Federal Permits
Two Southern Route Gas Pipelines Totaling $5B Get Fast-Tracked Permitting
The $3.5B South System Expansion 4 project would add about 1.3 billion cu ft of natural gas per day, according to terminal operator Kinder Morgan, and make improvements along 291 miles of existing infrastructure between Clarke County, Miss., and Savannah, Ga., in two phases.
U.S. government officials selected a pair of multibillion-dollar natural gas pipeline projects for fast-tracked permitting in the Trump administration's boost of favored works.
The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council admitted Southern Natural Gas Co. LLC’s $3.5-billion South System Expansion 4 and Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC’s $1.7-billion Mississippi Crossing for FAST-41 eligibility in November.
Projects on that dashboard, created under Title 41 of the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, can be part of an expedited federal permit process.
“We’re excited to add more pipeline projects to our permitting dashboard and to continue developing domestic energy resources needed to meet the demand for baseload power in the Southeast,” said Emily Domenech, council executive director, in a statement.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will lead FAST-41 permitting.
South System Expansion 4 would increase the capacity of Southern Gas Co.'s South Main Line by about 1.3 billion cu ft of natural gas per day, according to terminal operator Kinder Morgan, which co-owns the project developer with Southern Co. The new pipeline would make improvements supplementing about 291 miles of existing infrastructure between Clarke County, Miss., and Savannah, Ga., with line ranging from 30 in. dia to 42 in. dia. The company says it anticipates building the expansion in two phases. With expedited permitting, it expects to complete the first and second project phases in 2028 and 2029, respectively.
Mississippi Crossing would be a new pipeline made of 42-in.-dia and 36-in.-dia pipe extending about 208 miles between Greenville, Miss., and Butler, Ala., with planned capacity of 2.1 billion cu ft per day. Depending on permits, line construction could complete in 2027 and operate as soon as November 2028, according to Kinder Morgan, which wholly owns Tennessee Gas Pipeline. Its construction would involve about 750 workers.
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Kinder Morgan did not respond to inquiries about its project contractors.
The council uses its FAST-41 dashboard to coordinate multi-agency federal reviews to expedite permits for qualifying projects—which include infrastructure related to energy production and transmission, surface transportation, aviation, ports and waterways, water resource projects, broadband, pipelines and manufacturing. President Donald Trump has also directed the council to include projects such as mineral production facilities and data centers.
“Given the size and complexity of each project, the number of federal agencies involved and need for these projects ... we believe the [council's] additional coordination, oversight and leadership ... can help us bring these projects to fruition promptly,” said Ernesto Ochoa, Kinder Morgan vice president and chief commercial officer in a statement.
But the projects have opponents. “This isn’t just another pipeline project, it’s a nearly 300-mile fossil fuel Super Highway and it’s going to tear through Alabama and Georgia directly impacting communities, water resources, rate payers and customers along the way,” said Megan Gibson, Southern Environmental Law Center senior attorney, in an August protest to the agency of whether need for the South System Expansion 4 project has been substantially reviewed.
The projects were added to the FAST-41 dashboard during the recent record 43-day government shutdown. Domenech announced to agencies at its start that expedited permits would continue during the fiscal lapse for projects favored by the administration because the council is funded through a separate Environmental Review Improvement Fund rather than annual appropriations.
