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Register entry No. 0001Environmental review149 FERC ¶ 61,199; Docket Nos. CP13-499-000, CP13-502-000

FERC sets Aug. 21 date for environmental assessment on Constitution Pipeline reissuance, Docket CP13-499-006

A June 24 notice, published in the Federal Register today, says FERC staff will prepare an environmental assessment rather than a new impact statement for the 125-mile Pennsylvania-to-New York gas line certificated in 2014 and never built.

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Summary

Staff at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will prepare an environmental assessment, not a new environmental impact statement, for the Constitution Pipeline and Wright Interconnect Projects. The notice, dated June 24, 2026 and published today at 91 FR 39091, sets issuance of the assessment for August 21, 2026 and a 90-day deadline of November 19, 2026 for other agencies’ authorization decisions [1]. It was issued under Docket Nos. CP13-499-006 and CP13-502-003 and signed by Secretary Debbie-Anne A. Reese [1].

What the record shows: what Constitution and Iroquois want reissued

Two petitions are before the Commission. Constitution Pipeline Company, LLC filed on December 19, 2025, and Iroquois Gas Transmission System, L.P. on February 13, 2026, each “seeking reissuance of certificates of public convenience and necessity” for projects the Commission certificated on December 2, 2014 that “were not completed” [1]. Constitution brought its request under section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act and Part 157 of the Commission’s regulations [3].

The pipeline is about 125 miles of 30-inch pipe in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, and Broome, Chenango, Delaware and Schoharie Counties, New York. The facility list includes two new meter stations, ten communication towers, eleven mainline valves and a pig launcher and receiver, plus 22,000 horsepower of added compression at the existing Wright Compressor Station and a modified or new delivery meter to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline [1]. The April scoping notice put the route at 124.4 miles. It said construction would disturb about 1,871.5 acres, that 761.5 acres would be kept for operation, and that about nine percent of the route parallels existing pipeline, utility or road rights-of-way [2].

Constitution says its facilities “would match its original proposal” apart from limited variances the Commission already approved. Those include the Turnpike Road metering and regulating station in Susquehanna County and the Westfall Road station at Wright [3]. The design capacity is unchanged: 650,000 dekatherms per day of firm service from Pennsylvania production areas to New York and New England, offered under the same pro forma tariff and Rate Schedules FT, IT and PAL. Constitution has said it will update its facility costs and recourse rates [3].

Iroquois’s petition says the Wright Interconnect’s scope “has not changed.” It asks to build a receipt interconnection with Constitution and a 21,800-horsepower transfer compressor station, modify the Wright station and its metering, and abandon the new capacity by lease to Constitution. Iroquois put the updated cost at $152,264,000 [7]. FERC’s February notice called the two projects “inextricably linked” [7].

Constitution’s petition also asks the Commission to reaffirm that New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation waived its authority under section 401 of the Clean Water Act “by failing or refusing to act” on a certification request within one year [3]. It incorporates the exhibits from the June 13, 2013 application, the full CP13-499-000 record and the waiver determination in Docket No. CP18-5-000 [3].

The schedule notice summarizes scoping comments as “requests for restarting the environmental review process, requests to prepare an environmental impact statement, and objections to Constitution’s petition to affirm New York’s waiver.” Others raised wetland and waterbody crossings, forest clearing, habitat fragmentation, alternatives and “harms associated with previously cleared properties.” Staff will address “all substantive comments” in the assessment [1]. A footnote ties the November 19 date to 18 CFR 157.22(a), and the review carries NEPA tracking number EAXX-019-20-000-1780563178 [1].

Where it sits in the process: what happens after the Aug. 21 assessment

How the project got here. Commission staff issued a final EIS on October 24, 2014 [1]. The certificate order followed, 149 FERC ¶ 61,199, with rehearing denied at 154 FERC ¶ 61,046 in 2016 [3]. New York’s DEC then denied the water permits for stream and wetland crossings, and on August 18, 2017 a federal appeals court upheld that denial, agreeing the state could review the “likely effects” on its waters [8]. In 2019 FERC concluded DEC had waived its section 401 authority, 168 FERC ¶ 61,129, and denied rehearing at 169 FERC ¶ 61,199 [3]. Williams canceled the project in February 2020 and took a $354 million write-down, of which its share was $145 million; its partners were Duke Energy, Cabot and AltaGas [9]. On November 18, 2021, the Second Circuit vacated both the certificate order and the waiver order in New York State Department of Environmental Conservation v. FERC, No. 19-4338 [3].

