BEFORE

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION


Algonquin Gas Transmission/Spectra ) Docket CP16-9
Atlantic Bridge Project


REQUEST FOR REHEARING OF LETTER GRANTING NOTICE TO PROCEED

By letter dated March 27, 2017 and over the objection of several intervenors and

other aggrieved parties,1 Alisa Lykens, Branch Chief within the Office of Energy Projects

approved Algonquin Gas Transmissions (Algonquin) request for a notice to proceed with

construction of several project facilities located in Connecticut and authorized under the

certificate for the project issued by the Commission on January 25, 2017. Because the

Commission lacks a quorum, and Ms. Lykens, as Branch Chief, lacks authority under either

the Commissions delegation regulations or under the terms of the certificate itself, the

approval of the notice to proceed is a nullity. Moreover, even if the grant of Algonquins

notice to proceed is deemed to have force and effect, it violates the express terms of the

Condition 9 of the Certificate because Spectra has not obtained all required federal

authorizations, which are a prerequisite to construction.

Accordingly, Food & Water Watch, Fore River Residents Against the Compressor

Station (FRRACS), Weymouth Councilor Rebecca Haugh, 350 Massachusetts South Shore

Node, Eastern Connecticut Green Action, Stop The Algonquin Pipeline Expansion, Safe

Energy Rights Group, Toxics Action Center, Dragonfly Climate Collective, 350 Connecticut,

Berkshire Environmental Action Team, No Fracked Gas in Mass., West Roxbury Saves

Energy, Keep Yorktown Safe, and Grassroots Environmental Education (Coalition) seek

1 See Protest of Food and Water Watch, FRAACS et. al. Opposing Algonquins

Request for Notice to Proceed (filed March 20, 2017).

rehearing of Algonquins request for a Notice to Proceed with construction in Connecticut.

This request is filed pursuant to 18 C.F.R. 713 (providing for rehearing) and 18 C.F.R.

1902 (providing that any staff action taken pursuant to delegated authority is a final

agency action subject to a request for rehearing).

CONCISE STATEMENT OF ERRORS AND ISSUES FOR REHEARING

1. Does the letter granting Algonquins notice to proceed have any force or
effect given that the Commission lacks a quorum, and Ms. Lykens has
not been delegated authority under the Commissions regulations or
the certificate to approve a notice to proceed.

No. Because the Commission lacks a quorum and cannot rule on the Coalitions

pending petition for rehearing or stay request, it similarly lacks authority to approve a

notice to proceed. Moreover, neither 18 C.F.R. 375.308 which lists the Commission

functions delegated to the Office of Energy Projects, nor the Certificate, which requires the

Director of the Office of Energy Projects to approve a notice to proceed, grant a Branch

Chief the power to act on an NTP particularly one that is disputed.

2. Was the NTP erroneously approved?

Yes. Condition 9 of the Certificate provides that commencement of construction may

not begin until all federal authorizations have been provided. Here, Algonquins

applications for authorizations such as the CZMA are still outstanding.

ARGUMENT

A. The Authorization of the NTP Has No Force and Effect.

1. The Commission Lacks a Quorum

The coalition is in the unusual position of having submitted a Request for

Rehearing and a Motion for Stay on February 24, 2017 to the Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission (FERC) on the project, and there is no quorum at the Commission following
the resignation of Chairman Bay on February 3, 2017. While FERC staff issued a tolling

order in response to Rehearing Requests for the Atlantic Bridge project on March 27,

2017, there can be no response to the substance of our Rehearing Request nor a response

to our Motion for Stay in the absence of a quorum. Three other parties have submitted

Rehearing Requests, including the Town of Weymouth, Sandra Peters and Michael and

Lori Hayden. Also, the Town of Weymouth and Sandra Peters submitted Motions for Stay.

It is unfair for FERC to proceed with granting Algonquins Request for Notice to Proceed

(NTP) with construction in CT without first responding, at the very least, to our stay

request and the two other stay requests.

2. A Branch Chief cannot grant a request for an NTP, let alone in a

contested proceeding.

The request of the NTP was granted by Alisa Lykens, a Branch Chief within the

Office of Energy Projects. However, she lacks any authority to make this decision.

Unless the Commission delegates its authority, the Commission itself must make a

decision in all proceedings, particularly in contested actions. Because this scheme would

be unmanageable, the Commission has delegated authority to staff pursuant to 18 C.F.R.

