United States Fourth Circuit

On petitions for review of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rulemaking decision in connection with FERC's implementation of the new section 216 of the Federal Power Act (FPA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the petitions were granted and denied in part, where the FPA does not grant FERC permitting jurisdiction when a state withholds approval of a permit application for more than one year.

Appellate Information

• Decided 02/18/2009
• Published 02/18/2009

Judges

• Before MICHAEL and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges, and RICHARD L. VOORHEES, United States District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, sitting by designation.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  Jonathan D. Feinberg, NYS Public Service Commission, Albany, New York;  Belina Anderson, Gilberti, Stinziano, Heintz & Smith, P.C., New York, New York, for Petitioners.  Robert Harris Solomon, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, for Respondent.  Brian R. Gish, Davis, Wright & Tremaine, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Intervenors.   ON BRIEF:  John W. Montgomery, Jr., Montgomery & Simpson, L.L.P., Richmond, Virginia, for Petitioner Piedmont Environmental Council;  Peter McGowan, Acting General Counsel to the Public Service Commission of the State of New York, Sean Mullany, Assistant Counsel, NYS Public Service Commission, Albany, New York, for Petitioners Public Service Commission of the State of New York (N.Y.PSC) and People of the State of New York;  Lori Swanson, Attorney General, Kari Zipko, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, for Petitioner Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.  Kevin C. Murphy, Brenda D. Colella, Gilberti, Stinziano, Heintz & Smith, P.C., Syracuse, New York, for Petitioner Communities Against Regional Interconnect.  Cynthia A. Marlette, General Counsel, Lona T. Perry, Senior Attorney, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, for Respondent.  Barbara D. Underwood, Solicitor General, Benjamin N. Gutman, Deputy Solicitor General, Denise A. Hartman, Assistant Solicitor General, Maureen F. Leary, Assistant Attorney General of Counsel, Lisa M. Burianek, Assistant Attorney General of Counsel, Andrew M. Cuomo, Attorney General of the State of New York, Albany, New York;  Terry Goddard, Attorney General of the State of Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona;  Christopher Kempley, Chief Counsel, Janice Alward, Keith Layton, Arizona Corporation Commission, Phoenix, Arizona;  Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General of the State of California, Tim Patterson, Deputy Attorney General, San Diego, California;  Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General of the State of Connecticut, Michael Wertheimer, Kimberly P. Massicotte, Hartford, Connecticut;  Joseph R. Biden, III, Attorney General of the State of Delaware, Kevin P. Maloney, Deputy Attorney General, Delaware Department of Justice, Wilmington, Delaware;  Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of the State of Illinois, Jane Elinor Notz, Deputy Solicitor General, Chicago, Illinois;  Tom Miller, Attorney General of the State of Iowa, Eric J. Tabor, Chief of Staff, Iowa Attorney General's Office, Des Moines, Iowa;  Gregory D. Stumbo, Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Douglas Scott Porter, Assistant Attorney General, Frankfort, Kentucky;  Catherine Cortes Masto, Attorney General of the State of Nevada, James T. Spencer, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Carson City, Nevada;  Kelly A. Ayotte, Attorney General of the State of New Hampshire, Concord, New Hampshire;  Marc Dann, Attorney General of the State of Ohio, Benjamin C. Mizer, Deputy Solicitor General, Columbus, Ohio;  Hardy Myers, Attorney General of the State of Oregon, Philip Schradle, Special Counsel, Salem, Oregon;  Scott Perry, Assistant Counsel, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania;  John A. Levin, Assistant Counsel, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania;  Patrick C. Lynch, Attorney General of the State of Rhode Island, Rebecca Tedford Partington, Deputy Chief, Civil Division, Providence, Rhode Island;  Darrell V. McGraw, Jr., Attorney General of the State of West Virginia, Fran Hughes, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, Charleston, West Virginia;  Bruce A. Salzburg, Attorney General of the State of Wyoming, Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the States of New York, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Wyoming, Amici Supporting Petitioners.  Daniel M. Adamson, Davis, Wright & Tremaine, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Intervenors Edison Electric Institute, American Public Power Association, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, American Wind Energy Association, and San Diego Gas & Electric Company;  Edward H. Comer, Vice President and General Counsel, Henri D. Bartholomot, Director, Regulatory Legal Issues, Edison Electric Institute, Washington, DC, for Intervenor Edison Electric Institute;  Susan N. Kelly, Vice President of Policy Analysis and General Counsel, American Public Power Association, Washington, DC, for Intervenor American Public Power Association;  Robert E. Gramlich, Policy Director, American Wind Energy Association, Washington, DC, for Intervenor American Wind Energy Association;  Wallace Tillman, Vice President and General Counsel, Richard Meyer, Senior Regulatory Counsel, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Arlington, Virginia, for Intervenor National Rural Electric Cooperative Association;  E. Gregory Barnes, San Diego Gas & Electric Company, San Diego, California, for Intervenor San Diego Gas & Electric Company;  Anna J. Valdberg, Southern California Edison Company, Rosemead, California, Alice E. Loughram, Jennifer L. Key, Steptoe & Johnson, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Intervenor Southern California Edison Company;  Donald A. Kaplan, John L. Longstreth, William M. Keyser, III, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis, L.L.P., Washington, DC, for Intervenor PPL Electric Utilities Corporation;  Tegan M. Flynn, Stephen Angle, Andrew N. Beach, Vinson & Elkins, Washington, DC, for Intervenors Allegheny Power and Trans-Allegheny Interstate Line Company.