Piedmont Environmental Council v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

558 F.3d 304 (2009)

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Piedmont Environmental Council v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
558 F.3d 304 (2009)

  • Written by Robert Cane, JD

Facts

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) (defendant) made several rulemaking decisions regarding the implementation of § 216 of the Federal Power Act (FPA) and the National Environmental Policy Act and the interpretation of certain statutory provisions. Section 216 of the FPA allowed FERC to issue permits for transmission facilities in national interest corridors if the state entity with authority over siting decisions withheld approval for more than one year. FERC interpreted “withheld approval” in § 216 to include a denial by the state entity. Various stakeholders, the Piedmont Environmental Council, the Public Service Commission of the State of New York, Communities Against Regional Interconnect (CARI), and the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (plaintiffs), filed rehearing requests on FERC’s final rule, arguing that FERC’s interpretation of § 216 was unreasonable. FERC rejected this argument and upheld its interpretation. FERC’s decision was appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Michael, J.)

Concurrence/Dissent (Traxler, J.)

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