FERC has granted the developers of the Constitution Pipeline an additional two years to complete the project.
The developers said they needed an extension while they appeal the denial by New York environmental officials of a required water quality permit under Section 401 of the federal Clean Water Act. (See Constitution Pipeline Appeals Rejection of Water Permit.)
FERC originally approved the project in 2014, with the condition that it be placed in service within 24 months. The extension gives developers a new deadline of Dec. 2, 2018. The pipeline would deliver Marcellus Shale natural gas from Pennsylvania to pipelines serving New York state and New England.
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WCS Providing NRC More Info on Nuke Storage Site
Waste Control Specialists began supplying the Nuclear Regulatory Commission more information about the company’s plans to store high-level nuclear waste in Andrews County, Texas, after a letter from the commission fueled opponent groups’ criticisms.
The letter from Mark Lombard, director of NRC’s division of spent fuel storage and transportation, told WCS that its application for the project was deficient and requested more technical data. Opponents said the letter reflected unpreparedness on the part of the company.
WCS officials responded by clarifying the company only wants a license to store spent nuclear fuel rods using a dry-cask design and method already approved by the commission. The company plans to store 5,000 metric tons in the first decade but is seeking approval to store up to 40,000 metric tons.
More: Odessa American
Tribe Sues Corps of Engineers Over Dakota Access Permits
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota and South Dakota is suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for issuing permits for a crude oil pipeline it says threatens sacred sites and its drinking water supply.
The suit, filed in a federal court in D.C., alleges that the Corps’ approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline is illegal, as it ignored risks to the environment and tribal sites. The pipeline, which would deliver North Dakota crude oil to terminals in Illinois, is being built by Energy Transfer Partners.
The Corps’ approval allows the developer to bury the pipeline under the Missouri River a half-mile upstream of the tribe’s reservation.
More: The Gazette
PSEG Files Opposition to Access Northeast with FERC
Public Service Enterprise Group has submitted a filing to FERC saying that a proposed natural gas pipeline expansion in New England would suppress wholesale prices in the energy market.
The company said the Access Northeast project, proposed by Spectra Energy and being subsidized by four New England states, is not driven by reliability needs, and the utilities that would own the pipeline would rarely use the gas. PSEG also compared it to a New Jersey plan to subsidize power plant construction in the state through the PJM capacity market, which was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court as it infringed on FERC’s jurisdiction.
Critics of the PennEast Pipeline in New Jersey, however, said PSEG’s complaints could also apply to that project, which counts the company among its investors.
More: NJ Spotlight
Nuclear Industry to NRC: Streamline Review Processes
A number of industry executives called on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to improve the efficiency of its review processes, especially when it comes to approving advanced reactors.
“Anything you can do through the regulatory process to assure that the advanced reactors can come online as soon as reasonably possible, it’s going to be important not just for the United States, but for the world to meet this gap of increasing energy consumption,” former FERC Commissioner Philip Moeller, now senior vice president at the Edison Electric Institute, said during a public stakeholder meeting in Rockville, Md.
The meeting was the first of its kind since 1998. NRC was directed to hold it by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which has oversight over the commission.
More: Bloomberg BNA