Tag: Carol Miller

Justice: Congress Was ‘Clear And Emphatic’ About Mountain Valley Pipeline

Construction stopped on the project when the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with environmental groups and landowners challenging it.

Gov. Jim Justice has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow construction to resume on the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

“Clear and emphatic.” That’s what Justice says Congress said about the 300-mile natural gas pipeline when it required by law last month the approval of all remaining federal permits.

Still, construction stopped on the project when the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with environmental groups and landowners challenging it.

Justice and others say Congress took the project out of the Fourth Circuit’s jurisdiction.

If completed, the pipeline would run from Wetzel County to Pittsylvania County, Virginia. A proposed extension to North Carolina is also on hold.

U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin, Reps. Carol Miller and Alex Mooney, and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey have all submitted briefs to the Supreme Court in support of the pipeline’s completion.

Morrisey Backs Mountain Valley Pipeline In Supreme Court Brief

Morrisey argues that Congress authorized all outstanding federal permits for the pipeline in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which lawmakers enacted last month.

West Virginia’s Attorney General has joined the chorus of state officials supporting the Mountain Valley Pipeline in its latest court challenge.

The office of Patrick Morrisey submitted a 31-page brief to the U.S. Supreme Court urging the resumption of construction on the natural gas pipeline “without more delay.”

The 300-mile pipeline’s builders asked the Supreme Court to intervene after the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals once again blocked construction on the project.

Morrisey argues that Congress authorized all outstanding federal permits for the pipeline in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which lawmakers enacted last month.

He also said Congress required any further judicial review of the project to take place in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rather than the Fourth Circuit.

U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin and Reps. Carol Miller and Alex Mooney submitted briefs in support of the pipeline. Gov. Jim Justice last week said he would do so.

West Virginia’s Delegation Backs MVP In SCOTUS Briefs

The 300-mile natural gas pipeline is on hold again because the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked construction, siding with environmental groups and landowners.

West Virginia’s entire congressional delegation has filed briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and Republican Reps. Carol Miller and Alex Mooney joined a brief with other lawmakers in support of the project. Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, submitted a separate brief.

The 300-mile natural gas pipeline is on hold again because the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked construction, siding with environmental groups and landowners.

They say the project threatens waterways and could cause soil erosion and methane leaks.

The pipeline’s builders have asked the Supreme Court to overrule the Fourth Circuit and requested a decision by July 27.

In a bill Congress passed last month, lawmakers required the approval of all outstanding federal permits for the project.

Capito: EPA’s New Comment Period On Power Plant Rules Not Enough

Stakeholders now have until Aug. 8 to submit comments instead of July 24.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said she isn’t satisfied with an extension of the public comment period on proposed federal power plant rules.

Capito said the 15-day extension granted this week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency isn’t enough for the stakeholders involved.

They now have until Aug. 8 to submit comments instead of July 24.

“I am concerned that the EPA could only give us another 15 days,” she said in a call with reporters Thursday. “I mean, we asked for measurably more.”

The EPA seeks to require coal- and natural gas-fired power plants, beginning in 2030, to capture carbon dioxide emissions, switch to hydrogen or shut down.

Capito and Rep. Carol Miller of West Virginia have introduced legislation to repeal EPA’s pending rule, which is all but certain to be challenged in the courts by Republican-led states.

Mountain Valley Pipeline Moves Forward In Debt Limit Bill In Congress

The bill includes a requirement that the project receive its final Corps of Engineers permit within 21 days.

The long-stalled Mountain Valley Pipeline is likely to move toward completion within weeks of passage of a bill in Congress.

Late Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill to raise the nation’s borrowing limit. 

The bill includes a requirement that the Mountain Valley Pipeline receive its final Corps of Engineers permit within 21 days.

The bill must first pass the U.S. Senate. And even though both of Virginia’s U.S. senators have vowed to block the pipeline’s inclusion, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said their effort is unlikely to succeed.

“With the 21-day Corps of Engineers requirement,” she said in a briefing with reporters Thursday, “I think you’ll see people beginning to work on this by the first of July.”

The natural gas pipeline has been a top priority of both West Virginia’s U.S. senators.

Environmental and community groups oppose it because of impacts to water quality and the production of natural gas through hydraulic fracturing. They’ve had some success blocking it in federal court, but the bill cuts out the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has delivered consistent rulings against the project.

“Including the Mountain Valley Pipeline in the debt-limit deal is a dangerous precedent and potentially disastrous development for people, wildlife, and water along the project’s route,” said Mustafa Santiago Ali, executive vice president of the National Wildlife Federation.

In the House, Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., voted for the bill that includes it. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., voted no.

“From completing the Mountain Valley Pipeline to cutting government spending,” Miller said in a statement late Wednesday, “voting ‘yes’ on this bill solidifies a conservative win for the American people.”

Mooney, who is challenging Gov. Jim Justice to be the Republican U.S. Senate nominee next year, saw it differently.

“This bill does not have comprehensive permitting reform to support America’s energy production,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “West Virginians are counting on me, a proven conservative, to hold our government accountable.”

U.S. Forest Service Grants Key Permit For Mountain Valley Pipeline

The 300-mile, $6.6 billion pipeline now has a permit to cross the Jefferson National Forest.

Opponents of the Mountain Valley Pipeline have been able to delay permits for the project. Now one has been approved.

Weeks after it got a favorable environmental review from the U.S. Forest Service, the Mountain Valley Pipeline now has a permit to cross the Jefferson National Forest.

The 3.5-mile segment is key to the completion of the 300-mile, $6.6 billion pipeline.

U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, and Rep. Carol Miller, have been some of the pipeline’s biggest supporters

“While I’m pleased with the announcement from the Forest Service, the job isn’t done yet,” Manchin said in a statement Tuesday, “and I will keep pushing the administration and all involved to finally complete the last 20 miles of this vital pipeline.”

Environmental and community groups have opposed it because of its potential effects on rivers and streams in West Virginia and Virginia, as well as the climate impacts of producing and burning natural gas.

The pipeline still needs an assortment of other permits before it can be finished. Manchin and Capito have both reintroduced bills to speed up the permitting process for energy projects.

Manchin has criticized the Biden administration’s energy policies in recent weeks, including new limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

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