FERC chairman calls gas moratorium request irresponsible, cites existing flexibility

Washington — Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Neil Chatterjee rebuffed a request for a moratorium on gas infrastructure approvals from state attorneys general, calling the notion "impractical and irresponsible."

But in a letter addressed to Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, Chatterjee also touted FERC's commitment to transparency and public participation and mentioned that flexibility on comment deadlines is already part of FERC's existing practice.

Ten state attorney generals and the District of Columbia's AG joined in a May 7 letter to FERC arguing that a moratorium was needed to preserve the due process rights of interested parties, many of whom face challenges associated with the coronavirus crisis. Their pitch followed earlier gas project moratorium requests sent to FERC from Democratic members of the US House of Representatives as well as a coalition of environmental groups.

Chatterjee told Herring in his reply that many are "using the current situation, a time when reliable energy is particularly vital, to suggest moratoriums on certain types of energy projects."

"Hindering the build-out of energy infrastructure now could have long-term and lasting negative impacts on the delivery of energy in the future," he added. The letter called such requests "short-sighted and impractical." Chatterjee also called it "irresponsible" in a tweet calling attention to his response to Herring.

'DEEP COMMITMENT' ON PARTICIPATION

Nonetheless, Chatterjee praised FERC's "deep commitment to transparency and public participation," and said the commission has successfully shifted to remote operation while remaining able to process applications "with full stakeholder engagement."

FERC has always allowed for late intervention for good cause, he said. And a formal extension of comment periods is unneeded because FERC, as a matter of policy, evaluates comments received after the close of comment periods, he said.

In an email Thursday, Chatterjee said, "thankfully, when the pandemic hit, we did not have any gas project scoping or other public project meetings scheduled in the short term." He noted that very few of the state AGs who wrote to FERC had pending projects in their states, and those projects that were pending were "pretty far along."

"So to this point, we are happy to say that the pandemic has not had a real impact on our ability to engage with the public on these projects," he said.

While FERC has focused on the continued availability of its online docket system, some calling for a moratorium suggest public participation can still be constrained.

OBSTACLES TO COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION

An attorney in one state AG's office said there were worries that communities and landowners may lack the ability to focus on new gas projects right now, given their focus on meeting basic needs during the pandemic situation. They may, therefore, miss an opportunity to organize among themselves to fully weigh in, potentially on a source of pollution that could affect their communities for 30 to 40 years, this attorney said. Normally, discussion of a project might come up at a town meeting and people might organize following that discussion, he said.

Herring spokeswoman Charlotte Gomer also replied that the AG made a "made a very reasonable request for FERC to hit pause on approving new fossil fuel projects that will exacerbate climate change and pollute the air while we're in the middle of an outbreak of a deadly respiratory disease that limits the public's ability to weigh in." As many projects directly affect the populations around them, the public deserves the right to "an unrestricted comment and debate period" before a project is finalized in their area, she said.

Separately, House members from gas-producing areas have also written Chatterjee to emphasize their support for continuing to processing gas project applications.

"At a time when millions of Americans are temporarily unemployed, FERC should not add to these staggering unemployment rolls by blocking development that will employ thousands of people, generate new state and local tax revenue, and create billions of dollars in capital expenditures.," they wrote April 29. "During this period, FERC should move forward, as health and safety constraints may allow, with all applications for review of natural gas [interstate] pipelines and LNG facilities while embracing new forms of public engagement."