Dec 182020

Energy Department Issues Final Rule on National Environmental Policy Act Reviews for Liquified Natural Gas

Samuel B. Boxerman and Samina Bharmal
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On December 4, 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy issued a final rule addressing its implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities. The rule provides that DOE does not need to conduct NEPA reviews for LNG export facilities because it lacks authority to approve their construction or operation. Instead, its NEPA analysis would be triggered by the transfer of the LNG to certain cargo ships. The rule is likely to be the target of regulatory rollback from the incoming Biden administration or judicial challenge from environmental groups.

This post is as of the posting date stated above. Sidley Austin LLP assumes no duty to update this post or post about any subsequent developments having a bearing on this post.

Samuel B. Boxerman

Washington, D.C.

sboxerman@sidley.com

Samina Bharmal

sbharmal@sidley.com

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