For an embattled natural gas pipeline that has struggled for years to get the federal permits it needs, last month’s debt ceiling deal was like landing a golden ticket from Willy Wonka. A provision effectively approving the Mountain Valley pipeline was tucked into that must-pass bill, thanks to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). But instead of an everlasting gobstopper, Mountain Valley may be chewing on the gum that tastes like a three-course meal and then turns you into a blueberry. Construction of the pipeline — a 300-mile natural gas line from West Virginia to Virginia — has hit legal snag after snag. On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit halted construction for portions of the pipeline crossing Jefferson National Forest in Virginia as it considers whether the Forest Service adequately considered environmental impacts. And on Tuesday, the court stayed a biological opinion on the project from the Fish and Wildlife Service, pending a legal challenge from the Wilderness Society. The opinion — in which the agency determined that the work won’t harm endangered species — is required for key approvals from other agencies. The pipeline’s supporters are apoplectic. Manchin called the order halting construction “unlawful,” with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) following suit. “This latest effort by the activist Fourth Circuit Court flies in the face of the law that was passed by a bipartisan Congress and signed by President Biden,” she tweeted. But environmentalists argue that Congress overreached with the Mountain Valley provisions in the debt ceiling deal. Specifically, they say a provision dismissing legal challenges to the pipeline is unconstitutional. Still, their legal actions may not delay the pipeline for long. The Justice Department this week pushed back on environmentalists’ argument in court. Observers have also speculated that the court’s stay on construction may just be a stopgap until it can be fully briefed on the issue — and that it could clear the pipeline to resume work in the coming days or weeks. But wait, there’s more. Even if Mountain Valley gets built, its 75-mile Southgate expansion running into North Carolina is still very much up in the air, writes Catherine Morehouse. Like the main pipeline, the extension has a long, contentious history: EPA Administrator Michael Regan first denied Southgate’s water quality certifications in 2020, when he ran North Carolina’s environmental division. Southgate wasn’t included in the debt ceiling deal that green-lighted Mountain Valley. That means it could “continue to face some of these legal issues that have plagued Mountain Valley proper for quite some time,” said Matthew Bernstein, a senior shale analyst at Rystad Energy.
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