What GHG Emissions Must FERC Analyze When Approving Oil and Gas Pipelines?

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is charged with approving the construction or expansion of proposed interstate pipeline projects and associated infrastructure. Because of the size of many projects and their geographic scope, most approvals likely constitute “major federal actions” that trigger the applicability of the agency’s environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In such cases, NEPA requires FERC, among other things, to evaluate the impact of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that directly result from the construction or operation of pipelines, such as emissions from construction equipment and compressor stations. But whether NEPA also requires FERC to consider a project’s indirect GHG emissions – i.e., burning the fuel that the pipeline transports, either now or later – remains deeply contentious.