Five AGs Press FERC to Update Its Natural Gas Facilities Certification Policy

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey led a coalition of five attorneys general (and other advocates and experts) in filing supplemental comments in response to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) 2021 Notice of Inquiry, which requested information on how the Commission should revise its policy for certifying new natural gas pipeline projects. The coalition addressed the recent decision out of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which vacated a FERC decision finding that the Spire Missouri pipeline was needed. The coalition argued that the decision helped demonstrate that FERC “must update its outdated Certificate Policy Statement in order to ensure rigorous review of whether proposed new interstate natural gas transportation facilities are needed prior to certificating those facilities, including a thorough balancing of public benefits and adverse impacts.”