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Constitution’s petitioning for a reissuance of its previous Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. FERC’s Notice of the filing has opened up a comment period accepting Protests. Deadline to file is January 29th.
It’s crucial to file Protests and Motions to Intervene during this short comment period, but it’s good to wait until close to the deadline to file protests arguments.
This argument was made by the NY Attorney General’s office, stating that FERC is violating a Court Order issued by the Second Circuit, US District Court of Appeals, barring use of the old docket.
FERC replied that they have “broad discretion” on how they manage dockets and that it will not follow the Court Order. That means that this January 29th deadline is our only opportunity to comment on this project.
It also means that for people who have moved to the impacted towns since 2014-16, there will be NO public review of this project. They have not been party to any opportunities for public participation that green fields projects are required to follow.
FILINGS OF NOTE (some may download to your device):
» Challenge to FERC from NY Attorney General’s office
» FERC’s reply to NY Attorney General’s request and statements supporting it
» Statement of support of NY AG’s argument from Stop the Pipeline.
» Statement of support of NY AG’s argument from EarthJustice.
» NY DEC’s protest. (NY DEC’s denial of the 401 Water Quality Certificate is what Constitution LLC is asking FERC to waive.)
COMMENTING SAMPLES AND INSTRUCTIONS:
» Request for extension of deadline example – can be filed with FERC as a simple eComment
» Protest Filing Template – download and create your filing comments to eFile close to deadline
» Illustrated step by step instructions on how to file on the FERC system
» Info on how and what to File with FERC
• IDEAS FOR PROTEST ARGUMENTS
ASSERTIONS MADE IN THE APPLICATION: (Petition, starting p. 15)
• “The Project Will Deliver up to $8.5 Billion in Savings to Consumers During Its First 15 Years in Service.
— Increasing pipeline capacity has not delivered savings so far. Through pipeline system expansions, gas capacity in New England has grown over 50% since 2014, but natural gas prices are higher than ever. (Source)
• “The Project Is Needed to Improve Reliability and Resilience of the Natural Gas and Electric Systems in the Northeast”
• “The Project Would Supply Natural Gas to Electric Generators That Are Unable to Enter into Long-Term Agreements for Firm Capacity on Natural Gas Pipelines”
— The electric generators aren’t unable to enter into long-term agreements, they refuse to. It’s not an economically feasible model for them.
• “The Project Would Facilitate Conversion from Heating Oil to Natural Gas for Heating, Thereby Reducing Emissions Intensity”
— This has already largely happened in areas that have local gas distribution. Conversion from all fossil fuels to heat pumps is well underway in most states.
• “The Public Benefits of the Project Outweigh Any Potential Adverse Effects”
— The DEIR for the project states that there are adverse effects. There are also the effects of upstream and downstream emissions and cumulative effects to the climate that are not taken fully into account.
COUNTER-ARGUMENTS
• The stated intent of this pipeline is to send gas to NY and New England.
This anticipated surge in gas use runs counter to climate policies throughout the Northeast. The shifting political dynamics of funds for large offshore wind projects being withdrawn has put pressure on the region’s governors to accept additional gas expansion.
» More info under “Shifting Landscape” subheader
This also means that all of us in New England have standing in this preceeding.
• The previously issued FERC Certificate was vacated by Court Order in 2021.
Williams Co. (Constitution Pipeline, LLC) is trying to revive two FERC orders that werevacated by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. FERC *should* address this fact before just blindly reissuing the Certificate and Declaratory Order against NY DEC’s denial of the 401 Water Quality Certificate. They need to re-file the entire application started from scratch.
» This argument is made by the NY Attorney General’s office
» Statement of support of NY AG’s argument from Stop the Pipeline
• Constitution should be required to re-survey the pipeline route.
The initial application was 13 years ago. New on-the-ground surveys need to be conducted for any potential new development within or nearby the proposed pipeline easement. Special attention should be given for sensitive development like schools, nursing homes, new residences or impact-sensitive industries within the Potenital Impact Radius (PIR) of the pipeline.
• It’s not true that more gas lowers prices.
It’s also worth noting that though expansions to existing pipeline systems, gas capacity to the region has expanded by over 50% since 2014 (Source: Acadia Center via WBUR), yet prices have continued to spike. More gas is not the answer to price hikes.
• We’re far too deep into climate change to keep adding more fossil fuel use.
Large new infrastructure projects are a long term investment in an industry that needs to be phasing out. It’s a decades long commitment to causing upstream (from fracking operations) and downstream (from end use of the gas) emissions and exacerbating the climate crisis.
• Downstream emissions from this new supply of gas direct from the fracking fields of PA.
Using 650,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day results in approximately 35,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide CO2 emissions daily from combustion alone. Over the course of a year, this amounts to roughly 13 million metric tons of CO2 emissions. (Source).
• Upstream emissions from this new supply of gas.
By creating increased markets for more gas to be extracted, this project will create upstream emissions at fracking and gas processing facilities. Some studies estimate that 2.3% of gross gas production in the US leaks along the supply chain. Driving up gas production drives up emissions of methane, which is a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than CO2.
• Your own comments about impacts to you, family, community, the economy, environment and climate.
» FERC guide for writing effective comments