Spencer Fane attorney Amy L. Mitchell wrote the article A Fifth Circuit Showdown Over Pipeline Expansion: Gas Transmission NW, LLC Vs FERC, recently published by World Pipelines.
In Amy’s article, which originated as a firm blog post, she discusses that the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Gas Transmission NW, LLC v. FERC involves a dispute over how a federal agency evaluated a natural gas pipeline expansion project. She noted that the court upheld FERC’s approach to separating maintenance work from expansion for environmental review and cost allocation purposes. She also emphasized that the ruling reinforces the agency’s established process and defers to its technical decision-making.
“While FERC’s critics garnered a passionate, multifaceted challenge, the court ultimately validated the agency’s segmented approach and reserved detailed economic questions for future proceedings,” Amy wrote. “The result is a textbook example of administrative law’s limits, the continued importance of procedure in energy infrastructure litigation, and a win for regulatory clarity over far-reaching change.”
At the firm, Amy represents clients through a wide range of litigation matters, including personal injury, construction defect, oil and gas, commercial litigation, shareholder disputes, class actions, multiparty death cases, and appeals. During nearly four decades as an attorney, she has handled more than 3,000 litigation cases and successfully tried over 80 trials by utilizing her multifaceted skills as a powerful trial advocate and certified arbitrator to achieve favorable outcomes both in and out of the courtroom.
Read Amy’s full article here.