Collaborative Procedures for Energy Facility Applications

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, (Commission) is issuing a final rule to expand its procedural regulations governing the authorization of natural gas facilities and services. The regulations offer prospective applicants seeking to construct, operate or abandon natural gas facilities or services the option, in appropriate circumstances and prior to filing an application, of designing a collaborative process that includes environmental analysis and issue resolution. This pre-filing collaborative process is comparable to the process the Commission adopted two years ago with respect to applications for hydroelectric licenses, amendments and exemptions and, like those regulations, is optional and is designed to be adaptable to the facts and circumstances of the particular case. The regulations do not delete or replace any existing regulations.