CPUC Appeals LNG Jurisdiction

The California Public Utilities Commission asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals January 3 to reject the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission?s claim of exclusive jurisdiction over siting Sound Energy Solutions? (SES) proposed liquefied natural gas facility in Long Beach. The siting battle was expected to land in court after FERC rejected?twice?the CPUC?s claim that the state has authority over health and safety aspects of intrastate gas facilities. State regulators have ?a long history of protecting the citizens of California, and we are not going to be ousted by FERC,? said Harvey Morris, CPUC attorney. ?SES?s proposed LNG facility, which would put at risk neighborhoods in two of California?s most populous cities (Los Angeles and Long Beach), raises issues that go to the core of the state?s police powers?the sovereign authority of the state to protect the health and safety of its citizens,? according to the CPUC brief. It notes that it does not oppose the development of LNG plants, only denial of permitting authority. FERC?s policy is not to comment on lawsuits. ?We will speak our mind when the briefs are submitted,? said Tamara Young-Allen, FERC spokesperson. Calls for comment to Sound Energy were not returned by press time. FERC members assert that their exclusive jurisdiction over LNG siting would provide uniform oversight, construction, and operation of the facilities ( Circuit , June 18, 2004). The jurisdictional tug of war is not limited to California or the courts. The Bush administration and Republican lawmakers are expected to push for federal legislation that would explicitly give federal regulators sole say over LNG siting across the U.S. ?Expect a dogfight,? Morris said. Last year, Congress member Lee Terry (R-Nebraska) authored a bill that would exclude state influence over the siting of terminals that warm frigid, imported gas. In late November, FERC?s permitting authority was strengthened by language surreptitiously slipped into a conference report accompanying the omnibus appropriations bill (i>Circuit , Nov. 29, 2004). (Court docket #04-73650 and #04-75240)

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CPUC Appeals LNG Jurisdiction

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