ELR Citation: 54 ELR 20022
No(s). 20-5203 (D.C. Cir. Feb 13, 2024)

The D.C. Circuit on remand reinstated its prior judgment in a challenge to FERC's issuance of a certificate for construction of a natural gas pipeline through the Appalachian Mountains. Property owners in the proposed path sued the pipeline owner in district court, raising constitutional challenges to FERC's authorization to take their land through eminent domain. The district court dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, because the appellate court had already considered and denied a separate landowner challenge to the certificate in 2019. The appellate court affirmed, holding that §717r(b) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) explicitly denied a district court jurisdiction to review a certificate after a federal court of appeals had considered a petition challenging that certificate. The Supreme Court subsequently vacated the appellate court's judgment and remanded for further consideration given an intervening decision in Axon Enterprises, Inc. v. FTC, 598 U.S. 175 (2023). The appellate court found the outcome here did not depend on Axon's application of certain factors to assess whether a statute implicitly strips jurisdiction over a particular claim, but rather was controlled by the text of the NGA, where Congress explicitly exercised its constitutional power to define the jurisdiction of federal courts. It reinstated its prior judgment affirming the district court.