Amendment would give National Park Service clear authority to allow natural-gas pipeline construction

"Legislation is pending in Congress that would give the National Park Service clear authority to allow construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline beneath the Appalachian Trail and Blue Ridge Parkway, both potentially critical obstacles under litigation pending in the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals," Michael Martz reports for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The Fourth Circuit has proved a formidable stumbling block for the 600-mile natural-gas pipeline: it halted construction in early August after throwing out two necessary permits, arguing that one permit violated the agency's mandate to preserve the environment, and another permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not adequately assess the project's impact on threatened and endangered species. The court also stayed the permit the U.S. Forest Service issued for the pipeline to cross the Appalachian Trail on land in the George Washington National Forest. 

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission allowed construction to resume in September after its builders, led by Dominion Energy, reissued the revised permits on the $7 billion project.

The measure has been proposed as an amendment to the end-of-year omnibus spending bill, and its chances are shaky; Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., opposes it. "The legal battle carries high stakes for the pipeline, which must cross the parkway and national scenic trail on its path from gas-producing shale fields in West Virginia through the heart of Virginia to the Atlantic Coast and eastern North Carolina," Martz reports.