With so many new pipelines proposed to transport Marcellus/Utica gas, environmental groups are calling for FERC to consider the projects collectively to determine whether all or any are necessary.

Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) received a letter from more than 30 environmental groups calling for “a single, comprehensive regional review” of four major pipeline projects planned to cross through the Virginia and West Virginia mountains.

“Our region is facing an unprecedented level of natural gas infrastructure development,” the letter stated, noting that multiple major interstate pipeline projects have been proposed “in close proximity to one another.” The groups asked FERC to develop a programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) to account...