The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection erred by issuing permits for a gas pipeline project without granting an adjudicatory hearing to opposing parties, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled in a precedential opinion.

The NJDEP erroneously concluded that state regulations establishing the availability of such hearings are pre-empted by federal law, the appeals court said Wednesday in Township of Bordentown v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.