US natural gas company NextDecade Corporation has confirmed that the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (Court) recently issued an order vacating the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) remand authorisation of NextDecade's Rio Grande LNG Facility at the Port of Brownsville in southern Texas.
The court vacated the remand authorisation on the grounds that the FERC should have issued a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) during its remand process
In a statement, NextDecade said it is "disappointed in the court’s decision and disagrees with its conclusions." The company added that it is reviewing the court’s decision and assessing all of its options.
At this time, construction continues on the first three liquefaction trains and related infrastructure (Phase 1) at the Rio Grande LNG Facility, and the company is evaluating the impact of the court’s decision on the timing of a positive final investment decision (FID) on Train 4.
In 2023, the FERC reapproved Rio Grande LNG, Texas LNG, and the Rio Bravo pipeline. Environmental advocacy group The Sierra Club, the City of Port Isabel, the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, and Vecinos para el Bienestar de la Comunidad Costera sued FERC for what the petitioners claim is the latter's failure to adequately consider the environmental justice impacts and greenhouse gas emissions of the three projects, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act and the Natural Gas Act.
The court upheld most of the petitioners' arguments and vacated the FERC's approvals. The FERC will now have to reconsider the impacts of all three projects, with a new draft supplemental environmental impact statement and a new public comment period, before deciding whether to issue new project permits.