FERC Proposes Tiered LNG Blanket Authorizations, Drops Routine Air Modeling
The October 15 NOPR would tier LNG authorizations like pipelines while a companion draft policy drops air dispersion modeling — schedule relief for developers, litigation exposure for states.
On October 15, 2026, FERC took two linked steps to speed gas infrastructure permitting under Natural Gas Act sections 3 and 7. Its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Docket RM26-2-001) would create a first-ever three-tier blanket authorization program for LNG facilities: automatic authorization for in-footprint replacements and modifications, 60-day prior notice for capacity increases within the authorized footprint, and 90-day prior notice for new liquefaction trains, tanks and marine berths (capped at 25 acres of disturbed land). It borrows from the Part 157 pipeline program but sets no cost thresholds, allows five years to reach service, and still requires notices to proceed from the Office of Energy Projects. Existing authorization holders must apply; they are not grandfathered. A companion draft policy statement (PL26-3-000) would end routine air dispersion modeling and use Clean Air Act compliance as the NEPA significance benchmark.
Why it matters: developers, lenders and state agencies could gain schedule certainty for brownfield expansions, but the NOPR creates no new categorical exclusion — blanket projects would still require a programmatic EIS, leaving NEPA exposure open. Commissioner Chang's dissent flags "substantial appellate risk" and loss of local health data; the Seven County decision and BAAJA (S. 5653) suggest litigation. Watch comments due November 16, 2026 on the policy statement and roughly 60 days after Federal Register publication on the NOPR.