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News Story
Mountain Valley Pipeline approvals OKed as part of debt ceiling deal
Attendees at a rally in Richmond Thursday against including completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in a federal debt deal. (Charlie Paullin/Virginia Mercury)
The controversial 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would carry natural gas from shale fields in West Virginia to southern Virginia, received federal support for completion Thursday after the U.S. Senate approved a debt ceiling deal that includes a provision requiring fast-tracked approvals for the project, despite opposition from some members of Virginia’s congressional delegation.
Both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate sent the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which prevents the country from defaulting on its debt, to Democratic President Joe Biden with a measure attached to it that creates a 21-day deadline for the government to approve permits for the project.
The provision also states that “no court shall have jurisdiction to review any action” taken by various federal actors to provide approvals for the pipeline and mandates that any challenges to the legislation be heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which is generally seen as more favorable to the project than the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, where most legal challenges have been heard.
The move was hotly opposed by Virginia’s Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who this week sought an amendment to the bill to strip out the pipeline provision. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner also opposed inclusion of the provision. The amendment failed Thursday.
“My Virginians just want to be sure that if this pipeline is built, it has met the requisite standards of review agencies, both state and federal, and it has withstood any court challenges,” said Kaine in a floor speech Thursday. “Most people would be embarrassed to ask for that. ‘I lost, I’m unhappy, why don’t I get Congress to rewrite the rules of federal jurisdiction and take this case away from the court that’s maybe unhappy and put it in another court.’”
What’s in the bill
(a)?Definition Of Mountain Valley Pipeline.—In this section, the term “Mountain Valley Pipeline” means the Mountain Valley Pipeline project, as generally described and approved in Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Docket Nos. CP16–10, CP19–477, and CP21–57.
(b)?Congressional Findings And Declaration.—The Congress hereby finds and declares that the timely completion of construction and operation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline is required in the national interest. The Mountain Valley Pipeline will serve demonstrated natural gas demand in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast regions, will increase the reliability of natural gas supplies and the availability of natural gas at reasonable prices, will allow natural gas producers to access additional markets for their product, and will reduce carbon emissions and facilitate the energy transition.
(c)?Approval And Ratification And Maintenance Of Existing Authorizations.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law—
(1) Congress hereby ratifies and approves all authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions, biological opinions, incidental take statements, and any other approvals or orders issued pursuant to Federal law necessary for the construction and initial operation at full capacity of the Mountain Valley Pipeline; and
(2) Congress hereby directs the Secretary of the Army, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of the Interior, and other agencies as applicable, as the case may be, to continue to maintain such authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions, biological opinions, incidental take statements, and any other approvals or orders issued pursuant to Federal law necessary for the construction and initial operation at full capacity of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
(d)?Expedited Approval.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later than 21 days after the date of enactment of this Act and for the purpose of facilitating the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the Secretary of the Army shall issue all permits or verifications necessary—
(1) to complete the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline across the waters of the United States; and
(2) to allow for the operation and maintenance of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
(e)?Judicial Review.—
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no court shall have jurisdiction to review any action taken by the Secretary of the Army, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, or a State administrative agency acting pursuant to Federal law that grants an authorization, permit, verification, biological opinion, incidental take statement, or any other approval necessary for the construction and initial operation at full capacity of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, including the issuance of any authorization, permit, extension, verification, biological opinion, incidental take statement, or other approval described in subsection (c) or (d) of this section for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, whether issued prior to, on, or subsequent to the date of enactment of this section, and including any lawsuit pending in a court as of the date of enactment of this section.
(2) The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over any claim alleging the invalidity of this section or that an action is beyond the scope of authority conferred by this section.
(f)?Effect.—This section supersedes any other provision of law (including any other section of this Act or other statute, any regulation, any judicial decision, or any agency guidance) that is inconsistent with the issuance of any authorization, permit, verification, biological opinion, incidental take statement, or other approval for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
The natural gas pipeline received its initial approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2017 to supply gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale fields to southern Virginia.
Initially expected to be finished in 2018, completion of the project has been delayed due to numerous legal challenges over environmental impacts, including sediment and erosion issues. In 2019, the pipeline agreed to pay Virginia $2.15 million to resolve litigation over what former Attorney General Mark Herring had claimed were some 300 environmental violations in the commonwealth.
Most recently, the pipeline sought and received a four-year extension of its approval from FERC to continue construction.
An earlier attempt to force completion of Mountain Valley through a deal between the White House, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, related to the Inflation Reduction Act failed this fall. In a sharply critical floor speech in September, Kaine said the proposal would set “a very, very dangerous precedent.”
Environmental groups in Virginia took to the streets in Richmond, Roanoke, Norfolk and Vienna on Thursday to rally in opposition to the bill. Virginia Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, participated in the Roanoke gathering. Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Appalachian Voices rallied in Richmond outside of Warner’s office.
“We do not want this project built, and we will not stop until that project is stopped,” said Jessica Sims, a field coordinator with Appalachian Voices.
The project is estimated to be 94% complete, according to the company, although environmental groups dispute the calculation.
“We look forward to completing this important infrastructure project by the end of 2023 and flowing domestic natural gas for the benefits of reliability and affordability in the form of lower natural gas prices for consumers,” wrote Mountain Valley Pipeline spokesperson Natalie Cox in an email. “To date, Mountain Valley has successfully acquired 100 percent of right-of-way in West Virginia and more than 99 percent of right-of-way in Virginia, providing landowners with more than $125 million in compensation across the 303-mile route.”
In October, the company withdrew its legal challenges seeking eminent domain for an extension project into North Carolina.
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Charlie Paullin
Charles Paullin covers energy and environment for the Virginia Mercury. He previously worked for Northern Virginia Daily in the Northern Shenandoah Valley and for the New Britain Herald in central Connecticut. An Alexandria native, Charles graduated from the University of Hartford initially wanting to cover sports. He's received several Virginia Press Association awards for his coverage of crime, local government and state politics.
