Nepa

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by not taking a hard look at the indirect impacts from onshore oil and natural gas production when it approved drilling on nearly 20,000 acres in the Piceance Basin, a federal judge in Colorado ruled Wednesday.

Arguing that FERC “arbitrarily and capriciously” ignored its obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in deciding the fate of Dominion Transmission Inc.’s New Market project earlier this year, the environmental group Otsego 2000 has challenged the order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC) Circuit.

The Trump administration has moved quickly to advance plans for faster federal permitting of major infrastructure projects, including oil and natural gas pipelines, under the purview of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), with public comments now due in less than a month.

In an effort to expedite its regulatory duties, including processing applications to drill (APD) oil and natural gas wells on federal lands, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) reminded its field offices that they have tools available to streamline the process while remaining in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

A task force at the Department of Energy (DOE) has come up with a list of four recommendations for the department to follow, including expediting approval of small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, and conducting a review of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations and how they are implemented.

Language to speed up approval of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects could get left behind as lawmakers in the Senate and House conference try to rescue an energy reform bill before time runs out, a congressional staffer said Tuesday in Washington, DC.

Six years after launching an effort to modify how federal agencies conduct National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews with regard to climate change, the Obama administration unveiled final guidance it said is designed to quantify the impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Thursday released updated and expanded draft guidance on how federal agencies should consider greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change when weighing development under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

FERC Thursday approved Inergy subsidiary Central New York Oil and Gas Co.’s (CNYOG) request to begin partial service on its MARC-I Hub Line project in northeastern Pennsylvania on or before Nov. 14, giving northern markets greater access to Marcellus Shale gas. It said it plans to soon seek authorization to place the entire project into operation by Dec. 1.