Here are six key items to be aware of today with respect to natural gas pipeline development.

1. State-sovereignty – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently found that the Natural Gas Act (“NGA”) does not inhibit or preclude state sovereign immunity with respect to pipeline condemnation actions and does not give natural gas pipelines the right to condemn property owned by states. This will arguably impose additional obstacles to pipeline development on state-owned land and may allow states to “veto” pipelines that must traverse such land.

2. The Appalachian Trail – The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of a pipeline project that would cross the Appalachian Trail. The Supreme Court ruled that, contrary to opponents’ arguments, the U.S. Forest Service had the authority to authorize the proposed pipeline to cross the Appalachian Trail because it was in a national forest. However, lengthy and costly legal proceedings ultimately resulted in the developer cancelling the project...