This year’s sequence. FERC issued notices of the petitions on January 8 and February 24, 2026 [1]. Interventions on Constitution’s petition were due January 29, and parties to the original dockets did not need to refile [3]. Interventions on Iroquois’s were due March 17 [7]. The scoping notice, dated April 3 and published April 8, asked what had “changed since the issuance of the 2014 final EIS,” took comments through May 4 and re-initiated consultation under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act [2]. It also said staff would choose between an assessment and an EIS after scoping; an EIS would have meant a notice of intent, a draft and a final [2]. Trade press noted the schedule came more than two months after scoping [4, 5].

What comes next. The assessment “will be issued for public comment,” and the Commission would weigh those comments before deciding on the petitions [1, 2]. Since the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, NEPA has capped an environmental assessment at 75 pages, excluding citations and appendices [10]. The same amendments set a general one-year deadline for finishing an assessment, counted from the earliest of the agency’s decision to prepare one, its notice that a right-of-way application is complete, or its notice of intent [10]. The schedule notice does not say which trigger staff treat as the start date here [1].

Landowners along the route are on the Commission’s environmental mailing list, which takes in affected landowners as the Commission’s regulations define them: potential right-of-way grantors, owners whose land may be used temporarily and owners of homes within set distances of aboveground facilities [2]. The scoping notice pointed them to FERC’s fact sheet “An Interstate Natural Gas Facility On My Land? What Do I Need To Know?”, which covers eminent domain and how to take part in the proceeding [2]. Other agencies face the November 19 decision date. If the schedule slips, “additional notice will be provided” [1].

What the record does not show

There is no indication of how FERC will rule on either petition, or whether staff will find the 2014 analysis adequate. The schedule notice records requests for a new EIS but does not answer them [1]. No date is set for a Commission order.

The water quality question is open. The January notice cites the 2019 waiver order and its 2021 vacatur in the same footnote [3]. It does not explain how the Commission would treat a request to reaffirm a determination that a court has set aside, and the June notice adds nothing on that point [1].

Constitution’s updated facility cost and recourse rates are not in any notice; only Iroquois has filed a new figure [3, 7]. The length of the comment period on the assessment is also unstated [1].

Positions on the record

New York’s DEC said on January 28 that it had filed with FERC opposing Constitution’s petition. The department “did not waive its Clean Water Act Section 401 authority,” the statement says, and it will pursue available options to protect the state’s interests [6].

After the 2017 ruling, a Constitution spokesman said, “we are pleased with the court’s resolution of this jurisdictional issue” [8].

E&E News reported that the pipeline, proposed by Williams Companies, has strong administration backing, and that Williams and officials including EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin say it will help lower costs for Northeast consumers. The same report said President Trump had earlier in June criticized Gov. Kathy Hochul over an alleged deal on pipelines and wind projects, which her office denies [4]. None of that appears in the FERC notice.

Pipeline & Gas Journal reported the same dates and listed commenters’ issues as a new impact statement, Clean Water Act permitting and habitat fragmentation [5].

Reading-room questions

Questions readers bring to this record, answered from the documents cited below.