385.308. However, a quick review of this regulation does not indicate that the

Commission delegated authority to either the Office of Energy Projects (OEP) or Branch

Chiefs to act on contested NTP requests.

Condition 9 of the Certificate provides that the Director of OEP can provide written

authorization of commencement of construction. However, Ms. Lykens is only a Branch

Chief, not a Director. Moreover, the Director cannot now retroactively authorize the

branch chief to act because this sub-delegation would also require Commission approval

because it requires an amendment to the certificate.

 Because a Branch Chief lacks the power to grant an NTP, the letter dated March 27,

2017 is without force and effect and must be rescinded.

B. The NTP Violates the Certificate

Condition 9 of the Certificate requires an applicant to submit proof of receipt of all

federal authorizations prior to being able to commence construction. Here, not all of the

federal permits have been issued. The Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Agency

will not review the project until August 2017, and the Massachusetts Department of

Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has not issued a Chapter 91 Waterways license. The

Weymouth Conservation Commission denied a wetlands permit, which was appealed to

MassDEP, where the matter is currently stayed, and, in a further complication, the Town of

Weymouth is suing Spectra and the company that sold the land to Spectra, Calpine, because

the sale apparently involved illegally subdividing the land. Also, the New York State

Department of Environmental Conservation has not issued the Section 401 permit under

the Clean Water Act.

REQUEST FOR RELIEF

For the foregoing reasons, the Commission should declare the NTP null and void, or

alternatively, find that the grant of the NTP violates the terms of the certificate and should

be rescinded. No NTP should be issued until all approvals under federal law are granted.

Respectfully submitted,

Karina Wilkinson
c/o Food & Water Watch
142 High Street, Suite 501C
Portland, Maine 04101
kwilkinson@fwwlocal.org

Alex Beauchamp, Northeast Region Director
Food & Water Watch
147 Prince St. 4th Floor, No. 7
Brooklyn, New York 11201
abeauchamp@fwwatch.org

Alice Arena, Lead
Fore River Residents Against the Compressor Station
6 Blueberry Street
Weymouth MA 02188.
Aliceandrob88@gmail.com

Rebecca Haugh, Weymouth Councilor
34 Evans Street,
Weymouth MA 02191
rebecca.a.haugh@gmail.com

Laura Burns, Co-Coordinator
South Shore Node
350 Massachusetts for a Better Future
232 Leavitt St.
Hingham, MA 02043
Laura.burns@verizon.net

Lois Happe
Eastern Connecticut Green Action
10C Sycamore Drive
Storrs, CT 06268
lkhappe@yahoo.com

Courtney Williams
Stop The Algonquin Pipeline Expansion
29 Highland Road
Rye, New York 10580
mazafratz@yahoo.com

Claire B.W. Miller, Lead Organizer
Toxics Action Center
MA: 294 Washington St, Suite 500, Boston, MA 02108
CT: 2074 Park Street, #210 Hartford, CT 06106
Claire@toxicsaction.org

350 CT
Ben Martin, Steering Committee
329 Ward St
Wallingford, CT 06492
organizers@350CT.org


Dan Fischer, Co-Founder
Dragonfly Climate Collective
(formerly Capitalism vs. the Climate)
272 Huyadi Ave
Fairfield, CT 06824
dfischer@riseup.net

Nancy S. Vann, President
Safe Energy Rights Group
201 Union Ave
Peekskill, NY 10566
nancy@SEnRG.org

Jane Winn, Executive Director
Berkshire Environmental Action Team
29 Highland Avenue
Pittsfield, MA 01201
413-230-7321
jane@thebeatnews.org

Rosemary Wessel, Founder
No Fracked Gas in Mass
90 Trow Road
Cummington, MA 01026
wsrw@verizon.net

Rickie Harvey, Chair of Steering Committee
West Roxbury Saves Energy
158 Wachusett Street, Unit 3
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
wrse@westroxburysavesenergy.org

Paul Moskowitz , Spokesperson
Keep Yorktown Safe
2015 Hunterbrook Road
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
spinorbit@hotmail.com

Patricia Wood, Executive Director
Grassroots Environmental Education
52 Main Street
Port Washington, New York 11050
pjw@grassrootsinfo.org