What is “Scoping”?
From the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) website:
“Scoping meetings, which are sponsored by FERC, are utilized by staff to identify relevant issues of major Certificate projects, pursuant to NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act]. Scoping is the process of defining and refining the scope of a environmental impact statement (EIS) or environmental assessment (EA) and the alternatives to be investigated. The scoping process is one of the opportunities for public involvement.”
Scoping meetings are designed to help FERC determine the scope of its environmental analysis, and should focus on what you want studied, and how you want it studied. Members of the public, and especially municipal officials and project abutters in affected towns, should be making demands for the scope of the environmental study that FERC is obligated to undertake, and requesting specific types of impacts to be investigated by the firm hired by FERC to conduct the study.
FERC is required to review and recommend measures to avoid, minimize, and/or mitigate environmental impacts. Remember, “Don’t build the pipeline” is a valid suggestion. Scoping comments should focus on what you want studied, and how you want it studied.
There is no need to have the answers or provide specific details to FERC as they will be doing that investigation for themselves.
• CONSTITUTION PIPELINE SCOPING
For the Constitution Pipeline proceedings, there are no Scoping Meetings proposed, just an open comment period where comments can be submitted through FERC’s online docket portal, or by mail. Submitting through the online portal is highly recommended to make sure it ends up on the record.
Your Comments should include:
Project docket numbers – CP-13-499-006 & CP18-5-004
Your Name
Street Address/Mailing Address
Phone
# Email Address
Filing deadline is May 4, 2026.
» See our step-by-step guide on how to submit comments to FERC
• WHAT SHOULD YOUR COMMENTS BE?
*please don’t rely too heavily on copy and paste. Choose a few items to include, change the order in which they’re listed, add your own words, include a personal statement. FERC will group identical comments as one comment from multiple people.
• THE KEY POINTS!
– Constitution is not a valid application. As noted by the NY Attorney Journal and several legal representatives, the process by which this proceeding – reviving a docket that was court-ordered to be vacated – is illegal.
– There are no precedent agreements (no customers for the gas), for this pipeline at this time. They should not be allowed to file with no precedent agreements in place.
– We should be asking for a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), not just an short, quick Environmental Assessment (EA).
Be sure to phrase your comments as requests for action by FERC.
You’re telling FERC how they should conduct their environmental impact review of the project.
— Please look into …
— Please determine …
— Please study …
For example:
— “Please identify and address means of dealing with all vernal pools within ‘x’ number of yards of any pipeline segment, work area or staging area associated with pipeline construction.”
— “Please address the effect the project would have on appraised property values within one mile of the proposed route.”
You’re defining how they should what and how they need to investigate in their environmental impact review of the project. Ideally we want them to conduct a full Environmental Impact Study. They may opt to do a less comprehensive Environmental Assessment. Requesting a full Environmental Impact Study can be part of your comments.
• ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY TOPICS TO REQUEST:
Ask them to identify all areas of environmental concern within or adjacent to “x” yards of the pipeline path:
— wetlands, waterways (for natural communities and human use), vernal pools, aquifers, especially any that my be habitat for critical or endangered species
— public and private wells, drinking water supply and septic systems (could be affected by blasting)
— bodies of water used for public recreation
— certified and certifiable vernal pools and analysis of the means by which damage would be avoided or mitigated
— sources of water to be used for hydrostatic testing during the construction process and how such water sources would be replenished or restored; also areas in which such testing is expected to take place and potential impacts of run-off from the testing process
— intended blasting zones
— impacts to roadways
— all temporary work zones and staging areas used during construction, the pre-construction condition of these areas and plans for restoration and mitigation of damages incurred during construction
— (near compressor stations) area species affected by continuous noise and light
— (near any blow-down point) any pollution to air, ground and water from natural gas released from the system, and their proximity and effects to human, animal and plant populations
— additional burdens to local emergency response agencies, especially fire departments
Remember, though identifying specific areas of concern along the pipeline route is helpful, you do not need to have that knowledge or any answers to the question you raise. The point is to instruct FERC on the type of environmental impact study subjects they should be including.
• ALTERNATIVES
You may also request that FERC include a full study of alternatives to the pipeline, such as a “no action” alternative of not building the pipeline at all.
• SCOPE OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED SUBJECTS:
Request that FERC conduct analysis of the severity of all impacts, and the direct and indirect effects of pipeline construction and operation in each of the following categories:
— AVOID, MINIMIZE, MITIGATE, MONITOR, PLAN
– Avoid – FIRST how will they avoid environmental impacts
– Minimize – if an impact cannot be avoided, how will they minimize the amount of impact
– Mitigate – what is the plan to remediate or compensate for all unavoidable environmental impacts
– Monitor – to ensure that harms are detected and mitigation plans are followed through
– Plan for Failure – how will system failure be addressed
• CLIMATE AND CUMULATIVE IMPACTS
Though recent Supreme Court rulings have let FERC off the hook for larger climate impacts, it’s still worth getting those concerns on the record if you wish. Keep in mind, they will most likely be dismissed by FERC, but that doesn’t mean we need to leave them off the record.
— Impacts to Local Economies that are:
– Dependent on aesthetics & natural / wild settings
– Dependent on certified organic status
— Cumulative Impacts:
– Effects of the project over time. This can include the environmental and public health effects of long term exposure to pollution, or the effects of added greenhouse gas emissions to the global climate
– Effects of the project in conjunction with existing & other proposed pipelines
– Effects on other regions within network (upstream impacts at the drilling fields and gas processing plants or downstream impacts at the burner tip, or any LNG and shipping facilities the gas may go to)
SAMPLE SCOPING STATEMENTS – FILED FOR CONSTITUTION
» W. Stinson
» M. McKinney
» S. Makarewicz
» D. Roe
» D. Taylor
» J. L. Miglietta
DIFFERENT FROM PAST PROCEDURE
In the past, Scoping Meetings used to be public, in-person events, where everyone could hear the questions asked and learn from each others’ comments. In recent years, Scoping meetings have transitioned to testimony given to FERC staff in a private room, one person at a time, with a stenographer present.
Back in 2015, the largest of the scoping Meetings for Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct pipeline reached attendance of 600-700 in Greenfield, Massachusetts and Nashua, New Hampshire. They became listening and learning sessions for all participants. Scoping Meetings were held across the length of the pipeline route after the public demanded that they be within an acceptable distance of all impacted towns. FERC’s discontinuance of Scoping Meetings with public verbal testimony has reigned in this valuable experience.
REPORT FROM PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS SCOPING MEETING:
» Hundreds Oppose Pipeline Project, iBerkshires
Requesting public Scoping Meetings is another ask you may want to include in your comments.