FERC Approves Northern Access Delay

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc), acting on a request from National Fuel Gas Supply (NFGS) and Empire Pipeline, approved on January 31 a three-year delay for completion of the US$500mn Northern Access Project.

Northern Access was initially approved by Ferc in February 2017, at which time NFGS and Empire were instructed to have the facilities – some 97 miles (156km) of new pipe in Pennsylvania and New York and new and additional compression capacity in New York – ready for service within two years.

Meeting that deadline – February 3, 2019 – has become impossible, NFGS and Empire said in their extension request, due to legal actions taken by New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to block necessary federal wetland and waterbody crossing permits.

Last summer, Ferc ruled that the DEC waived its right to block issuance of those permits when it failed to act within a year of receiving the application for them. The DEC denied the permits in April 2017, following 34 months of detailed discussions between DEC staff and NFGS and Empire Pipeline.

The DEC is no longer reviewing the water quality certification application, although the US Army Corp of Engineers is reviewing the project’s Section 404 permits, which regulate the discharge of dredge or fill material into navigable waters.

NFGS and Empire Pipeline now expect to have all federal authorisations in place by the middle of this year, but do not anticipate being able to start construction until early 2021 due to New York’s “continued legal actions” and lead times required to procure pipe and compressor facility materials. The Ferc extension gives NFGS and Empire Pipeline until February 3, 2022 to complete the project.