Category Archives: DEIS

Motion Submitted to Rescind ACP Certificate and FEIS

On September 4, 2018, Friends of Nelson and Wild Virginia submitted a motion to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to “rescind and place in abeyance the Certificate of Convenience and Necessity for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline issued by the Commission staff on October 13, 2017, to rescind the Final Environmental Impact Statement (“FEIS”) for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (“ACP”) issued on July 21, 2017 in the above captioned dockets, to and to initiate a new DEIS/FEIS NEPA process in this matter.”

The motion states, “Pursuant to NEPA Section 102, 42 U.S.C. § 4332, and its implementing rules, specifically 40 C.F.R. § 1502.9, Friends of Nelson and Wild Virginia move that the Commission rescind and place in abeyance the Certificate of Convenience and Necessity in this matter in accordance with the requirements of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq. and National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq. and in violation of FERC conditions placed upon the issuance of the Certificate of Convenience and Necessity. This is necessary because 1) the DEIS published on December 30, 2016 is deemed “so inadequate as to preclude meaningful analysis,” id., § 1502.9(a), as demonstrated by the copious amount of new and crucial information that has been submitted to FERC and emerged after the release of the DEIS, 2) the subsequent vacating of the United States Fish and Wildlife takings permit upon which the FEIS is based on August 6, 2018 and 3) the necessary rerouting of the ACP which will require a full NEPA analysis in lieu of the vacating of the right of way permit by the National Park Service on August 6, 2018.

“Therefore the Certificate of Convenience and Necessity issued on October 13, 2017 should be rescinded and placed in abeyance until 1) a new route has been determined, 2) a revised DEIS is issued that fully addresses and provides the public an opportunity to comment on the significant new information that has been submitted to FERC since the release of the original DEIS, 3) a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) has been issued, and 4) the project and its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis is in full compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as required by NEPA.”

The motion is followed by 19 items of supporting facts and law, and concludes, “Friends of Nelson and Wild Virginia respectfully request that the Commission grant their motion and rescind and place in abeyance the Certificate of Convenience and Necessity for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Supply Header Project, CP15-554-000, CP15-555-000 et.al. and also rescind the FEIS upon which the Certificate relies. In this matter, the Commission must take a “hard look” at all new information and review it in the context of the application. This must include all information required by NEPA including full review of new information by USFWS and NEPA compliant ITS for all required species. It must also include information relating to any route changes required by the vacating of the NPS authorization of the right-of-way permit that NPS had issued to ACP. At such time that a new DEIS is completed, the commission shall initiate a new public comment period for the intended completion of a FEIS. Lastly, the Commission should require Dominion to file all additional information that is vital to the NEPA environmental review before proceeding further.”

The full motion is here.

Appendix 1 contains a motion to rescind or revise the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (“DEIS”) for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (“ACP”) issued on December 30, 2016.

Appendix 2 contains “a partial list of important information that was submitted by Dominion in an untimely manner, too late to be considered in the NEPA analysis for the ACP and should be considered in a new DEIS/FEIS process. All of these are available on the FERConline website for Docket #CP15-554-000 et.al.”

Appendix 3 is the August 23, 2018, Richmond Times-Dispatch article, State scientists confirm more sightings of endangered bumblebee along pipeline route.

Appendix 4 is a copy of FERC’s August 10, 2018 denial by Commissioners Neil Chatterjee and Robert F. Powelson of requests for rehearing and Commissioner Cheryl A. LaFleur’s dissent.

New Motion Filed to Supplement DEIS

A group of about 25 organizations together under the name of “the Public Interest Groups” has filed a new motion with FERC to supplement the Atlantic Coast Pipeline DEIS based on new filings.

The October 9, 2017, filing argues that. “As stated in the Public Interest Groups’ earlier joint motion and two supplements, the Commission is required to rescind and supplement the DEIS in this matter because ‘[t]here are significant new circumstances or information relevant to environmental concerns and bearing on the proposed action or its impacts.’ At the same time, a new public comment period and hearings should be held after a supplemental DEIS is issued. To not allow the opportunity to comment on an application before it is complete makes a mockery of both the FERC and the NEPA processes.

“Dominion’s practice is to frequently supplement its application without regard for an orderly process and by flaunting FERC and NEPA rules. This has been supported by FERC in its failure to supplement its environmental documents, and allow public review and comment. The application was supplemented some 18 times after the comment period on the DEIS was ended, and even another 5 times after the FEIS was issued. Many of these supplemental filings are not simply de minimus changes but are significant modifications to routes and impact analysis.”

The motion also states that, “Two additional matters require the environmental documents to be supplemented: the impacts of greenhouse gases on the climate crisis, and the plan to extend the ACP into South Carolina.”

The motion asks that, “The Public Interest Groups respectfully renew their joint motion. In this matter, the Commission must take a ‘hard look’ at the new information, review it in the context of the application and current public comments, and then supplement the DEIS to incorporate the new information. At the same time, the Commission should rescind the DEIS and hold the public comment period in abeyance until it issues the supplemental DEIS. Lastly, the Commission should require Dominion to file all additional supplemental information before proceeding further, with full disclosure of all plans to extend the pipeline into other states.”

Read the full motion as filed here.

