By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Sept. 5 -- States should consider developing a model process for speeding the permitting and siting of natural gas pipelines, a working group of state utility regulators and elected officials said.
The gas industry has said a prospective shortfall in pipeline capacity would limit its ability to meet a projected rise in demand. The working group said the existing infrastructure was not planned to meet the rate of gas consumption growth expected in the next decade, particularly demand driven by electric power generation.
The study said barriers to pipeline construction include duplication at several levels of government. The group included representatives from the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, the Department of Energy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of Interior, the American Gas Association (AGA), and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America.
As a result of recent events, "new and expanding businesses often no longer assume needed energy supplies will be available," the report concluded. To expand or develop new businesses, as well as meet basic human needs of the population, it said states must ensure that an adequate energy infrastructure is available.
The National Petroleum Council has estimated more than 38,000 miles of new gas transmission lines will be needed, as well as 263,000 miles of new distribution lines.
The working group said only a few states effectively coordinate the gas pipeline permitting process, while often overlapping federal, state, and local regulatory requirements can add many months -- and sometimes years -- to building a pipeline.
"Consumers won't get to enjoy the benefits of natural gas, such as cleaner air, more jobs at home, and increased energy efficiency, if they can't get the gas delivered to them," said David N. Parker, CEO of the AGA.
To speed pipeline construction, the working group recommended:
-- Governors should promote the elimination of duplicate state and local permitting. The coordinating effort will ensure the applicant provides all data in a timely fashion and will facilitate sharing of information and experts among various federal, state, and local entities.
-- States should decide, prior to beginning a gas pipeline siting process, what data they need and communicate that information to the public and to the pipeline. States should identify all participants in the permitting process and coordinate regulatory roles, with the goal of processing information only once. States should consider naming a lead agency that would monitor processing schedules within existing regulatory requirements.
-- State economic development offices should be involved in the coordination effort and recommend actions to streamline the process.
-- States should work with the federal government to identify regional needs and pipeline-utility corridors. This federal-state effort is endorsed by Executive Order 13212, which President George W. Bush issued May 18, creating a federal task force charged with encouraging coordinated government permitting.
-- States should consider creating task forces to coordinate pipeline environmental issues.
-- States should encourage research by government, universities, and industry to develop pipeline installation techniques that disturb less surface and are completed faster.
-- States should participate in FERC pipeline prefiling meetings and consider developing similar public meetings for intrastate projects.
-- States should encourage pipelines' public education and outreach efforts. Such public education should include adequate information about steps taken to ensure public safety, details of construction, and contingency plans.
-- States should consider developing a model for clear and accessible state and local regulations governing the siting of gas pipelines.