December 3, 2020: On Tuesday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion explaining its earlier decision to stay the Army Corps of Engineers' stream and wetland crossing permits, known as Nationwide Permit 12, for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a 304-mile pipeline that would transport fracked gas from West Virginia to Virginia. The Sierra Club and its partners are also challenging plans to extend the pipeline into North Carolina.
As background, in 2017, under its Clean Water Act authority, West Virginia had adopted a special condition providing that all pipelines with a diameter of 36 inches or more must have an individual water quality certification. That special condition then became part of the Army Corps' Nationwide Permit 12 in West Virginia. But following litigation by the Sierra Club and its allies, West Virginia tried to change the rules for Mountain Valley Pipeline, which is 42 inches in diameter.
The court stayed the new Nationwide Permit 12 verifications after finding that the Sierra Club and its allies are likely to succeed on the merits of their challenge to the Corps' incorporation of the modified special condition. The court concluded that West Virginia likely lacked authority to modify the special condition, and the Corps' Division Engineer likely lacked authority to incorporate the modification into Nationwide Permit 12.
The Sierra Club and its partners are represented by Appalachian Mountain Advocates.