A U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania judge has ruled in a case of first impression that the federal Natural Gas Act forbids the state Environmental Hearing Board from reviewing permits issued by the state Department of Environmental Protection under federal law. Any review of such permits must be requested from a federal appeals court.
In Tennessee Gas Pipeline v. Delaware Riverkeeper Network, U.S. District Judge Robert D. Mariani granted plaintiff Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.’s amended motion for emergency preliminary injunction, finding that three permits the DEP issued to the company pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act were precluded, under the NGA, from review by the EHB.
