FERC Launches LNG Authorization Program to Streamline Permitting, Speed Energy Development
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In a historic, unanimous vote, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proposed accelerating liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure development through a landmark blanket authorization program. The proposal would streamline permitting, speed energy infrastructure development, and deliver unprecedented regulatory certainty for project developers.
In a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR), FERC proposes to establish an LNG blanket authorization program to allow eligible activities at LNG facilities to proceed without case-specific authorization orders under Sections 3 and 7 of the Natural Gas Act. The program is modeled on the Commission’s successful 40-year blanket certificate program for interstate natural gas pipelines.
“American energy dominance requires us to build and maintain the energy infrastructure our country needs without unnecessary delay. I am immensely proud of FERC’s historic proposal. It shows what can be possible when we combine regulatory excellence, robust safeguards, and a firm commitment to the nation’s energy future,” said FERC Chairman Laura Swett.
“Consumers benefit when more energy infrastructure is online, dependable, and affordable, and FERC is helping make that future a reality,” added Swett.
FERC is proposing a three-tiered authorization framework under which certain activities could proceed automatically, with periodic reporting, while others would require advance notice to the Commission.
THE PROPOSED CATEGORIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
• Automatic Authorization
Activities that would not increase an LNG plant’s authorized capacity, expand the authorized vertical or horizontal extents within the plant’s footprint, or cause flows, levels, volumes, pressures, temperatures, compositions, or loads to exceed applicable design limits.
• 60-day Prior Notice
Activities that may increase the plant’s authorized capacity but remain within the plant’s footprint and do not cause operating conditions to exceed the design limits of the affected or remaining facilities.
• 90-day Prior Notice
Construction of new LNG facilities — such as liquefaction trains, LNG tanks, and marine berths — and related auxiliary systems, including those located outside the plant’s footprint, subject to limitations on facility type, location, and size.
FERC’s NOPR also proposes standard environmental and engineering design conditions to address the potential impacts of projects approved under the blanket authorization program, as well as other requirements to ensure compliance with all applicable laws.
Interested parties will have 60 days after the NOPR is published in the Federal Register to submit comments.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates the interstate transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas and regulates the prices of interstate transport of petroleum by pipeline.
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