Mountain Valley Pipeline developers focused on 'remaining authorizations'

WASHINGTON (WV News) — Provisions in the debt ceiling package passed by Congress at the beginning of the month require that the federal permits needed for the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s completion be issued by Saturday.

Mountain Valley developers are closely monitoring the status of the final authorizations as the deadline approaches, but a timeline for the resumption of construction has not yet been set, according to a project spokesperson.

“At this time, we remain focused on completing the remaining authorizations, which includes the USACE 404 permit for water-body crossings that is expected to be issued by June 24, 2023, in accordance with the recently enacted legislation,” said Natalie Cox, director of communications and corporate affairs for project developers Equitrans Midstream Corp., in an email to WV News. “There are approximately 20 linear miles of construction remaining, and Mountain Valley continues to target project completion for year-end 2023.”

According to information from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act establishes a program to regulate the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands.

Activities in waters of the United States regulated under the program include fill for development, water resource projects (such as dams and levees), infrastructure development (such as highways and airports) and mining projects.

Section 404 requires a permit before dredged or fill material may be discharged into waters of the United States, unless the activity is exempt from Section 404 regulation (e.g., certain farming and forestry activities).

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., has said that all of the needed federal permits and regulatory approvals will be in place by Saturday.

“Everything is on track, as far as I know,” she said at the end of last week.

Gov. Jim Justice recently said the final state-level permit needed for the project to resume construction had been issued.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued the project’s Section 401 Water Quality Certification June 8 and submitted it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Justice said during an administration briefing.

“To the best of my ability, I’m not aware of anything else that is another step that people are waiting on,” Justice said. “If there be another step, we’ll be on it. I believe that construction has the possibility of starting real, real, real soon.”

Capito and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., have said including the pipeline in the debt ceiling deal, also called the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, all but assures its completion.

“Despite delay after delay, we continued to fight to get this critical natural gas pipeline up and running, and its inclusion in this deal is a significant victory for the future of West Virginia,” Capito said in a statement.

When the project was initially announced in 2014, developers said it was expected to cost around $3.5 billion and would be completed by the end of 2018.

In West Virginia, the MVP’s route is planned to include Braxton, Doddridge, Fayette, Greenbrier, Harrison, Lewis, Monroe, Nicholas, Summers, Webster and Wetzel counties.