As we discussed in the June edition of the Forest Advocate, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the Commission) announced in the Spring it was seeking comments on whether, and if so, how it should revise its process for certifying new natural gas transportation facilities.
The Forest Society submitted a letter in response to this request.
On July 20, the Land Trust Alliance, of which we are a member, also submitted comments to FERC. LTA’s letter amplifies many of the concerns we voiced to the Commission. Specifically:
Conserved lands provide significant benefits to both people and ecosystems contained in them.
Given these deep benefits, FERC must institute a policy which places the avoidance and minimization of impacts to these protected conservation lands on par with the standard it currently uses to make the threshold determination of whether an interstate natural gas project can proceed without subsidies from its existing customers. In other words, give environmental protection issues equal weight to economic ones.
FERC closed the comment period on July 20. It is our hope the Commission will incorporate the changes we and the LTA have proposed when it issues a revised policy on the certification of interstate natural gas pipelines.