ELR Citation: 51 ELR 20145
No(s). 19-72915 (9th Cir. Jul 28, 2021)

The Ninth Circuit upheld FERC's denial of an environmental group's motion to intervene in post-licensing deadline extension proceedings for a hydroelectric project in California. The group had argued that FERC violated Rule 214 of the Commission's regulations in denying intervention and §6 of the Federal Power Act (FPA) in failing to issue a public notice of the proceedings. The Commission concluded that Rule 214 was inapplicable because this was not a proceeding in which it permitted intervention, that the extension-of-time request was not a material amendment to the license warranting an exception to its precedent, and that the Commission did not violate the FPA's notice requirements. It thus denied the group's motion to intervene and granted an extension of the deadlines to commence and complete construction. The appellate court found that FERC's interpretation of Rule 214 deserved deference and thus that the Commission could properly limit intervention in post-licensing proceedings. It further found that the Commission's interpretation of §6 of the FPA was sufficiently persuasive as applied to deadline extension requests. The court denied the group's petition for review.