Denied

FERC has denied Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC’s (ACP) request to extend tree clearing activities in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina beyond seasonal restrictions, finding that it would not offer an equal or greater level of environmental protection as the company claimed in a filing in mid-March.

FERC dealt another blow to the long-delayed Constitution Pipeline on Thursday, denying a petition for a declaratory order that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) waived its authority when it failed to issue a water quality certification (WQC) within a reasonable period of time.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has denied Millennium Pipeline Co. LLC a water quality certification (WQC) and other permits for its Valley Lateral Project, sending another clear signal of the challenges natural gas projects face in the state.

California regulators last week approved a three-year natural gas pipeline enhanced safety plan for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E), but they denied ratepayer support for most of the cost of the utility’s proposal. Separately, the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) adopted new protections for safety-related whistleblowers as directed by a new state law (AB 705).

The five-member California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Thursday denied a long-standing proposal to develop an idle dry natural gas field into an underground storage project beneath a residential community in Sacramento. CPUC members voted 3-2 against the 7.5 Bcf capacity independent project.

A federal appeals court on Tuesday denied a petition by environmental groups seeking to halt construction of a natural gas pipeline that would traverse three counties in the heart of Marcellus Shale country in northern Pennsylvania.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) lost twice Thursday as California regulators denied the utility’s appeal of a $16.7 million staff-imposed pipeline fine and assessed a separate $3 million penalty for shoddy record-keeping.

A landmark ruling by the Texas Supreme Court last month that landowners own groundwater “in place” will benefit shale producers by facilitating the sale of the water, according to Kathleen Hartnett White, a distinguished senior fellow and director at the Texas Public Policy Foundation in Austin, TX.

A vote by an Oklahoma Senate panel to refund $150 million of an estimated $294 million in tax breaks denied to oil and gas drillers over the past two years is “counter productive” to the state’s efforts to improve its economy, according to the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association (OIPA).