Sierra Club Asks FERC to Issue Revised DEIS

In a letter dated July 19, 2017, the Sierra Club requested that FERC issue a revised or supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, citing the substantial defects in the DEIS pointed out by government agencies, environmental organizations, and individuals. They ask that a revised DEIS both correct the known defects as well as address the significant new information associated with the project that has come to light since the DEIS public comment period closed on April 6, 2017, and point out that additional information necessary for a fully informed evaluation of potential impacts remains undisclosed.

The letter discusses the legal requirements for a revised or supplemental EIS and documents the lack of relevant environmental information in the DEIS. It states that alternatively FERC must prepare a Supplemental DEIS, that a revised or supplemental DEIS should be prepared to address the inadequacies of the DEIS in furtherance of the purposes of NEPA, and that the issuance of a Final EIS with a comment period is inconsistent with the requirements and purpose of NEPA.

Read the full letter here.

Red Flags on ACP DEIS from US Fish and Wildlife Service


A lengthy article in The Recorder for June 29, 2017, reports on a letter to FERC from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), blocked on the FERC Website, but obtained by The Recorder through a FOIA request.

“The federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior dedicated to management of fish, wildlife and natural habitats has sent up red flags over the draft environmental impact statement for Dominion and Duke Energy’s proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. A letter stamped ‘privileged’ from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission expresses deep concerns over incomplete surveys and data. The Recorder obtained the letter, dated March 30 and blocked on the FERC website on April 6, under the Freedom of Information Act on June 22. The newspaper made the FOIA request April 7. The roughly one-month processing of FERC and the month-and-a-half it took USFWS to fill the request took a total of 76 days. Martin Miller, chief of the USFWS Division of Endangered Species Ecological Services, responded by sending an email attachment to his letter granting the request. John Schmidt, USFWS field supervisor, wrote the ‘privileged’ letter containing a four-page table of concerns over draft EIS shortcomings in Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina to FERC deputy secretary Nathaniel Davis.”

Among the concerns listed in the USFWS letter:

  • “The draft EIS was so sketchy with respect to karst, and endangered and threatened species survey data that the USFWS could not begin discussions about the document”
  • Lack sufficient data to form a biological opinion for multiple species due to incomplete survey data
  • DEIS says karst protection personnel will be consulted – will this be for all karst crossings in all states?
  • How could FERC claim damaging karst conditions in Bath County’s Little Valley would be adequately minimized when Little Valley hasn’t been surveyed?
  • Several comments repudiated FERC’s claims, based on Dominion’s input, that threatened and endangered species would be minimally impacted
  • Deforestation and fragmentation by temporary and permanent right-of-ways: “Even the ‘temporary’ disturbance in forested areas will be long-term because these forest stands will take decades to return to their former state on the area of the ROW allowed to return to its former state.”

Over and over, the USFWS letter asks if surveys have been completed, e.g. “Mussel surveys need to be completed,” or “have sediment analyses been completed?” or “need to provide the status of the habitat assessment or survey.”

Bottom line of this letter, blocked on the FERC Website: “The [U.S. Fish and Wildlife] Service cannot initiate formal consultation with this DEIS” because it is so incomplete or lacking in necessary data.

Calls for Supplemental DEIS


A June 5, 2017, Roanoke Times article discusses the immense number of supplemental filings submitted to FERC by the Mountain Valley Pipeline after the December 22, 2016, closing date for public comment (10s of 1000s of pages) and the calls by watchdogs for a properly indexed (so “the average person can navigate and understand”) supplemental DEIS before the release of the MVP’s final environmental impact statement, currently scheduled for June 23, 2017. Speaking about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Dominion’s Aaron Ruby said Dominion has “submitted about 10,000 pages since the close of the [ACP] comment period” on April 6, 2017.

Carolyn Elefant, whose law firm often represents pipeline opponents, said substantial filings with FERC after the release of a draft environmental impact statement are not uncommon and are sometimes warranted, but that “her experience suggests the bulk of supplemental filings relate to requests by FERC for more information about known impacts. ‘Often, companies will wait until after the draft EIS deadline to file these materials to prevent landowners from commenting — and that is unfair,’ she said. She said that even though pipeline companies sometimes blame federal and state agencies and the public for project delays, the companies themselves often delay submission of information.”

Meanwhile, many commenters continue to call for a “programmatic environmental impact statement, which would provide, they say, a more comprehensive review of the environmental and other cumulative impacts of several interstate pipelines designed to transport natural gas extracted from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in the Appalachian Basin.” Such a programmatic EIS would include both the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines.

Read the full article, As filings pile up, pipeline watchdogs call for supplemental draft environmental impact statement.

FERC Shows Its True Colors


Doug Wellman’s letter to the editor, published in the Roanoke Times on May 29, 2017, discusses FERC’s rubber-stamp approval of pipeline projects despite evidence against them. “The draft environmental impact statement on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is massive — over 2,300 pages. Reviewing it is a daunting task. But in their one and a half page treatment of the ‘No Action Alternative’ required by law, FERC’s bottom line is clear: the pipeline proposal will be approved. In justifying their cursory dismissal of reasons why the Atlantic Coast Pipeline should not be built, FERC brushes aside the many well-documented comments submitted by pipeline opponents. At least three of their explanations for dismissing ‘no action’ are highly questionable.”  He goes on to list FERC’s three “explanations” and the strong case against each of them. Read the full letter here.