2017 Spire项目证书应用Louis大都市区输油管交付点项目主办人则称管道会提高可靠性和获取天然气新源,消除高需求期间对丙烷“峰值分层”的依赖SpireSTL主要依赖它与Spire密苏里公司达成的先例协议("Spire Missouri"), an affiliate, for approximately 87.5 percent of the Spire Project's capacity as evidence of need for the project.
In FERC's August 2018 order granting Spire STL's certificate application, the 3-2 Commission majority found that Spire Missouri's willingness to sign a binding contract to pay for pipeline service showed need or demand for the Spire Project. The majority rejected protestors' arguments that the precedent agreement was not a sufficient showing of need and that a market study must be undertaken. The majority noted that, since the issuance of the Certificate Policy Statement, FERC has relied on precedent agreements for a substantial amount of a proposed project's capacity as adequate evidence of need, even when the agreements are between affiliates, in the absence of anticompetitive or discriminatory behavior. According to the majority, Spire Missouri's affiliation with Spire STL did not require the Commission to look behind the precedent agreement to evaluate project need, principally relying upon the D.C.电路2014决策Envtl预科安全 v.FERC ,762F3d 97,114Cir市委前委Cheryl LaFleur和RichardGlick对2018证书令表示异议,发现记录没有显示Spire项目的必要性。 双方都认为,鉴于SpireSTL和SpireMeGlick专员(现主席)指出,当各方提出了相当多的可信关切,即先例协议是否可靠显示需要时,推理决策要求委员会做更多工作,而不仅仅是重申其接受表面价值先例协议的政策。2019年11月FERC2-1表决拒绝重审证书令请求Glick专员再次表示异议,辩称证书顺序表示“不合理应用...证书策略语句.电路判定
FERC证书和重听命令提交法院,法院依据SpireSTL申请抗诉者Environment Defe Fund(“EDF's”)提交审查申请,EDF断言FERC授予Spire项目证书的决定是任意和易变的,因为委员会完全依赖SpireSTL-SpireMeroi创举协议查找项目需求,未能充分证明它的结论,即项目福利大于不良效果。EDF认为,先例协议在FERCSireSTL证书应用评估中应只有有限证明价值,因为SpireSTL和SpireMeroy法院指出,FERC得到了有力的论据,说明SpireSTL和SpireMeroi法院补充道,委员会似乎认为单一先例协议是结论性协议,而不是参与这些论点。The court found that nothing in the Certificate Policy Statement endorses this approach.
The court distinguished this case from its opinions upholding prior certificate orders by noting that none of those cases involved precedent agreements with one affiliated shipper, and that FERC can put precedent agreements with affiliates on the same footing as non-affiliate precedent agreements only so long as FERC finds "no evidence of self-dealing." The court found that the Commission ignored record evidence of self-dealing by Spire STL, including that the pipeline was not being built to serve increasing load demand and that there was no indication the new pipeline would lead to cost savings.If it was unnecessary for the Commission to look behind the precedent agreement under these circumstances, the court added, "it is hard to imagine a set of facts for which it would ever be required." In summary, the court said that it found no judicial authority upholding a FERC certificate order when the proposed pipeline was not meant to serve any new load demand, there was no finding that the pipeline would reduce costs, the application was supported by only a single precedent agreement, and the counterparty to such precedent agreement was a corporate affiliate.
On the day the court issued its decision, FERC issued a statement saying that the Commission is considering what action may be appropriate in light of the court's vacatur.FERC发言中引用Glick主席的一段话,即他想重审委员会评估州际天然气管道需求的方法,作为其2月18日
The Trump administration has issued an Executive Order and a series of memoranda relating to energy and the environment.
The goal of the Executive Order–Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High Priority Infrastructure Projects–is to expedite environmental reviews and approvals. It provides that action by the Chair of the Counsel of Environmental Quality to designate an infrastructure project as high priority would trigger an expedited review and approval process, as described in the memorandum Streamlining Permitting and Reducing Regulatory Burdens for Domestic Manufacturing.
Prior to the inauguration, the transition team released a list of 50 emergency and national security infrastructure projects that would be candidates for funding.ipsone-merrands-regring-debliem-xl-lipline'>/eystone管道/a/press-office+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++管道用美国钢制作执行命令中定义高优先基础设施项目包括管道,并因此成为快速环境评审的候选程序 。
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