The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled on the Constitution Pipeline, kicking Williams in the gut on part of it and kicking part of it down the road.

A three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City composed of Carter, G.W. Bush and Obama appointees has issued a very disappointing decision in the Constitution Pipeline case. It ruled against the Constitution Pipeline on the matter of whether the New York DEC acted arbitrarily in denying water quality certification while saying it had no authority to decide the critical question; whether DEC took too long. A read of the opinion (available here with my highlighting of important points) is an exercise in appreciating everything that’s wrong with New York, the courts and the pipeline industry.

Here’s the quick summary of what happened (emphasis added):

Respondents denied the application on the ground that petitioner had not complied with requests for relevant information. Petitioner contends (1) that respondents exceeded the statutory time limitations for the State’s review of the application and that they must therefore be ordered to notify the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) that the State waives its right to issue or deny § 401 certification, thereby allowing USACE to issue a permit to petitioner under § 404 of the Clean Water Act, see 33 U.S.C. § 1344(a); and (2) alternatively, that respondents’ decision should be vacated on the ground that the denial of the application was arbitrary, capricious, and ultra vires, and that respondents should be ordered to grant the requested § 401 certification. To the extent that petitioner challenges the timeliness of respondents’ decision, we conclude that we lack jurisdiction over that challenge. As to the merits, we conclude that respondents’ actions were within their statutory authority and that the decision was not arbitrary or capricious.

DEC, in other words, had authority to deny the permit, but whether it took too long to do so is still up for grabs. Things are still in limbo; a very unsatisfying result for those of us trying so hard to get this project approved since 2012 in the face of New York State political corruption. Despite this, the Constitution Pipeline owns much of the blame for naively cooperating in good faith with DEC and allowing this situation to develop.

Read more:

http://naturalgasnow.org/court-kicks-constitution-pipeline-case-road/