Primer On Pipeline Siting: Federal And State Regulatory Authority -- June 7, 2016

This sort of gets into the weeds, but it may prove interesting to come back to this some day. This helps put the Iowa activity / Dakota Access Pipeline into perspective. From a reader:

Under the Natural Gas Act (NGA), siting of interstate natural gas pipelines and related facilities requires specific approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

When the pipeline company receives a certificate of public convenience and necessity from FERC, state or local laws that conflict with FERC’s exercise of its jurisdiction under federal law or would pose an obstacle to construction of the pipeline (e.g., local zoning laws) are preempted unless FERC requires the company to comply with them as a condition of granting the certificate.

The NGA specifically preserves state authority over pipeline projects under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA), Clean Water Act (CWA), and Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA).

However, state authority under these laws remains subject to federal administrative and judicial oversight and review. Federal law also provides several avenues for a state to provide input into FERC’s siting and environmental reviews of a proposed interstate natural gas pipeline.

In contrast to siting review of proposed interstate natural gas pipelines, interstate crude oil pipelines undergo a state-by-state siting approval process. No federal law broadly preempts state and local siting requirements for these pipelines.

The link is here: Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas and Crude Oil: Federal and State Regulatory Authority, March 28, 2016. Twenty-eight (28) pages of delightful narrative, and for those who like footnotes, it's a barn burner.

It's hard to believe, but the Natural Gas Act of 1938 goes all the way back to the inter-war years and was the first occurrence of the US federal government regulating the natural gas industry. FDR was certainly a busy fellow. The passage of the Act gave the Federal Power Commission control over the regulation of interstate natural gas sales. Late on, FPC was dissolved and became the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

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Rio Olympics

The dominoes are starting to fall. The first US athlete to say "no" was a bicyclist. Now Stephen Curry has added his name to the list which will likely grow quickly. The Drudge Report has a banner headline that NBC's Savannah Guthrie won't be going. For the media, this should not be a big deal. Cameras could be operated from the US, and sports announcers could report from the comfort of their NYC studios -- or even from home for that matter.

Except for opening and closing ceremonies, the IOC could "host" Olympic events worldwide.