects, paving the way forquicker certification in the end.

As proposed by industry, FERC would continue to have the primaryrole in the certification process, while the CEQ would set up asystem aimed at ensuring that various federal agencies withjurisdiction would work cooperatively with one another whenreviewing natural gas pipeline projects.

As it stands now, “the problem is oftentimes pipelines have togo back and forth between federal agencies. When one [agency] wantsyou to change something, you’ve got to go back and renegotiate withthe other six. You sort of get whipsawed in the process,” saidMartin Edwards of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America(INGAA). Aside from FERC, a few agencies that pipes regularly dealwith include the Environmental Protection Agency, InteriorDepartment’s Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Wildlife, andU.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

A coordinated system for federal agencies with permittingauthority over natural gas pipelines is crucial now as the industrygears up for a potential 30 Tcf market in the 2010-2015 timeframe,he noted. “We’ve got to build a lot of new infrastructure in orderto meet that potential demand. But how are we going to build all ofthese new systems if it takes years and years to get thecertificates you need?”

The VA-HUD Appropriations conference report, which has been sentto President Clinton already, would set aside “no less than$100,000” for the CEQ to hire a staff to implement a system aimedat expediting federal-agency review of gas pipeline projects.

In the past, the CEQ has opposed the pipeline industry’sattempts to get it to establish a coordinated system forinteragency review of new projects, often citing lack of fundingand staff as the main reasons. But in light of the new budget, it’shoping that the CEQ will change its tune. “Assuming [we can] getthe CEQ on board, this could go into effect pretty quickly,”Edwards noted.

©Copyright 1998 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press,Inc.