Sen. Kaine backs request for rehearing on Mountain Valley, Atlantic Coast Pipelines
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) backed formal requests for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to grant a rehearing on the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) that were approved by the in October on a split vote.
MVP would extend from Wetzel County, West Virginia, to Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and ACP would extend from Harrison County, Pennsylvania, to southeastern North Carolina. Kaine backed formal requests for a rehearing on the natural gas pipelines filed by local stakeholder groups.
“The commission approved the MVP and ACP on 2-1 votes when two of the five commissioner slots were vacant,” Kaine wrote in a letter to FERC commissioners. “The split decisions were most unusual – 98 percent of FERC orders in 2016 were unanimous. Given that the commission now has a full complement of five members, there is a real concern about whether the divided rulings by a partial commission fairly reflect the FERC position.”
Kaine also requested clarification of FERC’s use of “tolling orders.” Issued after a request for rehearing is filed, Kaine questioned whether tolling orders could freeze the legal appeals process while project construction moves forward.
“In many cases in which a request for rehearing is filed, FERC issues a tolling order to take more than the allotted 30 days to decide on the request, during which time legal options are frozen but construction may proceed,” Kaine wrote. “This suggests that even if an original FERC decision changes upon either rehearing or judicial order, it could be moot if the project is already built and any impacts already felt. I would like to know whether this is your interpretation as well, and if so, whether you believe this is consistent with the intent of the rehearing option.”
