Written by:
Brennan Weintraub - Research Assistant
Jackie Schweichler - Staff Attorney
The following information is an update of recent local,
state, national, and international legal developments relevant to shale gas.
Pipelines: State Department to Prepare Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement for Keystone XL Pipeline
On December 3, 2018, the U.S. State Department issued
a Notice of Intent to prepare a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. TransCanada resubmitted its 2012
Presidential permit application for the Keystone XL in January 2017.
Shortly thereafter, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
issued the pipeline permit to TransCanada, and the Nebraska Public Service
Commission approved the Mainline Alternative Route. Following the Department of State’s
(Department) issuance of the draft EIS for the Mainline Alternative route, the
U.S. District Court for the District of Montana ordered Department to
supplement its analysis. The court
found that Department had not taken a sufficiently “hard look” at the
potential environmental impacts of the project (Indigenous Environmental
Network v. United States Department of State, CV-17-29-GF-BMM). The pipeline, if completed,
will carry crude oil from Canada to terminals in Oklahoma and Texas.
Air Quality: Ohio EPA Considers Expanding Air Pollution
Requirements to Existing Unconventional Oil and Gas Facilities
On November 20, 2018, the Ohio Environmental Protection
Agency issued
a press release asking for comments on proposed changes to oil and gas rules in
the state. Specifically, the agency is considering expanding air pollution
emission standards. The new rules would continue to cover all new
unconventional oil and gas facilities as well as existing facilities. According to the press release, the agency is
looking for comments from stakeholders before they draft new language for the
rules. The agency will be accepting comments through December 14, 2018.
Pipelines: Louisiana Court Orders Bayou Bridge to Pay Fees
for Trespass but Allows Expropriation of Properties Along Pipeline Route
On December 6, 2018, the Louisiana 16th Judicial District
Court held
that Bayou Bridge Pipeline, LLC (Bayou Bridge) trespassed when it built its
pipeline on private land in the Atchafalaya Basin (Bayou Bridge Pipeline,
LLC v. 38 Acres, More or Less, Located in St. Martin Parish, No. 87011).
The court also found that Bayou Bridge, an entity owned by Energy Transfer
Partners, had the right to expropriate properties along the pipeline route. The
court determined that the Bayou Bridge Pipeline has a public purpose and that
expropriation is reasonably necessary to complete the project. Bayou
Bridge obtained “numerous rights of way” from the hundreds of owners who own a
portion of the 38 acres at issue in this lawsuit. The three landowners in this case had
interests between 0.00994% and 0.05803%.
The court determined treble damages based on market value to be between
$0.91 and $6.64. The plaintiffs each were
awarded a total of $150 in damages and compensation. The pipeline,
once complete, will carry crude oil 163 miles from Lake Charles to St. James,
Louisiana, from where it will be distributed to refineries across the Gulf
Coast.
Public Lands: BLM Announces Plans to Open Sage Grouse
Habitat to Development
On December 6, 2018, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) detailed
its plans to open roughly nine million acres currently protected as sage grouse
habitat to mining and drilling operations. BLM published the proposed
resource management plan amendments and final environmental impact statements
regarding the Greater Sage-Grouse for Oregon,
Colorado,
Idaho,
Utah,
Wyoming,
Nevada
and Northeastern California. According to a New York Times article,
the proposed changes would limit the species’ protected area to roughly 1.8
million acres. These changes follow a 2015 decision
that placed restrictions on oil and gas drilling within nearly eleven million
acres of sage grouse habitat.
From the National Oil & Gas Law Experts:
George Bibikos,
At the Well Weekly, (December 10, 2018)
Charles Sartain, Local
Taxation of Oil and Gas Activities Fails Again, Energy and the
Law (December 11, 2018)
John McFarland, Miller
on Negotiating Oil and Gas Leases, Oil and Gas Lawyer Blog
(December 10, 2018)
Dena Adler, Four
Important Points About EPA's Revised New Source Performance Standards for Electric
Generating Units, Climate Law Blog (December 7, 2018)
Follow us on Twitter at PSU Ag & Shale Law (@AgShaleLaw) to receive
ShaleLaw HotLinks:
“Qatar
is pulling out of OPEC to focus on gas” - CNN Business
“U.S.
natural gas exports to Mexico hit new record” - Houston Chronicle
“Construction
begins on South Jersey pipeline tied up in court” - The Press of Atlantic
City
“Report:
Trump stance hurting oil sector, Texas economy” - Houston Chronicle
“Atlantic
Sunrise doubles prices in Appalachia” - Argus Media
“U.S. coal
consumption drops to lowest level since 1979” - Associated Press
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This week we published a new Shale Law in the Spotlight
article:
PHMSA Amends Regulatory Requirements for Crude Oil Trains
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