When will FERC release the environmental assessment for the Constitution Pipeline?
August 21, 2026, under the staff schedule published June 29 [1]. The assessment goes out for public comment, but the notice does not say how many days that comment window will last [1].
Is FERC doing a new environmental impact statement for Constitution Pipeline?
No, not under the current schedule. Staff picked an environmental assessment that builds on the October 2014 final EIS, although some scoping commenters had asked for a fresh EIS [1, 2].
What is the deadline for other agencies to act on Constitution Pipeline permits?
November 19, 2026. That 90-day date binds federal agencies and state agencies using delegated federal authority under the Natural Gas Act, unless another federal law sets a different schedule [1].
Did New York waive its Clean Water Act certification for Constitution Pipeline?
That is the disputed question. Constitution wants FERC to reaffirm a 2019 waiver finding that the Second Circuit vacated in 2021, and New York's DEC says it never waived its section 401 authority [3, 6].
Why was the Constitution Pipeline never built?
New York denied the water quality certification the project needed, an appeals court upheld that denial in August 2017, and Williams dropped the project in February 2020 with a $354 million write-down [8, 9].
Where would the Constitution Pipeline run?
From Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, through Broome, Chenango, Delaware and Schoharie Counties in New York to the Wright Compressor Station operated by Iroquois, about 125 miles of 30-inch pipe in all [1, 3].

Note on sourcing

The April scoping notice gives Feb. 17 as the date of the Iroquois petition; the June schedule notice and the Iroquois petition notice both give Feb. 13, which this report uses. FERC's notices describe the mainline as about 125 miles (June) and 124.4 miles (April), and the compression at Wright as 22,000 horsepower of added compression (June) and a 21,800-horsepower transfer compressor station (Iroquois petition notice); both figures are reported as each document states them. The piece does not draw on the underlying petitions, the comments filed in response to the scoping notice, or any statement from Williams, Iroquois or FERC beyond the notices. DEC's position is taken from its own January statement, which summarizes a filing rather than reproducing it. The account of the 2017 appeals decision and the 2020 cancellation is from trade press, not the court opinion or Williams filings. The political context reported by E&E News is not confirmed in any FERC document.

Sources

  1. Constitution Pipeline Company, LLC; Iroquois Gas Transmission System, L.P.: Notice of Schedule for the Preparation of an Environmental Assessment for the Constitution Pipeline and Wright Interconnect Projects, 91 FR 39091 (FR Doc. 2026-13088)Federal Register (FERC), June 29, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  2. Constitution Pipeline Company, LLC; Iroquois Gas Transmission System, L.P.: Notice of Scoping Period Requesting Comments on Environmental Issues, 91 FR 17798 (FR Doc. 2026-06767)Federal Register (FERC), April 8, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  3. Constitution Pipeline Company, LLC; Notice of Petition and Establishing Intervention Deadline, 91 FR 1311 (FR Doc. 2026-00481)Federal Register (FERC), January 13, 2026 · federalregister.gov
  4. FERC details plans for environmental review of Constitution gas lineE&E News, June 25, 2026 · eenews.net
  5. FERC details environmental review plans for Constitution PipelinePipeline & Gas Journal, June 25, 2026 · pgjonline.com
  6. DEC statement on opposition filings for proposed Constitution Pipeline projectNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation, January 28, 2026 · dec.ny.gov
  7. Iroquois Gas Transmission System, L.P.; Notice of Petition and Establishing Intervention Deadline, 91 FR 9847 (FR Doc. 2026-03948)Federal Register (FERC), February 27, 2026 · govinfo.gov
  8. Federal Court Backs Denial of Constitution Pipeline's Water PermitsPipeline & Gas Journal, August 18, 2017 · pgjonline.com
  9. Williams cancels Constitution natural gas pipelineOil & Gas Journal, February 24, 2020 · ogj.com
  10. Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, Pub. L. 118-5, sec. 321 (Builder Act amendments to NEPA)U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo), June 3, 2023 · govinfo.gov

Subject headings

Cross-references

Other register entries filed under the same subject headings.

  1. No. 0030 · Report · 3 shared headingsFERC opens scoping on Longboard LNG import terminal off Oʻahu, Docket No. PF26-10-000
  2. No. 0031 · Floor order · 2 shared headingsSenate order sets Nov. 9 cloture vote on motion to proceed to H.R. 2347, the vehicle for a permitting package
  3. No. 0026 · Record of decision · 2 shared headingsFERC staff issues final EIS for Sabine Pass Stage 5 LNG expansion, Docket No. CP24-75-001