ELR Citation: 55 ELR 20141
No(s). 24-1099 (D.C. Cir. Sep 30, 2025)

The D.C. Circuit denied environmental groups' challenge to FERC's approval of a pipeline to supply natural gas to the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA's) new turbine to replace a coal-fired power unit. The groups argued FERC's calculation of downstream greenhouse gas emissions, its discussion of the no-action alternative, and its decision not to analyze the pipeline and TVA's plant together as connected actions violated NEPA. The court found FERC did not err when it considered both retirement of the coal-powered unit and the emissions from the new gas turbine as effects of the pipeline for its downstream emissions analysis; that FERC reasonably assumed in its no-action analysis that the turbine would be built even if the pipeline were rejected; and that the connected-action requirement did not apply because after Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, 145 S. Ct. 1497 (2025), agencies are no longer “required to analyze the effects of projects over which they do not exercise regulatory authority,” and FERC lacked jurisdiction over the power plant. The groups also argued FERC's approval violated the Natural Gas Act (NGA), but the court found the Commission's analysis of market need for the pipeline and the public interest complied with the NGA. It denied the petitions for review.