Millennium Pipeline Co., LLC v. Seggos

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a provisional certificate of public convenience and necessity for a natural-gas-pipeline project that was proposed by the Millennium Pipeline Company, LLC (Millennium) (plaintiff) on November 9, 2016. The approval of this certificate was conditioned on Millennium receiving all authorizations mandated by federal law. This requirement included authorizations related to the Clean Water Act (CWA). Millennium was to present the applicable permit documentation and proof of waiver to FERC. Millennium had already applied for a water-quality certificate from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) (defendant) on November 23, 2015, which was nearly one year prior to FERC’s grant of conditional approval. NYDEC had requested supplemental information over the course of the year following Millennium’s application. Millennium complied with each request. NYDEC asserted that Millennium had fully responded in November 2016, but NYDEC claimed that it had until at least August 30, 2017, to act on Millennium’s application. Millennium filed a petition for review of NYDEC’s delay in acting on Millennium’s application for a water-quality certificate in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Millennium claimed that the one-year window to act had expired and that NYDEC must be compelled to grant Millennium’s application or set a definite schedule for further action.