Federal court upholds Pennsylvania permits for Transco pipeline, ties environmental rights claims to permit rules
The Third Circuit confirmed that federal arbitrary-and-capricious review governs challenges to state permits for interstate gas pipelines, and that meeting Pennsylvania's permit rules almost always satisfies the state's constitutional environmental duty.
Interstate gas pipeline developers defending Pennsylvania water and erosion permits have a precedential federal ruling that reviews those permits deferentially and treats compliance with the permit rules as almost always meeting the state constitution's environmental duty. On October 14, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the federal appeals court for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and the U.S. Virgin Islands, denied a petition for review in Del. Riverkeeper Network v. Pa. Env't Hearing Bd., No. 25-2134 (3d Cir. Oct. 14, 2026), and upheld permits the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection ("DEP") issued to Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company ("Transco").
Del. Riverkeeper Network v. Pa. Env't Hearing Bd., No. 25-2134 (3d Cir. Oct. 14, 2026); 15 U.S.C. § 717r(d)(1); 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A); Pa. Const. art. I, § 27