Press Release | June 30, 2020

No more “free pass” for pipeline developers

Federal court ends tolling practice used to advance construction for unnecessary Atlantic Coast Pipeline

Today the full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ended the unjust practice of tolling orders by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that allowed gas pipelines to move ahead with construction while preventing challengers from contesting the projects in court. The opinion, which cites the friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center and other environmental legal organizations, was issued in a case challenging the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project. The court held that FERC may no longer delay court review by issuing tolling orders on requests for rehearing of FERC approvals, as it did in approving the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

“Today’s opinion is an important step toward leveling the playing field and ensuring that landowners and communities challenging destructive projects can have their day in court before it’s too late,” said Mark Sabath, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “For years pipeline builders barreled ahead with construction while legitimate questions about need and environmental harm were still undecided.”

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The Southern Environmental Law Center is one of the nation’s most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted in the South. With a long track record, SELC takes on the toughest environmental challenges in court, in government, and in our communities to protect our region’s air, water, climate, wildlife, lands, and people. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the organization has a staff of 200, including more than 100 attorneys, and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., with offices in Asheville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Nashville, Richmond, and Washington, D.C. southernenvironment.org