A decision before the U.S. Supreme Court could have wide implications for construction of U.S. pipelines and other projects involving federal eminent domain power vs. state authority—even though the issue is an arcane legal one that does not specifically involve the natural gas project being decided.
In a case involving objections by New Jersey to state land seized by developers of the $1-billion PennEast pipeline, the U.S. Justice Dept.'s acting Solicitor General advocated for for broad federal powers and narrowed states rights,