"The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week overruled New York's decision on a natural gas pipeline, clearing the way for construction of a project that state regulators rejected.

Last month, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) denied a water permit to the Valley Lateral Project. In a Friday order, FERC said DEC had taken more than a year to do its review and thus "waived" its authority to do it. Millennium Pipeline Co. said it will ask FERC this week for permission to start building.

The order is one of the first major actions by FERC under Chairman Neil Chatterjee, a Trump appointee. It will further escalate the conflict between state and federal authorities over new fossil infrastructure, setting up a battle that will play out in courts and the regulatory world for months and years to come."

Saqib Rahim reports for EnergyWire September 18, 2017. [2]