Columbia Riverkeeper v. United States Coast Guard

This appeal addresses one of the several administrative proceedings in which Columbia Riverkeeper, Columbia-Pacific Common Sense, and Wahkiakum Friends of the River (collectively Riverkeeper) have attempted to intervene in an effort to prevent LNG Development Company, LLC (doing business as Oregon LNG), from constructing a liquefied natural gas facility and pipeline along the Columbia River in Oregon. As part of the lengthy terminal siting process, the Coast Guard provided the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with a letter of recommendation (sometimes referred to as a LOR) regarding the suitability of the waterway for vessel traffic associated with the proposed facility. Riverkeeper petitions for review of the Coast Guard’s issuance of the letter of recommendation, contending that we have jurisdiction under 15 U.S.C. § 717r(d)(l), which authorizes judicial review of agency orders and actions that “issue, condition, or deny any permit, license, concurrence, or approval.” Because the letter of recommendation is not such an order or action, we conclude we lack jurisdiction and dismiss the petition for review.

I

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas that has…