Trump’s Executive Orders Color Future FERC Environmental Reviews

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is likely to scale back scrutiny of liquefied natural gas projects in the wake of recent presidential executive orders and a D.C. Circuit ruling that gave the agency another chance to review projects in Texas.

The US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit earlier this week remanded to the agency a challenge to FERC’s reapproval of two LNG terminals and a pipeline rather than vacate those reauthorizations, reversing a decision the court rendered last year.

Attorneys and scholars say the ruling is a signal that FERC and the courts will require fewer environmental justice ...